Blocksi Manager Education Everywhere — Capital Area Intermediate Unit (CAIU) | 24 School Districts, Pennsylvania | April 1 – May 31, 2026
1. Executive Summary
This Professional Services Deployment Plan defines the strategy, methodology, and execution framework for deploying Blocksi Manager Education Everywhere across all 24 school districts served by CAIU in Pennsylvania. The deployment encompasses comprehensive content filtering and classroom management capabilities, ensuring full CIPA compliance and delivering modern instructional technology tools to educators across the region.
The engagement spans a 9-week window from April 1 through May 31, 2026, structured into distinct phases: Program Kickoff, Site Discovery, Pilot Validation, Phased Deployment (3 waves), Training, Acceptance Testing, and Operational Handover. A dedicated Blocksi program team will partner with CAIU leadership and district IT personnel throughout to ensure a seamless, zero-disruption rollout.
Customer
Capital Area Intermediate Unit (CAIU)
Scope
24 School Districts in Pennsylvania
Solution
Blocksi Manager Education Everywhere (Content Filtering + Classroom Management)
Deployment Window
April 1 – May 31, 2026
2. Your Blocksi Deployment Team
Blocksi is committing a dedicated, experienced team to the CAIU deployment. Each member brings deep expertise in K-12 technology, enterprise infrastructure, and education-focused customer success — serving as your single point of accountability from kickoff through operational handover.
Jonathan Powell — Project Manager
Jonathan brings 20 years of professional sales experience in ed-tech, with a proven track record leading district-level initiatives across multiple states. He has earned President's Club honors six times and holds a B.S. with High Honors from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. He will serve as the primary point of contact for CAIU leadership, owning the deployment schedule, risk management, and executive reporting.
Jesse Demar — Senior Systems Sales Engineer / Technical Lead
Jesse is an experienced operations engineer with expertise spanning Debian, Windows Server, Data Center Operations, Security, and SOC I/II Compliance. With over 4 years at Blocksi as a Sales Engineer and 6+ years at Cologix as Operations Engineer, he brings the technical depth to architect and validate deployments across diverse district environments. He leads the engineering team of David Schechner and Michael Chesnutt.
David Schechner — Senior Deployment Engineer
David has 19 years of experience in data storage, data administration, and enterprise infrastructure. He held roles at NetApp (5+ years as Solutions Engineer) and Insight Cloud + Data Center Transformation (5+ years as Solutions Architect). He holds NPSE, MEDDICC Elite Selling, and NetApp Certified Data Administrator (ONTAP) certifications, ensuring correct network architecture, identity integration, and device management from day one.
Michael Chesnutt — Senior Deployment Engineer
Michael brings extensive experience in IT support, systems engineering, and customer service. He currently serves as Senior Technical Support at Blocksi, previously as Technical Support Team Lead at Scale Computing, and held IT roles at Machen McChesney (6+ years) and Auburn University (14 years). He holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Auburn University at Montgomery, with deep expertise in Microsoft Servers and Windows environments.
Jonathan Gatewood — Senior Deployment Engineer
Jonathan supports K-12 ed-tech deployments by coordinating onboarding tasks, validating device readiness, and helping ensure smooth rollouts across district environments. He works closely with project and technical leads to track implementation details, troubleshoot issues, and keep installations moving on schedule. With a collaborative approach and strong attention to detail, he helps schools get up and running quickly and confidently.
Ernest Dixon — Director of Customer Success / Training Lead
Ernest is Blocksi's Director of Customer Success with over 5 years at the company, previously serving as Director of Education. An experienced educator with a background in higher education, he holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree from Delta State University.
At Blocksi, Ernest manages Level 1 and Level 2 technical support teams, develops customer relationships that promote retention and loyalty, delivers training remotely and on-site, and contributes to Blocksi's product documentation. He and his team will deliver all training tracks for the CAIU deployment.
Training Resources Available
- Self-paced video tutorials, step-by-step guides, and interactive walkthroughs
- Blocksi Help Center (help.blocksi.net) — comprehensive knowledge base, FAQs, and troubleshooting guides
- Video tutorial library — recorded sessions and feature demonstrations
- Quick start guides — laminated reference cards for teachers and administrators
3. Project Governance & Program Structure
A formal governance structure ensures coordinated execution across 24 districts with clear accountability, escalation paths, and decision-making authority.
3.2–3.3 Steering Committee & Communication Cadence
Steering Committee
A bi-weekly Steering Committee provides executive oversight and rapid issue resolution, comprising CAIU leadership, rotating district IT representatives, and the Blocksi Program Manager and Technical Lead. The committee reviews deployment progress, resolves cross-district issues, tracks adoption metrics, and approves scope changes.
