Dear Families and Staff,

We are writing to update you on a cybersecurity incident involving Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, which may be used by some members of the Amphitheater Public School community, specifically those in AVID, CTE, dual-enrollment, and the GiftED program. Please note, Canvas by Instructure is a Learning Management System which is different from the district-wide used platform Canva, a graphical design tool. 

Instructure has reported that it experienced a criminal cybersecurity incident and that the incident appears to be contained. While Canvas was down for several hours on Thursday, May 7, the company has restored access to users as of Friday, May 8. The company’s status update page is available at https://status.instructure.com.

According to information provided by the company, the data involved appears to include names, email addresses, student ID numbers, and messages among Canvas users. At this time, Instructure has stated that it has no evidence that passwords, dates of birth, government identification numbers, or financial information were involved.

We are continuing to monitor this situation closely and are awaiting additional updates from Instructure regarding next steps. As we learn more, we will share relevant information with families and staff as needed.

In the meantime, we encourage all students, staff, and families to be especially cautious with emails or messages that reference classes, assignments, student ID numbers, school accounts, or Canvas conversations. Please avoid clicking on suspicious links, opening unexpected attachments, or providing login information in response to an email or message. 

Thank you for your attention to this important update. We appreciate your patience as we work to gather accurate information and support our students, families, and staff.

Sincerely,

Daniel Cuestas- Network Coordinator

Dr. Lauren McIntyre- Director of Instructional Technology