I know many eighth graders finish this week. Most schools in the past
waited until we could close the 4th quarter and year end to print report
cards and mail them home. This year, if you wish, we can close the 8th
grade now and the rest of the school later so you can print the cards
and send them home before the close of the school year. For those of
you who close your own grades and need assistance, please contact me -
it is a different procedure than closing the whole school. For those of
you who I store grades, please contact me if you wish to use this
procedure.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Interested in GPA's for your upper grades?
Some schools have contacted me recently regarding GPA's for the upper grades, particularly grades 7 & 8. There is a GPA ranking that can be shown on the bottom of the Quick Lookup screen. A report can be created that can show by grade level the GPA for all 4 quarters and year end. If you would like me to walk you through how to input the coding please e-mail me at aellis@diometuchen.org.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Printing out the Student Information Form
In previous years there was a student information form that was used to type all demographic, sacramental and academic data where the teacher also placed the "Terra Nova sticker" on the back of the page. Although those forms can no longer be ordered, the form is available for printing from PowerSchool.
In order to print the form, you will use the same format as printing a report card. Choose either a student or a group of students and click on "Print Report." The report is called "Metuchen Student Info 2." Once you submit that form for printing it will appear in your Report Queue. Click the small blue refresh link on the page until the word "running" on the right hand side of the screen becomes the word, "view." Not all fields will be completed filled out at this time, however, you can use the form with the information that does print.
This form can be printed at any time during the year. It is best to be used at the end of the school year so all changes that may have been made during the school year are incorporated.
In order to print the form, you will use the same format as printing a report card. Choose either a student or a group of students and click on "Print Report." The report is called "Metuchen Student Info 2." Once you submit that form for printing it will appear in your Report Queue. Click the small blue refresh link on the page until the word "running" on the right hand side of the screen becomes the word, "view." Not all fields will be completed filled out at this time, however, you can use the form with the information that does print.
This form can be printed at any time during the year. It is best to be used at the end of the school year so all changes that may have been made during the school year are incorporated.
Friday, March 27, 2009
End of School Year - graduating 8th graders
Although the 3rd marking period is just ending, its important to share the items that will need to be done at the end of the school year. In many elementary schools the eighth grade graduates and leaves the school prior to the end of the calendar school year. Printing their report cards before the end of the marking period deadline for all grades will be difficult. Once a school goes through the storing process for grades to be printed, it affects the whole school, not just one grade level. Many schools are opting to mail the eighth grade report cards after graduation. Parents can see the grades online until the end of June and will be aware of the grades prior to the arrival of the printed report card.
Eighth graders will need to be transferred out of the school prior to the end of June. PLEASE NOTE: Do NOT transfer eighth grade out before running the report cards. Once you transfer the student out you will not have access to the grades to store or print them. You can transfer them out of the system anytime after printing the report cards - just choose the exit date as the day after graduation.
TO TRANSFER OUT EIGHTH GRADE ONLY:
Once you have logged onto the PowerSchool screen, click on the number "8" for the eight grade class.
When the students names appear in the list, click on the arrow on the empty function box and choose "Transfer out of school."
When the transfer page appears, you will see a statement that says, "(number of students) to be transferred out." Then you have a few choices to make. First, fill in a transfer out date as the day after graduation. Second, choose the reason for the transfer by clicking on the arrow to the right of "Exit Code." The exit code in this case is "Graduation." Do not touch any of the choices in Auto-Transfer Option. The third item is to put a checkmark in the "Check here if student(s) intend to enroll in school during next school year" area. This will allow those students going to our area high schools on the PowerSchool system create the student's freshman schedule prior to the entrance to the school during the summer. It will not affect the children who are not going to the area schools. Lastly, since you are transferring more than one student at this time you will have to put a checkmark in the statement "If more than one student is being transferred out, click this checkbox to verify that you really want to transfer out that many students." Once these steps are completed you can then click submit.
Eighth graders will need to be transferred out of the school prior to the end of June. PLEASE NOTE: Do NOT transfer eighth grade out before running the report cards. Once you transfer the student out you will not have access to the grades to store or print them. You can transfer them out of the system anytime after printing the report cards - just choose the exit date as the day after graduation.
TO TRANSFER OUT EIGHTH GRADE ONLY:
Once you have logged onto the PowerSchool screen, click on the number "8" for the eight grade class.