Communication Cadence
4. Deployment Phases Overview
The deployment follows a structured, phased approach designed to minimize risk, validate configurations early, and scale efficiently across all 24 districts over a 9-week window.
Phase 1–3
Kickoff, Site Discovery & Architecture Design — Apr 1–18
Phase 4
Pilot Deployment (2–3 districts) — Apr 14–18
Phase 5–7
Wave 1, 2 & 3 Deployment (8 districts each) — Apr 21–May 23
Phase 8–9
Acceptance Testing & Operational Handover — Rolling / May 26–30
Phase 10
Post-Deployment Hypercare & Quarterly Reviews — Jun 1 onward
5. District Site Survey (Technical Discovery)
Each of the 24 districts will undergo a structured technical discovery to capture the infrastructure baseline, identify integration requirements, and define the deployment model. Data collected populates the District Deployment Profile driving all subsequent configuration work.
Domain & Identity
Domain architecture, Google Workspace / M365 status, SSO provider (Google, Azure AD, LDAP)
Device Inventory
Chromebook, Windows, Mac, and iPad counts for students vs. staff
Network Architecture
Captive portal presence, VM hypervisor, firewall vendor, bandwidth capacity
MDM & Management
iOS MDM, Active Directory for Mac, Google Admin Console, Intune
Classroom Rostering
Google Classroom, Clever, ClassLink, SIS integration method
CIPA & Compliance
E-Rate status, CIPA certification, FERPA data handling procedures
5.2 District Inventory — 24 Districts in Scope
All 24 districts served by CAIU are included in this engagement. Survey status is currently pending for all districts, to be completed during the Site Discovery phase (April 1–11, 2026).
6. Stakeholder Mapping
For each district, the following stakeholders will be identified and engaged. Early stakeholder alignment is critical for adoption and reduces resistance during rollout.
7. Architecture & Deployment Design
Each district receives a tailored deployment blueprint based on their site survey results. The architecture covers three filtering layers, classroom management integration, and identity provider configuration.
Agent-Based Filtering
Blocksi Device Agent — Chromebook, Windows, Mac, and iPad on managed devices. Primary filtering via device-level agent.
Appliance-Based Filtering
Blocksi Virtual Appliance — All devices on school network. Network-wide policy enforcement for BYOD and unmanaged devices.
Off-Campus Filtering
Blocksi Device-Level Agent — 1:1 devices taken home. CIPA compliance off-campus.
Classroom Management
- Google Classroom integration for automatic roster sync
- Teacher dashboard: screen monitoring, tab control, URL push, lock screen
- Student engagement tools: raise hand, chat, focus mode
Identity Integration
- Google Workspace SSO (Google-primary districts)
- Azure AD / Microsoft 365 SSO (M365-primary districts)
- LDAP / Active Directory integration where applicable
7.4 Device Type Matrix
8. Pilot Deployment Phase
Before full-scale deployment, a pilot phase validates the technical architecture, filtering policies, and classroom management features in a controlled environment. This is highly recommended and de-risks the entire program.
Pilot Validation Report
Pass/fail results for each success criterion
Lessons Learned Document
Incorporated into Wave 1–3 planning
Updated Deployment Runbook
Refined based on pilot experience
9. Deployment Execution — Waves 1–3
Following a successful pilot, the remaining 24 districts are deployed in three waves of 8 districts each. Every wave follows an identical execution checklist to ensure consistency and quality.
Wave 1 — Apr 21 – May 2, 2026
- Big Spring School District — 2,379 students 1.
- Camp Hill School District — 1,218 students 2.
- Carlisle Area School District — 5,060 students 3.
- Central Dauphin School District — 12,517 students 4.
- Cumberland Valley School District — 10,401 students 5.
- Derry Township School District — 3,153 students 6.
- East Pennsboro Area School District — 2,556 students 7.
- Greenwood School District — 743 students 8.
Wave 2 — May 5 – May 16, 2026
- Halifax Area School District — 903 students 1.
- Harrisburg School District — 6,578 students 2.
- Lower Dauphin School District — 3,444 students 3.
- Mechanicsburg Area School District — 4,717 students 4.
- Middletown Area School District — 2,348 students 5.
- Millersburg Area School District — 696 students 6.
- Newport School District — 963 students 7.
- Northern York County School District — 3,236 students 8.
Wave 3 — May 12 – May 23, 2026
- Shippensburg Area School District — 3,638 students 1.
- South Middleton School District — 2,187 students 2.
- Steelton-Highspire School District — 1,374 students 3.
