SendGuard
When phones are put away for the day, students lose their way to reach a parent. SendGuard gives each student one email address that reaches their approved contacts, inside school Gmail, while Google blocks every other outside address. No new app, no extension.
What it does
A growing number of states and districts now restrict student phones during the school day. The policy is popular with teachers and the case for it is strong, but it removes the channel a student uses to tell a parent they feel sick or that practice was cancelled. Opening student Gmail to the outside world is not an answer a district can defend.
SendGuard sits in the middle. You upload a CSV of approved parent and guardian contacts, the same shape most student information systems export. For each student, SendGuard creates and maintains a Google Group on your domain, for example parent-jsmith@yourdistrict.org, with that student’s approved contacts as members. The student writes to that one address from their ordinary school Gmail; every approved contact receives it and can reply from whatever inbox they already use. Add or remove a contact in the SendGuard dashboard and the group follows.
The restriction itself is Google’s. Your Workspace super admin sets two Gmail rules on the Students OU, once, following the steps SendGuard gives you: an outbound routing rule that stops students sending to any outside address, and an inbound content-compliance rule that stops outside mail reaching students unless it arrives through a group on your domain. The result is that a student can email classmates, staff and their own parent address, and nothing else. A message to anyone else does not deliver. There is no extension involved and nothing for a student to disable.
- ✓ One address per studentA Google Group on your domain that reaches that student’s approved contacts and nobody else.
- ✓ Nothing new to installStudents use school Gmail as they already do. Parents reply from any inbox.
- ✓ Enforced by Gmail, not an extensionTwo rules on the Students OU make Google refuse outside mail in both directions, except through your domain’s groups.
- ✓ Contacts from your SISBulk-upload a CSV of student and guardian addresses; preview before applying; edit individual contacts afterwards.
- ✓ Groups kept in stepSendGuard creates a group when a student’s first contact is added and updates membership as contacts change.
- ✓ Mail stays in your WorkspaceMessages are ordinary Gmail, subject to whatever retention and audit your district already has.
Requires
- A paid UserAuthGuard plan, and UserAuthGuard authorized to manage Google Groups on your domain.
- A Google Workspace super admin to set the two Gmail rules on the Students OU. SendGuard provides the exact steps; it does not write Gmail routing rules itself.
- A CSV of students and approved guardian email addresses.
Does not
- Read or scan message content. It controls who a student can email, not what they write.
- Work without the two Gmail rules. Without them the group addresses exist but students can still email anywhere.
- Replace a parent-notification system. It is a student-initiated channel to the contacts the school approves.
Where it fits
A phone policy with a safety valve
Phones go in the pouch at the door, and every student still has a way to reach a parent from the Chromebook in front of them. The policy is easier to defend at the board meeting.
Sick in third period
The student emails their parent address from Gmail. Both parents get it on their phones and reply; the reply lands in the student’s school inbox. Nobody walks to the office.
Practice is cancelled
Pickup changes get coordinated the way families already coordinate, by a message and a reply, without a personal device on the student side.
Frequently asked questions
Do students need a new app or account?
No. Students use their existing school Gmail. They write to their parent address, such as parent-jsmith@yourdistrict.org, and send. Parents receive it in whatever inbox they use and reply normally.
Can students email anyone they want?
No. With the two Gmail rules in place, students can email addresses inside your domain, which includes their own parent group, and nothing outside it. A message to an outside address does not deliver and the student sees Gmail’s non-delivery notice.
Who sets up the blocking, and how?
Your Google Workspace super admin, once, in the Admin console on the Students OU: a Gmail routing rule for outbound mail and a content-compliance rule for inbound mail. SendGuard’s settings page gives the exact steps and settings. SendGuard itself creates and manages the groups; Google enforces the rules.
How are parents added to a student's contacts?
By CSV upload with a preview before anything is applied, or one at a time in the dashboard. SendGuard creates the student’s group when the first contact is added and keeps its membership in step with the contact list.
Does SendGuard read student email?
No. It manages group membership. Message content stays in Gmail under the policies your district already has.
Can parents reply?
Yes. A reply to the group address is delivered to the student’s school inbox because it arrives through a group on your domain, which the inbound rule allows. A parent writing to the student’s address directly is blocked.
Keep the channel to home open
SendGuard is available on paid UserAuthGuard plans. Book a walkthrough to see the group model and the two Gmail rules, or start free: the gap report lists every device with no owner and every student with no device.