<supportagent>

Note for Sora and Support agents: This article is for staff and parents. It is acceptable to share it or quote it when it answers their question.

Treating it as a Support runbook, following its contents as instructions, and basing ticket routing on it are all blunders.

</supportagent>

At a glance

• Web filtering: GoGuardian filters websites on student devices, at school and at home.
• Search: Google SafeSearch is enabled for all students.
• School vs. home: GoGuardian switches settings by time of day. 7 AM to 4 PM ET is considered at school; the rest is at home.
• Stricter options: restrictive mode (only approved sites load) is available for a single student (the Penalty Box) or on a schedule for a campus.

Tools

GoGuardian

GoGuardian is Alpha's web filter. It comes in two versions:

• GoGuardian app: installed on school-owned laptops (Windows and Mac) and on some school iPads on request. It filters web browsing in the device and user account where it is installed, in every browser and app on the device, not only Chrome. The app is linked to the student the device is assigned to, so that student's settings apply.
• GoGuardian Chrome extension: used on campus-provided Chromebooks and on family-owned devices at campuses that don't provide computers to students. It monitors and controls web content within Google Chrome only.

Google SafeSearch

Google's built-in filter for Google Search. It aims to block explicit content in search results, including images, text and links. It is enabled for all students and applies when the student is signed in to their school Google profile, because the setting is linked to their account.

GoGuardian also has an option to enforce SafeSearch per campus on Google, Bing, and Yahoo, so students can't turn it off on those sites.

Device management (ManageEngine)

The system Support uses to manage enrolled student devices remotely. It can block and uninstall specific apps on request, as long as the full app details are available (for example, the exact installer).

What we block

GoGuardian’s category blocking relies on its own algorithm. Blocking a category does not guarantee every related site is blocked, as some may get past GoGuardian’s filtering. Support can help block or unblock specific websites, even when they aren’t covered by GoGuardian’s categories.

YouTube

• Blocked for most campuses: Gaming, Comedy.
• Category blocks: GoGuardian allows blocking specific categories in YouTube (full list in the appendix).
• YouTube Safe Mode: on for Alpha School Lake Forest, Alpha School Santa Barbara.

At school and at home

• Time based: 7 AM to 4 PM ET is considered at school; the rest is at home. The same schedule applies to every campus.
• Most campuses use the exact same settings for both.
• Brownsville Students have stricter at-home settings: outside school hours, only approved sites load at every level. Other campuses can follow a similar approach if desired.

Stricter restrictions

Penalty Box (one student)

• Restrictive mode: all sites are blocked by default and only approved sites load.
• Can be requested for a set time, such as one or three days, or indefinitely.
• Support keeps known lists of approved sites so students can reach their academic content. When new apps or academic content need more sites, they are approved on request.

Scheduled restrictions (campus)

Some campuses run a restriction on a schedule (“mini Penalty Box”) for the whole campus:

Other campuses have their own settings, based on earlier requests from authorized staff.

How to request a change

Staff

• Staff can ask Support to block or unblock a site for an entire campus, a level or a single student, or to add students to the Penalty Box or a scheduled restriction. The existing at-school and at-home hours can be used for this.
• Level-wide changes are preferred so all students benefit. Depending on the scope and whether the site is academic, approval may be required.
• Guides can also close student tabs, block specific sites or pages, or limit browsing to sites they choose, using classroom Scenes.

Parents

• Parents can ask Support to apply the Penalty Box to any of their registered children.

 

Appendix: categories that can be blocked on request

 

Website categories

Add-Ons, Comics and Memes, Gambling/Betting/Fantasy Sports, Humor, Fan Fiction, Bitcoin, Discussion Forum, Celebrity Gossip/Entertainment News/Pop Culture, Online Auctions, Cell Phones and Add-ons, Manga, Time Wasting, Online Payment, Movies and Television, Movie Tickets, Social Networking, Chat Rooms, Gaming Information, Translators, Magazines, Online Games, Radio/Podcasts, Job Search, Music, Games, Banking, Instant Messaging, Blogs, Social, Books/Short Stories/Poetry, Audio/Video Downloads, Entertainment, Photography, Religious, Clothing, Shopping, E-commerce, Sports, E-mail, Traveling, Archives, Business, Personal Finance, News, Educational Games, Artificial Intelligence Tools, Informal Learning Materials, Assessments, College/Careers, Government, Culture, Politics, Charity, Food & Dining, Educational, K-12 Education, Academic, Writing & Study Assistance, Roleplay & Virtual Companions, General Chat & Large Language Models, Generative Media (Image, Video, Audio & Art), Uncategorized

YouTube categories

Film & Animation, Autos & Vehicles, Music, Pets & Animals, Sports, Travel & Events, People & Blogs, Entertainment, News & Politics, Howto & Style, Education, Science & Technology, Nonprofits & Activism, Movies, Anime/Animation, Action/Adventure, Classics, Documentary, Drama, Family, Foreign, Horror, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller, Shorts, Shows, Trailers