- Susquehanna Township School District — 3,153 students 4.
- Susquenita School District — 1,752 students 5.
- Upper Dauphin Area School District — 1,038 students 6.
- West Perry School District — 2,161 students 7.
- West Shore School District — 7,467 students 8.
9.2 Per-District Deployment Checklist
Each district deployment follows this standardized 10-step execution checklist to ensure consistent, high-quality configuration across all waves.
Pre-Deployment Readiness
Site survey complete, stakeholders confirmed
Chrome Extension Deployment
Force-install via Google Admin Console
Virtual Appliance Configuration
BYOD virtual appliance setup and configuration
Device Agent Deployment
Windows / Mac / iPad as applicable
Policy Configuration
Per District Policy Profile
Identity Integration Validation
SSO login test across all identity providers
Rostering Sync Verification
Classroom rostering confirmed and synced
Teacher Dashboard Activation
Quick verification of all classroom management features
Admin Account Provisioning
Permission validation completed
Go-Live & Hypercare Activation
Go-live confirmation and dedicated support engaged
10. Security & Compliance Validation
As a K-12 content filtering solution, CIPA compliance and FERPA data protection are non-negotiable requirements. Each deployment includes a formal compliance validation.
Filtering categories configured per CIPA requirements; audit logging enabled and accessible to authorized administrators
Access control policies enforce role-based admin privileges; admin privilege review completed per district
Data encryption in transit and at rest verified; student PII handling documented and compliant
11. Policy Configuration Workshop
Each district participates in a guided policy configuration workshop to define their filtering and access policies — ensuring the platform is configured to each district's specific educational needs, not just installed with default settings.
Content Filtering
Block, allow, or warn per category; safe search enforcement on Google, Bing, and YouTube; YouTube restricted mode configuration
Policy Differentiation
Student vs. staff policy rules; school hours vs. off-campus policies; BYOD policies where applicable
Custom Rules & Alerts
Custom allow/block lists per district; incident alerting thresholds and notification recipients configured
12. Training Program
Training is segmented by audience to ensure each stakeholder group receives relevant, role-specific instruction. All sessions include hands-on exercises and are supported by comprehensive documentation.
Administrator Guide
Comprehensive platform reference
Teacher Quick Start Guide
Laminated 2-page reference card
Troubleshooting Guide
Common issues and resolutions
Video Recordings
All live training sessions recorded
FAQ Documents
Per-audience FAQ reference
Project Advancement — Live Tracker
Deployment Tracker & Project Notes — Spring 2026 Cohort Rollout
Executive Summary — Project Advancement
Project Mission
Replacing Content Keeper as the web-filtering and classroom-management platform across 25 districts and centers in the CAIU region. Four cohorts running April 13 – June 7, 2026.
Overall project health: Yellow — driven by macOS/Jamf open items and a P2 vSphere blocker at Shippensburg.
Cohort Status as of May 17
- Cohort 1 (Apr 13–26) — 7 districts. All completed technical setup; 6 in hypercare.
- Cohort 2 (Apr 29–May 10) — 7 districts. 6 in hypercare; West Shore in evaluation.
- Cohort 3 (May 13–24) — 6 districts. 4 started; 2 not yet scheduled.
- Cohort 4 (May 27–Jun 7) — 5 districts scheduled, starting May 27.
Top Open Items
Priority: P2
Shippensburg — vSphere OVF Import Error
Captive-portal deployment blocked. Fresh OVF link sent 5/15; vendor GDC IT Solutions retesting.
Priority: P2
Steelton-Highspire & Susquehanna Township
Cohort 3 deployments not yet scheduled. Slack channels inactive since 4/10. CAIU PM must coordinate.
Priority: P3
Halifax & Mechanicsburg — macOS Jamf
macOS deployment paused — awaiting Mac client hotfix and AD-integration script confirmation.
Priority: P3
Derry Township — YouTube Exception Bug
YouTube exception list does not override the streaming-category default. Engineering ticket open.
Priority: P3
Cumberland Valley — Jamf DNS Proxy
Deprecated Jamf School DNS proxy needs MDM-engineer confirmation before June 1 Mac rollout.
Project Scope & Approach
25 Organizations
21 K-12 districts, 2 Career & Technical Centers, 1 charter (Capital Area School for the Arts), and CAIU itself as project coordinator.
Modules in Scope
- Blocksi Filter — Chrome, Windows MSI, iPad, macOS
- Captive Portal — on-prem VM (vSphere/HyperV) for BYOD/guest
- AD / LDAP / Google Workspace sync
- Content Keeper policy migration (XML → Blocksi import)
- AI Threat Detector where licensed
Two-Phase Rollout
Phase 1 — Deploy Blocksi agent for each device type and integrate with the district's identity provider and MDM (Chromebook, Windows, iPad, macOS, Identity sync).
