Qustodio
As devices, such as mobile phones, computers, tablets and smart watches, play an increasing role in children’s education it is crucial that we have safeguards in place. Your child already benefits from internet filtering technology which blocks inappropriate web content on their school issued device, which is mandated by law. The District already monitors our student’s internet usage on those issued devices.
As part of the Garden City School’s commitment to your child’s online safety, we want to let you know about an important parental monitoring solution that is being made available beginning Monday to parents throughout the District.
The GCPS have partnered with Qustodio to allow you to monitor your student’s activity during the school day to see what sites they are visiting and what educational tools they use as a part of the learning process. This is free to parents. You will not have the ability to manage this activity during the school day, but you will be able to monitor it. After the school day ends, you will have many tools at your disposal that restrict the sites of your choosing, manage your child’s screen time and more on their schools issued device.
Along with monitoring access to your child’s school issued device, you can also add one personal device of your choosing,
per student, to monitor your child’s activity. On that device with Qustodio, you’ll be able to:
- Manage your child’s screen time
- Supervise your child’s online activity
- Access expert advice via the Garden City School’s Online Safety Hub at: www.gardencityschools.onlinesafetyhub.io/
Qustodio is a valuable partner that prioritizes privacy, safety and the rights of students and parents worldwide. Qustodio allows the District to create guardrails that help keep our kids safe.
On Monday (May 5, 2025), Qustodio will email you simple instructions to register your account. Or you can start today by visiting www.qustodio.com/my-school. Please be sure to use the same email address we have on file in MiStar (Student Information System) when registering to connect to your child’s device. If you have questions once you get registered and underway, feel free to email Qustodio at myschool@qustodio.com.
The Garden City Schools are excited to help our students develop healthy and safe online habits.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What are Parental Controls?
The Parental Controls feature allows parents to use the Qustodio Parent app to manage and filter a child’s school-managed Chromebook or Windows device in Companion Mode outside school hours.
Is Parental Controls on by default at my school?
No, Parental Control is an opt-in feature for schools. Contact your Linewize Account or Success Manager to turn on Parental Controls in School Manager. Once turned on, the Parental Controls settings will display, and you can configure them.
What happens during school hours? Do parents' rules override the school’s policies and interfere with learning?
Parental Controls automatically turns off during school hours, prioritising your School Manager policies. Parents' rules do not override School Manager policies during this time.
Can I see which student devices are under Parental Controls?
Parents can control the device if you configure Parental Controls for after-hours in the School Calendar and if the device is off-network. You can check the Parent or Student Management pages to see if a parent has accepted control of the device.
Parent Experience
How are Parental Controls referred to in the Qustodio Parent app?
Parental Controls are called ”Rules”, and parents will receive communications from Qustodio to"Apply rules on school devices" or "Manage school devices" in the Qustodio Parent app.
How do parents turn Parental Controls on or off?
When your school turns on Parental Controls, a toggle becomes available on the Qustodio Rules page on the child’s dashboard in the Qustodio Parent app. Parents use this toggle to turn Parental Controls on or off based on their preference.
Student Experience
What will the students see if they are blocked?
If your school policies or Safety Net blocks the student, they’ll see the School Manager block page. If both school policies or Safety Net and parents' Qustodio rules block the same thing, the student will see the School Manager block page. If parents' Qustodio rules block the student, they’ll see the Qustodio block page.