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Requesting Apps and Chrome Extensions

Rhianon Gutierrez Updated by Rhianon Gutierrez

The Boston Public Schools has pledged to use interoperable standards as much as possible when designing our technical specifications. These standards are designed for safety & security with a goal of maximizing learning time for our students & teachers. Each standard is designed to minimize the onboarding and adoption time for new applications so that our teachers and students can utilize every minute of the day for safe & secure learning.

Any apps that will be considered for student or staff use must meet our technology standards. Please review this document for more information.

We recommend partnering with our department early on to ensure the apps that you want to use meet our technology standards or that there is a pathway to meeting them in the near future.

Click here to see our full App Directory. If you do not see an application listed and want it to be considered for use in BPS, please follow our How to Request an Application process below.

Adding an App to Clever

If you are a current BPS staff member or school leader looking to add an app to Clever, please fill out the Clever Request Form.

Accessing licensed applications via Clever requires advanced set up for staff and student access. Completion of this short form will begin the set up process. 

Please allow up to 72 hours for the process to be complete (includes request, process, and nightly data sync).

How to Request an Application

  1. To begin, the vendor must submit the App Approval Form. The Office of Technology will review the submission within 48 hours to ensure it meets district technology standards. The app will be added to our Apps Directory with the status of "Approved," "Under Review," or "Not Approved." 
    If the application supports Clever SSO and rostering and/or Google Classroom rostering, email cleveradmin@bostonpublicschools.org to discuss next steps.
  2. If the application requires sharing student data, the following privacy protocol must be completed before any data transfer can occur:
    The vendor must fill out the NDA Request Form  and request to sign the MA Data Privacy Agreement (DPA).
    The request will be vetted by both the Office of Technology and the Office of Data and Accountability.
    Once approved by both departments, a digital signature request will be sent to the vendor's designated representative via DocuSign. Absolutely no student data will be shared until the MA DPA is fully signed and executed.
  3. For all paid applications, vendors must collaborate with a school- or district-level representative to submit a formal quote to the BPS Business Office, which manages all district-wide and school-level purchasing. See the list of procurement partners. 
    Please note: Schools/Departments should not be signing any document(s) from vendors/partners. Any questions and all such documents should be routed through your procurement partner.

How to Request a Chrome Extension

Extensions in the Chrome Web Store can be installed by single users (staff and/or students) once approved.

If you come across an application that you would like to use with your BPS Gmail, please follow the steps below.

  1. Email itsupport@bostonpublicschools.org with the Subject Line: Chrome Extension Request: [Name of Extension]. 
  2. In the body of your email:
  • Paste the link to the Chrome extension
  • Specify the audience: staff only, or staff and students
  • Specify the purpose of why you want to access the Chrome extension
Please note that all Chrome extensions will be reviewed for safety and security prior to being granted access.

How to Request an iOS App

All BPS ipads come with a set of Apple's native apps like Safari, Messages, Reminders, Calendar, and more. These apps are pre-installed and cannot be removed. For anything that is not native, start by exploring Self Service on your iPad.

If an app isn’t in Self Service, find it in the App Store and share the link through the iOS App Request Form. Once approved, it’ll show up in Self Service and you’ll get an email when it’s ready to download.

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