Phase 2 — Complete remaining integrations, run the full acceptance test suite, produce a signed Acceptance Test Report, then Go-Live with 2-week hypercare.
CAIU drives scheduling and CK exports. Blocksi engineers deliver sessions and provide async support via district Slack channels.
Phase 1 — Integrations Matrix
Per-district identity provider and MDM configuration for each device platform. Cohort 4 not yet finalized.
District Status Overview
Health summary across all 25 organizations as of May 17, 2026. Full per-district detail lives in the Districts tab of the companion workbook.
Green — Hypercare/Done
Millersburg, Greenwood, Lower Dauphin, Big Spring, East Pennsboro, Susquenita, West Perry
Yellow — In Progress
Cumberland Valley, Halifax, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Derry Twp, West Shore, Shippensburg, Northern York
Red — Not Started
Steelton-Highspire and Susquehanna Township — channels inactive, scheduling urgent
Scheduled — Cohort 4
Upper Dauphin, Cumberland-Perry CTC, Newport, CASA, Dauphin County Tech — all start May 27
Cohort 1 Highlights (Apr 13–26)
Seven districts — all completed Technical Setup Parts 1 & 2. Six in hypercare; CAIU acts as project coordinator.
Cumberland Valley 🟡
10,600 students + 1,500 staff. ~3,500 iPads and 900 Chromebooks. Open: deprecated Jamf School DNS proxy — MDM engineer confirmation required before June 1.
Greenwood 🟢
~789 users. Aggressive zero-trust policy. CK policies imported 5/6. Testing on elementary OU before district-wide rollout.
Halifax 🟡
1,044 users. Captive portal VM deployed. Open: macOS Jamf Pro paused — awaiting new Blocksi Mac client release.
Lower Dauphin 🟢
4 sessions done. Captive portal via vSphere. Policies tailored by grade level (K-5, middle, high).
Mechanicsburg 🟡
Captive portal deployed. Phased CK migration in progress. Open: macOS Jamf Pro AD-integration script delivered, awaiting district run.
Millersburg 🟢
783 licenses. Captive portal up. Domain change planned July 1. Esports VLAN filtering being scoped.
Cohort 2 Highlights (Apr 29 – May 10)
Seven districts — six in hypercare. West Shore remains in product evaluation only due to iPad classroom feature gap vs. GoGuardian.
Camp Hill 🟡
P2 Content Keeper appliance outage resolved during Pt 2 call. Mosyle (macOS) and captive portal are next milestones.
Derry Township 🟡
Switched to Google Workspace sync after AD-Sync lost ~1,000 licenses on shared server. Open: YouTube exception list does not override streaming category — engineering ticket open.
East Pennsboro 🟢
2,889 student + ~500 staff licenses. Deployment hibernated to avoid disrupting state testing. CK XML export and license cleanup pending.
West Shore 🟡
Evaluation only — reviewing Blocksi iPad classroom maturity (Hall Pass, teacher dashboard) vs. GoGuardian VPN offering. Re-engagement targeted after Agent 1.4 release.
Cohort 3 Status (May 13–24)
Six districts — four started, two not yet scheduled. Urgent action needed on inactive districts.
Active Districts
West Perry 🟢
Tech setup 5/13. CK policies imported and ready to test. Captive portal specs in discussion (HyperV, 2 CPU / 16 GB).
Shippensburg 🟡
Chromebook + Windows + iOS deployed. P2 blocker: vSphere OVF import error — vendor GDC IT Solutions retesting with fresh OVF link sent 5/15.
Harrisburg 🟢
7,371 users. Tech setup 5/15. iOS on hold; macOS via captive portal planned. Open: clean up suspended Google accounts in licensed OUs.
Northern York 🟢
Chromebook + iPad (Jamf School) + Windows deployed. Next: AD Sync, macOS, captive portal. Domain migration to @northernyork.org pending.
🔴 Not Started — Action Required
Steelton-Highspire and Susquehanna Township — no Fireflies recordings, Slack channels inactive since creation on 4/10.
Action: CAIU PM (Joy Forry) to coordinate scheduling immediately. Weekly check-ins until kickoff confirmed.
Cohort 4 — Scheduled (May 27 – Jun 7)
Five organizations scheduled to kick off May 27. Mix of K-12 districts, CTCs, and a CAIU-managed charter.
Upper Dauphin Area SD
Starts 5/27. First setup meeting May 28; David Schechner leading (Jesse out).
