How Monmouth Regional High School District’s Tech Team Improved Cybersecurity and Student Safety Using Cloud Monitor

At Monmouth Regional High School District in Eatontown, New Jersey, technology touches nearly every part of daily school life. The district serves about 945 students and 250 faculty and staff, all supported by a small but mighty IT team led by Theodore Ragavas, Supervisor of Technology. With just three people managing everything from network security to classroom AV systems, Theodore’s department is responsible for “anything that gets plugged in—wireless, Bluetooth, even the clocks now.”

When the district moved from on-prem systems to Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, Theodore quickly realized that something critical was missing: visibility. “Once everything went to the cloud, we lost a lot of visibility into user, file, and email activity,” he says. “We also lost the easy admin access to our user files and drives.”

That loss of visibility and access raised major concerns about cybersecurity and student safety in the district’s Google and Microsoft environments.

“We needed visibility and control across both Google and Microsoft without adding more complexity. Cloud Monitor checked every box for us—one platform, easy to use, and priced right for K–12.”

— Theodore Ragavas, Supervisor of Technology, Monmouth Regional High School District

“We needed visibility and control across both Google and Microsoft without adding more complexity,” Theodore says. “When I first saw Cloud Monitor at a conference, I immediately thought, ‘This is exactly what we’ve been missing.’ It checked every box—one platform, easy to use, and priced right for K–12.”

Challenges

Theodore describes their previous process as largely reactive. “We had an ‘If you see something, say something’ approach. That’s the only way we could find out about issues in shared drives and emails,” he recalls. 

Managing student safety risks and cybersecurity threats manually is impractical for any team, but it’s especially overwhelming for a lean one. “To investigate something, we’d have to go into the admin console, change the account password, then log in and manually search their email or drive,” he explains. “It could take hours. It wasn’t sustainable, and it definitely wasn’t secure.”

“Cost is always a factor. You have to be realistic and you have to ask, ‘What am I getting for that cost?’ Without hesitation, our investment in Cloud Monitor is absolutely worthwhile.”

— Theodore Ragavas, Supervisor of Technology, Monmouth Regional High School District

Though they licensed Google Workspace Plus and Microsoft A5 to regain the visibility and control they’d lost, Theodore found them to be less than helpful. “Microsoft and Google admin tools are frustrating. They don’t feel like they are built with K-12 in mind. They are so difficult and time-consuming to use. Worst of all, they are constantly changing,” says Theodore. “You end up spending valuable time re-learning the tools instead of the hundred other things on your plate.”

“ManagedMethods’ customer support team is awesome. If we haven’t done something in a while, we can reach out for help and they’re happy to walk us through it. They’re responsive and engaged in helping us achieve our goals.”

— Theodore Ragavas, Supervisor of Technology, Monmouth Regional High School District

Theodore also evaluated other solutions but found that most only solved part of the problem. “We couldn’t find anything that offers quite what ManagedMethods does. Other tools, like Gaggle, only focus on safety alerts,” Theodore says. “Cloud Monitor gives us a comprehensive platform where we can manage accounts, investigate student safety risks, and protect the district against cybersecurity threats in both Google and Microsoft.”

Results

With Cloud Monitor, the district’s technology team has regained control and confidence in its Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 environments. “With Cloud Monitor, we can scan for games or executables in student drives, search for files that violate our acceptable use policy, and remove them just like we did before we moved to the cloud,” explains Theodore.

Cloud Monitor’s real-time alerts have transformed how the district handles threats. “We’re not waiting to hear from someone that they received an odd email or saw a concerning file on a student’s screen in class,” Theodore explains. “With Cloud Monitor, we’re getting proactive alerts and can act on them within minutes.”

“With Cloud Monitor, we can scan for games or executables in student drives, search for files that violate our acceptable use policy, and remove them just like we did before we moved from on-prem to Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. It’s easy to use, saves us a ton of time, and gives me peace of mind.”

— Theodore Ragavas, Supervisor of Technology, Monmouth Regional High School District

That responsiveness has been particularly valuable against phishing attacks. “Emails posing as administrators asking for gift cards have become a big problem,” Theodore says. “Now, we can pick them up early and remove them from users’ mailboxes before they’re even opened. It’s such a time-saver and protects our staff from falling for those attacks.”

They’ve also experienced a significant decrease in compromised accounts, which Theodore can confirm through the district’s subscription to the New Jersey Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Cell (NJCCIC), which scans the dark web and reports credential leaks to schools, among other things.

Cloud Monitor’s simplicity is another major benefit for Theodore’s small team. “Google and Microsoft are always changing their admin portals,” he says. “Cloud Monitor makes life so much easier. I can go into one portal and remove malicious files or emails across both Google and Microsoft in minutes. It’s a huge time-saver.”

“Just do the 30-day free trial. Once you see how much easier your life could be, it’s almost a no-brainer to keep it. Cloud Monitor helps us protect our students and staff, stay compliant with federal regulations, and maintain a safer learning environment overall.”

— Theodore Ragavas, Supervisor of Technology, Monmouth Regional High School District

Theodore also appreciates ManagedMethods’ customer support. “The support team is awesome,” he shares. “If we haven’t done something in a while, we can reach out for help and they’re happy to walk us through it. They’re responsive and engaged in helping us achieve our goals.”

Theodore emphasizes that in a K-12 environment, the financial aspect is always a consideration. “Cost is always a factor. You have to be realistic and you have to ask, ‘What am I getting for that cost?’” 

For Monmouth, the value proposition is undeniable. “Without hesitation, our investment in Cloud Monitor is absolutely worthwhile,” he says. “Just getting that visibility back from what we had on-prem is a lifesaver.”

“Just do the 30-day free trial,” Theodore advises. “Once you see how much easier your life could be, it’s almost a no-brainer to keep it. Cloud Monitor helps us protect our students and staff, stay compliant with federal regulations, and maintain a safer learning environment overall.”

Want to learn more about improving your district’s cybersecurity, student safety, and classroom engagement?

Get started with your free Google Workspace and/or Microsoft 365 security and safety audit today.

The post From Reactive to Proactive: A New Jersey School District’s Google & Microsoft Security Transformation appeared first on ManagedMethods Cybersecurity, Safety & Compliance for K-12.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from ManagedMethods Cybersecurity, Safety & Compliance for K-12 authored by Katie Fritchen. Read the original post at: https://managedmethods.com/blog/customer-story-k12-monmouth-regional-high-school-district-nj/