BLOCKS! × CAIU Professional Services Deployment Plan
Blocksi Manager Education Everywhere — Capital Area Intermediate Unit (CAIU) | 24 School Districts, Pennsylvania | April 1 – May 31, 2026
Confidential
Version 1.0 — March 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 — 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.
1
Phase 1–3
Kickoff, Site Discovery & Architecture Design — Apr 1–18
2
Phase 4
Pilot Deployment (2–3 districts) — Apr 14–18
3
Phase 5–7
Wave 1, 2 & 3 Deployment (8 districts each) — Apr 21–May 23
4
Phase 8–9
Acceptance Testing & Operational Handover — Rolling / May 26–30
5
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

Output: Each district receives a District Deployment Profile document containing the complete technical baseline, identified risks, integration requirements, and recommended deployment model (Chrome Extension, DNS filtering, device-level agent, or combination).
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.
Browser-Based Filtering
Blocksi Chrome Extension — Chromebooks, Chrome browser on Windows/Mac. Primary filtering for managed browsers.
Network Filtering
Blocksi DNS Filtering — All devices on school network. Network-wide policy enforcement.
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 Scope: 2–3 representative districts selected from different profiles (one large Chromebook-heavy, one mixed Windows/Mac, one with iPad presence) | 1–2 schools per pilot district | Duration: 1 week, April 14–18, 2026
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
  1. Big Spring School District
  1. Camp Hill School District
  1. Carlisle Area School District
  1. Central Dauphin School District
  1. Cumberland Valley School District
  1. Derry Township School District
  1. East Pennsboro Area School District
  1. Greenwood School District
Wave 2 — May 5 – May 16, 2026
  1. Halifax Area School District
  1. Harrisburg School District
  1. Lower Dauphin School District
  1. Mechanicsburg Area School District
  1. Middletown Area School District
  1. Millersburg Area School District
  1. Newport School District
  1. Northern York County School District
Wave 3 — May 12 – May 23, 2026
  1. Shippensburg Area School District
  1. South Middleton School District
  1. Steelton-Highspire School District
  1. Susquehanna Township School District
  1. Susquenita School District
  1. Upper Dauphin Area School District
  1. West Perry School District
  1. West Shore School District
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.
01
Pre-Deployment Readiness
Site survey complete, stakeholders confirmed
02
Chrome Extension Deployment
Force-install via Google Admin Console
03
Virtual Appliance Configuration
BYOD virtual appliance setup and configuration
04
Device Agent Deployment
Windows / Mac / iPad as applicable
05
Policy Configuration
Per District Policy Profile
06
Identity Integration Validation
SSO login test across all identity providers
07
Rostering Sync Verification
Classroom rostering confirmed and synced
08
Teacher Dashboard Activation
Quick verification of all classroom management features
09
Admin Account Provisioning
Permission validation completed
10
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

Deliverable: Each district receives a District Policy Profile Document capturing all configured policies, approved by the Technology Director, and archived for ongoing reference.
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