Cumberland-Perry Area CTC
Starts 5/27. CK policies pre-migrated (imported 5/13).
Newport School District
Starts 5/27. Slack channel to be created closer to kickoff.
Capital Area School for the Arts
CAIU-managed charter. Scheduling coordinated by Joy Forry / Jonathan Powell.
Dauphin County Technical School
Starts 5/27. CK policies migrated under prior SA. New tech director Scott Davis — send intake pack and SuperAdmin invite.
Open & Recently Resolved Issues
Full root-cause and resolution details are in the Issues Log tab of the companion workbook.
Recurring Themes & Lessons Learned
These patterns span multiple cohorts and have directly informed playbook updates — from pre-flight checklists to default deployment posture during state testing windows.
macOS/Jamf
Jamf School payload v2, pre-flight checklist for Apple Silicon.
Captive Portal (vSphere)
OVF compatibility v1, v2.
AD/LDAP Sync
Dedicated DC recommended.
Content Keeper Migration
Publish mapping cheat-sheet.
AI Threat/Filter
Reporter 6.3 async export.
State Testing Hibernation
Install-but-inactive plan.
Recommendations & Next Steps
Resolve Shippensburg vSphere OVF (P2)
D. Schechner / GDC IT Solutions · Target: 2026-05-22 · In Progress
Schedule Steelton-Highspire & Susquehanna Twp
Joy Forry (CAIU) · Target: 2026-05-21 · Open
Confirm Jamf School DNS Proxy v2 (Cumberland Valley)
C. Monasmith / J. Demar · Target: 2026-05-22 · In Progress
Release Blocksi Mac Client (Halifax / Mechanicsburg)
Agent Engineering · Target: 2026-05-22 · In QA
Engineering Fix — YouTube Exception Precedence (Derry)
Filter Engineering · Target: 2026-06-15 · Open
Publish CK Category-ID → Name Mapping Cheat Sheet
Deployment / Engineering · Target: 2026-05-30 · Open
Schedule Cohort 4 Kickoffs & Cohort 1/2 QBRs
Joy Forry / Jonathan Powell / Account Management · Target: 2026-05-23–24 · Open
Internal Delivery Notes
Mac Client Release Risk
URL-based Mac client has slipped twice — now targeting end of May. Cumberland Valley uses Macs from June 1 (hard deadline). Jamf School deprecated the DNS Proxy payload, so the bridge plan doesn't work for Jamf School customers. Mosyle Mac coverage (Camp Hill, Shippensburg) also untested in QA. Owner: Engineering team — deliver URL-based client by 5/29 with Jamf School support, or validated Jamf-Pro-style alternative.
Scope Clarification (5/8)
CAIU RFP scope is content filtering and captive portal only. Classroom and Student Safety are not core deliverables — classroom rollout is planned for summer. Per-district baseline confirmed by Paul Schiltgen: cloud filtering on all devices, guest DNS, Parent/Delegate/Teacher Dashboards, Standard Student Safety alerts.
Customer-Success Watch Items
- Derry Township — Phil Ayala considering renewing Content Keeper. iPad granular YouTube + keyword filtering must be available before 5/22. Weekly check-ins required.
- Dauphin County Tech — New tech director Scott Davis (Matt Lemire's supervisor). Send intake pack and SuperAdmin invite; mark SA on back end.
- Training Plan — Two trainings: Admin Dashboard (SysAdmin/Network Admin) and Teacher Dashboard (Tech Coordinator). Pre-req: Blocksi Academy self-paced courses, enrolment code Spark24. End-of-training test required.
- Acceptance Test Plan — Deliver by 2026-05-19; book testing sessions for Cohorts 1 & 2 same week. Captive Portal spec: 16 GB RAM, 2 vCPU, 50–100 GB SSD.
Appendix & Resources
Google Drive — Project Hub
- CAIU District Breakdown — Deployment Documentation
- Cohort 1 Folder
- Cohort 2 Folder
- Cohort 3 Folder
- Cohort 4 Folder
Slack Workspace
blocksiatcaiu2026.slack.com — each district has a private channel. Project-wide announcements: #all-blocksi-at-caiu-2026. Channel links per district are on the Districts tab of the workbook.
Fireflies Recordings
33 recordings across the project to date (Fireflies Index tab of workbook). Cohort 1 averaged 2.4 sessions/district; Cohort 2 averaged 1.9; Cohort 3 at 1.0–2.0 per active district. Note: Fireflies has dropped recordings mid-call — keep Zoom backups and store recording links in district Slack channels.
Document Control
Version 1.0 · Date 2026-05-17
BLOCKSI × CAIU Professional Services Deployment Plan