Eugene School District 4J

4J is moving email and calendaring features from the current hosted program (Zimbra) to a modern and widely used online platform (Gmail & Google Calendar). This project will enhance communication, collaboration, and productivity across the district. The project will include researching current Zimbra use, providing training resources to staff and supporting staff throughout this process. This project will build upon and leverage our existing investment in the Google productivity platform, Google Workspace, and will allow us to better serve our students, staff and community. 

Project Timeline

• It will complete our move to the full Google (Google Workforce) integrated productivity platform.
• Having access to the integrated Google platform will provide many benefits to staff, students and the district.
• Gmail is a modern and state of the art platform.
• The migration allows easy access of information between Gmail, Google Drive, Google calendar and the other Google Workspace productivity programs, as well as between different 4J groups and departments.
• Going to a fully hosted cloud platform will help mitigate onsite business continuity concerns and provide redundancy and secure access to key information from anywhere. 

What’s in it for me?

• Better email and system search capabilities!
• Integrated email with calendars, Google Drive and task management.
• Improved performance, reliability and anywhere access of a cloud based system.
• Fully integrated Productivity platform that allows easier access to information and enhanced communication capabilities.  Easier to tie everything together and share information with co-workers.
• Improved security and protection for sensitive student and staff information.
• Increased email storage space.

What is happening?

• 4J is switching from Zimbra to Gmail and Google Calendar.

When is it happening?

On June 30th:

• Gmail and Google Calendar will go live.
• All new emails will go to Gmail.
• Zimbra calendar events will be moved to Google Calendar.
• The most recent two weeks of Zimbra emails will appear in Gmail on June 30
• All the rest of your email will be migrated to Gmail by the end of July.
• Zimbra will no longer receive new emails but will remain view-only until March 2026.

Who does this affect?

• All 4J staff.

Why is 4J doing this?

• Switching to Gmail and Google completes our move to Google Workspace.
• Gmail works smoothly with Google Drive, Calendar, and other Google apps.
• Easier to share and access information across 4J groups and departments.
• More email storage space for staff.
• A cloud-based system boosts security, provides backup and enables access anywhere.

How will Staff learn about the Gmail and Google Calendar system?

• Visit the What Should I Do Now page.
• Go to the Training Hub for documentation and videos.
• Review the FAQ on this website. 
• Ask a general question using the Feedback Survey.
• Review the Feedback Q&A near the bottom of this page.

Getting Started

How do I navigate to Gmail and Google Calendar? 

• There are many ways to navigate to Gmail and Google Calendar.  On your work computer one way is to go to the Google Search page and click on the Gmail link or Google Apps link in the upper right hand corner of the screen.   Clicking on the Google Apps link will bring up a small dialog box with links to the main Google Apps, including links to both Gmail and "Google" Calendar.  Another way to get to Gmail is to bookmark this Gmail link. For Google Calendar you can visit and bookmark this Google Calendar link.​​​​

How do I start using Gmail and/or Google Calendar? 

• Once you get to the Gmail you can view your email in the center of the screen or click on the Compose button in the upper left hand side of the screen.  Same thing with Google Calendar as you start making a new event/meeting by clicking the Create button in the upper left hand side of the screen.

For more information and help with Gmail or Google calendar please see below

• Please see the Gmail Training section of the Migration web page for help using Gmail. 
• Please see the Google Calendar Training section of the Migration web page for help using Google Calendar

Email and Calendar Migration

Will I lose any of my emails during the migration?  

• No, all emails will be migrated from Zimbra to Gmail over the course of several weeks.  Staff will arrive at work on June 30th with the most recent 2 weeks of emails from Zimbra already migrated to Gmail.  The remaining emails will be migrated on an ongoing basis over the next several days and weeks after the migration has started.  All Zimbra emails will be migrated to Gmail.

When will things start to happen?

• All staff will start using Gmail and Google calendars on June 30th, 2025.  At the same time Zimbra will be set to read only mode, which means staff can view Zimbra information, but all new emails will go to Gmail.  Please see the Project Timeline for information on the timing of major events.

Can you be more specific on what will happen during the Migration?  

• All calendar information will be migrated over the weekend of June 28.  With the large amount of email to be migrated, the email part of the migration will take a few (2-4) weeks to complete. Many smaller email accounts will finish earlier (possibly the first week of July) with larger accounts taking more time.  All Zimbra information for all staff will be migrated by the end of July 2025.  All Zimbra accounts and emails will be migrated to Gmail and Google Calendar.  Staff will have access to view Zimbra email & calendar throughout this Migration and until March 2026.  On June 30th, after the Migration has started, all new emails will come into Gmail and not Zimbra. 

How will my email and calendar information be Migrated to Google?

• IT will use purpose built tools to migrate all information from Zimbra to Gmail & Google. 

What information will migrate from Zimbra to Gmail & Google?

• All emails and calendar appointments/meetings will migrate from Zimbra to Gmail & Google Calendar.  This will happen over several weeks and staff will retain access to Zimbra during this time with read only capabilities.

When will this happen?

• The current Go-Live date is June 30th, 2025.  

What will and won’t transfer from Zimbra to Gmail & Google calendar?

•  All email, appointments, contacts and meetings WILL transfer from Zimbra to Gmail and Google calendar.  What won’t transfer are most Zimbra customizations like appearance settings, email signature, calendar and email permissions, share settings and notifications, mobile device configurations, and other various account settings.  Staff will need to set these up in Gmail and Google calendar.  Training information and support for this is available via the Training Hub area of this website.

When will this migration happen? 

• The tentative Go Live date for this migration will be June 30th 2025.  If there are any changes with this timeline we will let you know.  Staff can always check for project updates via this website.

Will Zimbra go away? 

• Even after the Migration is complete staff will retain the use of Zimbra through the end of March 2026 with Read only capabilities.  During this time staff can view, search for and forward emails from Zimbra, but ALL incoming emails and calendar invites will go to Gmail and Google Calendar.  

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