When the students names appear in the list, click on the arrow on the empty function box and choose "Transfer out of school."
When the transfer page appears, you will see a statement that says, "(number of students) to be transferred out." Then you have a few choices to make. First, fill in a transfer out date as the day after graduation. Second, choose the reason for the transfer by clicking on the arrow to the right of "Exit Code." The exit code in this case is "Graduation." Do not touch any of the choices in Auto-Transfer Option. The third item is to put a checkmark in the "Check here if student(s) intend to enroll in school during next school year" area. This will allow those students going to our area high schools on the PowerSchool system create the student's freshman schedule prior to the entrance to the school during the summer. It will not affect the children who are not going to the area schools. Lastly, since you are transferring more than one student at this time you will have to put a checkmark in the statement "If more than one student is being transferred out, click this checkbox to verify that you really want to transfer out that many students." Once these steps are completed you can then click submit.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Important!! Upgrade will occur on March 31st
An important upgrade is set for Tuesday, March 31st at 3 pm. This upgrade will fix a few issues that are important in all areas of PowerSchool. The ones that affect teachers the most are: Marking period dates are recorded correctly, the gradebook will now launch with JAVA version 6, and parents will now be able to SEE the checkmarks, late and missing icons!
On the administrative side, you will be able to download your reports and while you wait you can continue to work in PowerSchool. For those who use Quick Import, all non-custom fields can be used.
PowerSchool should be down no more than a few hours. Please make sure you are not logged on and working in the program at this time or you will lose any information that was not saved correctly.
Thank you for your cooperation,
On the administrative side, you will be able to download your reports and while you wait you can continue to work in PowerSchool. For those who use Quick Import, all non-custom fields can be used.
PowerSchool should be down no more than a few hours. Please make sure you are not logged on and working in the program at this time or you will lose any information that was not saved correctly.
Thank you for your cooperation,
Thursday, February 26, 2009
How to Transfer a student out of school
Transfers are going to become even more important at the end of the school year. Eighth grade students will need to be transferred to either Bishop Ahr High School or Cardinal McCarrick (the only high schools this year on PS) or as graduated. I will post more information on that later closer to the date. For now, when any student needs to be transferred here are the steps:
1) Log onto PowerSchool and type in the student's last name in the search box or choose the student through the alphabet or grade level functions in the middle of the screen.
2) Once the student's record is visible, move down the menu on the left side of the screen until you see "Functions" under the Enrollment heading.
Once you click on Functions, the second choice on the next screen will be "Transfer out of School", click on it. In this screen you will be able to put a transfer comment such as "parent request", "school request", "moving to another state" as a good way of gathering exit data. The date of the transfer will be the DAY AFTER the last day the student attended school - for example, if the last day the child was in school was May 1st the transfer day is May 2nd. Then choose from the drop down menu a reason for the transfer as seen in my example.
Once you click, "Submit" you should see the following on the screen and that means the transfer is complete.
If for some reason the transfer didn't go through, that means the teacher took attendance for the student and marked the student any code except "present." The attendance code will need to be changed to present in order to complete the transfer.
1) Log onto PowerSchool and type in the student's last name in the search box or choose the student through the alphabet or grade level functions in the middle of the screen.
2) Once the student's record is visible, move down the menu on the left side of the screen until you see "Functions" under the Enrollment heading.
Once you click on Functions, the second choice on the next screen will be "Transfer out of School", click on it. In this screen you will be able to put a transfer comment such as "parent request", "school request", "moving to another state" as a good way of gathering exit data. The date of the transfer will be the DAY AFTER the last day the student attended school - for example, if the last day the child was in school was May 1st the transfer day is May 2nd. Then choose from the drop down menu a reason for the transfer as seen in my example.
Once you click, "Submit" you should see the following on the screen and that means the transfer is complete.
If for some reason the transfer didn't go through, that means the teacher took attendance for the student and marked the student any code except "present." The attendance code will need to be changed to present in order to complete the transfer.
Would you like to print a copy of your teacher schedules or classes taught?
Administrators,
In our diocese we do not schedule the teachers' classes by period of the day, however, you can print copies of the list of classes they teach at one time if you are using Internet Explorer. Here's how:
Once you are logged onto PowerSchool, click on the "Teachers Schedules" link on the left hand side. You will see a page with all of the teachers' names listed on the left hand side. Right click in the white box with the names and choose "Print" from the gray box of options. Once the Print dialog box opens, click on the Options tab and put a checkmark in the box that says, "Print all linked documents." As illustrated in this picture:
The first page to print will be the list of teachers, the following pages will be the schedules for all of the teachers. Much easier than printing them one by one.
