District IT Runbook
A short walkthrough for district IT — site access, email deliverability, and (optionally) LMS connection.
None of these steps are strictly required. Teachers can sign in on day one with email only. Each step below removes friction.
Step 1 — Confirm site access
Make sure teachers can reach hub.modernclassrooms.org from district networks and managed devices. If your filter has a category for "education" or "general web," nothing else needs to be allowed.
Step 2 — Confirm email deliverability
Sign-in emails ("magic links") need to land in teacher inboxes:
- Allowlist the Modern Classrooms Project sender domain so messages aren't quarantined.
- Exclude our sign-in domain from URL rewriting. Some mail security tools rewrite links in incoming mail, which can invalidate the magic link before the teacher clicks it.
- Optional check: enter a real district email at the Hub and confirm the link arrives.
Step 3 — Connect your LMS
LMS connection enables single sign-on and direct API import. Pick the one(s) you use:
Google Classroom
Mark the Hub as Trusted in Google Admin. ~5 minutes.
Canvas
Generate a Canvas Developer Key via our secure setup link. ~10–15 minutes.
Schoology
No setup. Teachers download Common Cartridge files and import them.
For Canvas: email [email protected] and we'll send a one-time setup link to your Canvas admin. The admin pastes credentials directly into our encrypted store — we never see them.
Step 4 — Privacy review (if required)
Two short pages cover what districts typically need:
- Privacy and data — what we access, what we don't, FERPA/COPPA, security, subprocessors, incident response.
- CTO review FAQ — answers to the standard ed-tech review questions.
For a single printable artifact for review boards, download the IT Review Packet (PDF).