How K12 Montana Schools Use Google Groups to Simplify Staff Communication

Tired of typing out every staff member's email address every time you need to send an all-staff message? K12 Montana sets up Google Groups as standard practice for every district we manage - and once you use them, you'll wonder how you got along without them. One email address reaches your entire team (or any subset of it) in one shot.

Here's how to create a group and add members in the Google Admin Console.

Creating the Group

Give your group a name (like "All Staff" or "Teaching Team"), add a description if helpful, and check the boxes for Mailing and/or Security depending on how you want to use the group. Click Next.

Setting Access Type

You'll be asked to choose an access type. Options include Public, Team, Announcement Only, Restricted, and Custom. Announcement Only is popular for school-wide groups where you want only admins or specific people to be able to send messages. Team works well for collaborative departments.

Choosing How Members Join

You can allow anyone in the organization to ask to join, allow anyone to join directly, or restrict membership to invited users only. For staff groups, invited-only is usually the cleanest approach.

Adding Members One at a Time

Click on your new group, then select Add members. Type the person's name, select it, and click Add to Group.

Adding Members in Bulk

For large groups, use Bulk upload members. Download the CSV template from the popup, fill it in with email addresses, and upload it. This is the fastest way to get a large group populated.

Using the Group

Once set up, anyone with permission can email the group by sending to the group's email address. It lands in everyone's inbox at once. You can also use the group for Google Calendar sharing, Drive folder access, and more.

Need help organizing your district's communication structure in Google Workspace? K12 Montana Inc. can help you build groups, OUs, and communication workflows that actually work. Contact us anytime.