In our diocese we do not schedule the teachers' classes by period of the day, however, you can print copies of the list of classes they teach at one time if you are using Internet Explorer. Here's how:
Once you are logged onto PowerSchool, click on the "Teachers Schedules" link on the left hand side. You will see a page with all of the teachers' names listed on the left hand side. Right click in the white box with the names and choose "Print" from the gray box of options. Once the Print dialog box opens, click on the Options tab and put a checkmark in the box that says, "Print all linked documents." As illustrated in this picture:
The first page to print will be the list of teachers, the following pages will be the schedules for all of the teachers. Much easier than printing them one by one.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Need a list of Transfers this year?
Administrators,
Some of you have asked me for a list that will show the students who transferred out of the school during the school year. I have found a report that can help you know that information! It will give you the student's name, the date of the transfer and any information you may have added to the child's account when you transferred them out. Here's how to get the report:
Once you are logged onto PowerSchool, click on the "Reports" link on the left hand side. Click on the last choice, "Reporting Engine." On the list of reports in this section, choose the report "List-Transfer Out." See example:
As you can see on the picture, you need to choose "Current School Only" to run the report for your school since this is a report I can use at the diocesan level also. Go further down the page and choose the dates you wish to use - possible the first date of the school year up to the day you are running the report. See the example (also, the report will open in a new window, this is normal):
Put the checkmarks in the boxes opposite the dates you choose and then click submit. Once you click submit, depending on the dates you chose and the number of students the report will appear and you can then print it. Here is an example from my little "Ellis Academy" school:
Some of you have asked me for a list that will show the students who transferred out of the school during the school year. I have found a report that can help you know that information! It will give you the student's name, the date of the transfer and any information you may have added to the child's account when you transferred them out. Here's how to get the report:
Once you are logged onto PowerSchool, click on the "Reports" link on the left hand side. Click on the last choice, "Reporting Engine." On the list of reports in this section, choose the report "List-Transfer Out." See example:
As you can see on the picture, you need to choose "Current School Only" to run the report for your school since this is a report I can use at the diocesan level also. Go further down the page and choose the dates you wish to use - possible the first date of the school year up to the day you are running the report. See the example (also, the report will open in a new window, this is normal):
Put the checkmarks in the boxes opposite the dates you choose and then click submit. Once you click submit, depending on the dates you chose and the number of students the report will appear and you can then print it. Here is an example from my little "Ellis Academy" school:
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Adding new registrations for the next school year
All,
Since it is now February and you are getting new students pre-registering from your open houses, you do have the ability to add them into PowerSchool now for the 2009-2010 school year. You do NOT have to do anything for the re-registering students you already have - the server will automatically move them to the next grade level when we take the system down in July to do the upgrade. If you pre-register a student and for some reason they do not attend your school in September, you just let me know and I will delete them from the system so you do not have to pay for the record.
When you enroll a student during the school year, you have a second step of enrolling them in a teacher's class. THIS STEP IS NOT DONE NOW. You will be enrolling all new and returning students in their homeroom and respective other classes in August when the system becomes available to you again.
Some of the following is a repeat from lesson one of this blog with a twist:
Here's the directions to enroll a new student now for the next school year(CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO SEE IT LARGER):
First, log on and choose the link for Special Functions:
Then choose the link to Enroll New Student (all links in PowerSchool are alphabetically arranged):
Then complete the information on the following page. Do not forget to put in the FTE (this means full time equivalent - the child equals one full person in our school) and be careful to check the grade level. The most common mistake is that the grade level is not checked and the child automatically ends up in PreK or grade 9 depending on the school. Then you will have to call me because you are not able to fix it :)
As you can see in this next picture, YOU MUST USE AN ENROLL DATE of 8/1/2009:
Beneath the items pictured you add the address, mother's name, father's name and sibling names if known. Once you click submit you will be taken to a page where students with the same last name, phone number or similar last names are shown. If the child is not one of those listed, don't worry if a sibling is listed, then click on continue and the child will be pre-registered in your school. You are not finished ~ the child's records must be updated with other information. Click on "Demographics Modify" on the left side of your screen and add other valuable information. Viewing the child will show them as being a member of your school by the initials of your school next to the name on the screen. You should also see the words "pre-registered" as in the picture below." If you do not, please contact me and we can see where the error occurred.
