Using Microsoft groups
Greetings,
The school will be moving away from its many buildings, grade and staff distribution list to the new Microsoft Group.
The old lists have become cumbersome to maintain given the size we have grown to and maintaining the large number of lists is a constant battle.
In the effort to improve communication, and take advantage of newer functionality, we have implemented a series of groups that are owned by Principals, operations managers, and School Leadership who will approve your members join the group. At the bottom of this email is a list of all the new groups we have created so far.
First, we will explain why new groups. Distribution lists were only a list or email address who would receive the email that someone would send to the list. Membership was a manual process of adding emails to the list by the IT Department. Microsoft groups, a part of your outlook app, allows for anyone to request being added to the group. Not only do you then receive email that is sent to the group, but you also participate in a shared calendar in outlook between the members of the group, and you all have access to a shared one drive space where files can be stored and collaborated on. (i.e. A grade specific group can be accessed by everyone who is a member of the group only).
The responsibility id for each user to request the access they need. As we create new groups your leadership will instruct you to join that group from your outlook app. We you move buildings or grades, for example you can just leave the group. No longer do you need to submit tickets to request moves between distribution lists.
We prepopulated certain groups with known email address , but new staff members, and staff who are moving between departments can request to join the groups they need. (i.e. A special ed staff member who supported 4th grade can now leave the 4th grade group and request to join the 5th grade group they now support).
How to Join a Group
In Outlook:
- Locate Groups: In the Outlook navigation pane, find the "Groups" section. You may need to scroll down to see it.
- Discover Groups: Right-click on the "Groups" header and select "Discover".
- Search for the group: Use the search bar to find the group you're interested in.
- Join (for public groups): If the group is public, you'll see a "Join" button or link. Click it to join.
-
Request to Join (for private groups): If the group is private, you'll see a "Request to Join" button or link. You may need to provide a reason for joining.
How to Leave a Group
In Outlook:
- Open Outlook: Go to the Groups section.
- Select the group: you want to leave.
- Find and select: "Group Settings".
- Choose: the "Leave Group" option.
-
If you are the group owner, you'll need to designate a new owner before leaving.
Microsoft Article:
Below is a list of groups created:
|
DisplayName
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Email
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OCS 1st Staff
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ocs1ststaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS 2nd Staff
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ocs2ndstaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS 3rd Staff
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ocs3rdstaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS 4th Staff
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ocs4thstaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS 5th Staff
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ocs5thstaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
|
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OCS 6th Staff
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ocs6thstaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
|
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OCS 7th Staff
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ocs7thstaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS 8th Staff
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ocs8thstaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS Academic Leadership
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OCSAcademicLeadership@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS ELT
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ocselt@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS Greek
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OCSGreek@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS HS
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ocshs@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS IMM
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ocsimm@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS IMM 1st Staff
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ocsimm1ststaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS IMM 2nd Staff
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ocsimm2ndstaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS IMM 3rd Staff
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ocsimm3rdstaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS IMM K Staff
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ocsimmkstaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS IS
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ocsis@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS K Staff
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ocskstaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS Operations
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OCSOperations@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS Staff
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OCSStaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCS Student Services
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OCSIEP@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCSBusiness
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ocsbusiness@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCSLSStaff
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ocslsstaff@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCSMS
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ocsms@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCSNurses
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ocsnurses@odyssey.k12.de.us
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OCSSLT
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ocsslt@odyssey.k12.de.us
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Please join or leave whatever groups you need or no longer need.
Google drive can still be used, but this method you will find is just as easy adn we do not need to transfer a persons shared drive to another person when they leave, which occurs often enough. If you save theses files in the group's shared drive they will remain there for as long as you want or delete them out. We can restore deleted files in case of accidental deletion and your files use full microsoft, word, excel and powerpoint which offers full use of their products. This is very similar to what we used to call your shared drive that were mapped to your PC, in fact you can even add a shortcut to your groups shared drive to your windows explorer file manager. It easy to use, and sync's across everyone devices and stays backup in the cloud.
As I mentioned in the subject line catch us in the hallways to discuss. We will be sunsetting the old distribution lists soon, (the hope is to delete the old lists by the start of school). If you had a distribition list the was very specific you can submit a ticket for us to create a new group for you and you can then have everyone join that group. We won't be sunsetting all distribution lists, but the ones that have groups replacing them we would like to sunset by the start of school, as previously mentioned.
Enjoy your weekend!