Since it is now February and you are getting new students pre-registering from your open houses, you do have the ability to add them into PowerSchool now for the 2009-2010 school year. You do NOT have to do anything for the re-registering students you already have - the server will automatically move them to the next grade level when we take the system down in July to do the upgrade. If you pre-register a student and for some reason they do not attend your school in September, you just let me know and I will delete them from the system so you do not have to pay for the record.
When you enroll a student during the school year, you have a second step of enrolling them in a teacher's class. THIS STEP IS NOT DONE NOW. You will be enrolling all new and returning students in their homeroom and respective other classes in August when the system becomes available to you again.
Some of the following is a repeat from lesson one of this blog with a twist:
Here's the directions to enroll a new student now for the next school year(CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO SEE IT LARGER):
First, log on and choose the link for Special Functions:
Then choose the link to Enroll New Student (all links in PowerSchool are alphabetically arranged):
Then complete the information on the following page. Do not forget to put in the FTE (this means full time equivalent - the child equals one full person in our school) and be careful to check the grade level. The most common mistake is that the grade level is not checked and the child automatically ends up in PreK or grade 9 depending on the school. Then you will have to call me because you are not able to fix it :)
As you can see in this next picture, YOU MUST USE AN ENROLL DATE of 8/1/2009:
Beneath the items pictured you add the address, mother's name, father's name and sibling names if known. Once you click submit you will be taken to a page where students with the same last name, phone number or similar last names are shown. If the child is not one of those listed, don't worry if a sibling is listed, then click on continue and the child will be pre-registered in your school. You are not finished ~ the child's records must be updated with other information. Click on "Demographics Modify" on the left side of your screen and add other valuable information. Viewing the child will show them as being a member of your school by the initials of your school next to the name on the screen. You should also see the words "pre-registered" as in the picture below." If you do not, please contact me and we can see where the error occurred.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Administrators can view TeacherGrade Books
Principals,
You can view your teachers' PowerSchool gradebooks without using the teachers' account. Here's how: once you log on, click on "Reports" on the left hand menu and then choose "Run Reports." From there scroll down the menu until you come to the choice, "Teacher Gradebooks" as shown in the picture.
Once you are in this screen, you can choose either one teacher or as many as you wish by clicking and holding the control key at the same time. You can choose the specific classes they teach or let all classes in the teacher's gradebook be shown. Once you make your choices, go to the bottom of the page and click "submit."
After you are directed to your report queue page, click the "refresh" button on the page until you see the word "view" in blue on the right hand side. Once you click on the blue "view" word you will be able to look through the reports.
You can view your teachers' PowerSchool gradebooks without using the teachers' account. Here's how: once you log on, click on "Reports" on the left hand menu and then choose "Run Reports." From there scroll down the menu until you come to the choice, "Teacher Gradebooks" as shown in the picture.
Once you are in this screen, you can choose either one teacher or as many as you wish by clicking and holding the control key at the same time. You can choose the specific classes they teach or let all classes in the teacher's gradebook be shown. Once you make your choices, go to the bottom of the page and click "submit."
After you are directed to your report queue page, click the "refresh" button on the page until you see the word "view" in blue on the right hand side. Once you click on the blue "view" word you will be able to look through the reports.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
URGENT - A Necessary Upgrade for January 15-16, 2009
Administrators,
This information is on the teacher's blog:
Teachers,
We apologize for the short notice, but PowerSchool will not be available from just after midnight tonight, January 15th until midday tomorrow, January 16th. You will NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE ATTENDANCE OR INPUT GRADES AT THAT TIME. Once the system is back up in the afternoon you will be informed and you can then take attendance.
Thank you for your patience, this upgrade will help all teachers who use category weighing.
Adele
This information is on the teacher's blog:
Teachers,
We apologize for the short notice, but PowerSchool will not be available from just after midnight tonight, January 15th until midday tomorrow, January 16th. You will NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE ATTENDANCE OR INPUT GRADES AT THAT TIME. Once the system is back up in the afternoon you will be informed and you can then take attendance.
Thank you for your patience, this upgrade will help all teachers who use category weighing.
Adele
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