Community Service App
We have released our new Community Service app in our App Store. This QuickSchools app allows schools to track students’ Community Service hours from the Student Record. You can also keep track of awards that students have received.
Once the app is installed users with access will see a new Community Service tab in the student record. Click here to learn more
New Release: Sprint D14
Sprint D14 was released today. Here’s a list of the latest QuickSchools improvements:
- Bulk Email Report Cards (see below)
- SBG Improvements
- Hiding Grades from Parents and Students
- Bug Fixes for expanded Mastery Levels Support
- Fee Tracking Payment Allocation (see below)
- New Auto Allocation when Balance is Zero
- Online Payment Allocation fix for Transaction Fees
- Gradebook (see below)
- Ability to disallow teachers from updating old Gradebooks (from previous semesters)
- Bug Fix for handling deleted subjects
- Miscellaneous Bug Fixes for Report Creator, Custom Usernames for Parents, and Private Messaging
Bulk Email Report Cards
We now have a new feature where you can bulk email report cards to parents. Just select the report cards you want to send out (under “Report Cards” > “Report Cards”), and use the check box on the top right corner, and select “Email Report Card”:
Bulk Email Report Cards
Gradebook
You can now disallow teachers from editing gradebooks from previous terms. From the “Settings” page (under “Turn Features On / Off”), simply configure the Gradebook module to “Disallow teachers from editing gradebook for non-active semesters”:
Disallow Gradebook for Non-Active Terms
Be sure to include any administrative users who should continue to have edit access to gradebooks for inactive terms. Once enabled, the “Edit anyways” button that is typically visible to teachers will be removed: Read more…
New Principals for Long-Time Subscribers
If you are a new principal or administrator starting off at a school that has been with QuickSchools for a while you will want to check this out.
Learning how to navigate a Student Information System (SIS) that is already up and running may seem like a laborious task but no worries, we are here to help! Below are some tips on how to get yourself acquainted with QuickSchools and our different features.
Accessing QuickSchools for the First Time
In order to access QuickSchools an existing user with admin access will need to invite you to use the system and assign you to the “School Admin” role. Once you are invited you will receive an email with login instructions
Having School Admin access will give you full control of your schools QuickSchools account. School admin will have access to the subscription information and account information for your school. Some other things that only admin can do are:
- Add/Edit Teachers Records
- Manage Student Records
- Manage Features & User Access
- Install/Uninstall Apps
- Invite Parents/Students/Teachers to use QuickSchools
Activating a New Semester
In QuickSchools, academic terms are self-contained, meaning that when you edit/create subjects and enrollments in one semester, it does not affect other semesters within your account. Before activating a new term, we recommend checking out this article: Checklist when Transitioning to a New Term/Semester.
To activate the next term, go to New Semester Setup > View All Semesters > click Activate across the new term:
Activating the next term
Note: If you have not added the new term, click the Add New Semester button to create one.
In activating the next term, you’ll have the option to copy info from the active term or activate an empty semester:
Yes, copy info (Recommended) – the system copies all data from the active term into the new term. Subjects and enrollments are carried over – so you’re pretty much all set for the new semester. Note that some modules are reset so you’ll have a fresh semester to accommodate new data. This way data are separated by terms. Modules like Gradebook, Homework, Class Discussions, and Scheduling are blank when you start a new term.
No, just activate empty semester – you’ll get a new semester without subjects, grade levels, and homerooms. So all students won’t have assigned grade levels, no homeroom enrollments, and no subject enrollments. You’d have create the student grade levels and homerooms, then assign to students. You also need to create new subjects and enroll the students accordingly.
Once you have activated the new term, teachers can start doing the following on the fresh semester:
- Take attendance
- Enter grades in the Gradebook
- Post homework, lesson plans, Class Discussions
Admins can also start creating report card for the newly activated semester (only if done with the previous semester’s report cards).
Important Notes:
- In this article, the word TERM is also equivalent to SEMESTER and QUARTER. It simply refers to your grading periods within an academic year.
- The instruction in this article shows how to activate a new term within the same academic year. If you need to activate a new academic year’s semester, check out our article – Creating New Academic Year.
Checklist when Transitioning to a New Term/Semester
We’re gearing towards the end of the term, what should I do to ensure I’m set for the next term?
Note: In this article, the word TERM also equates to QUARTER and SEMESTER – however you call the grading periods in your school.
The list below will help you identify if you’re ready for the next term:
- Teachers are done taking attendance for current term
- Teachers have completed entering Gradebook grades for the current term (but there’s a way for teachers to enter grades for the previous term, see below)
- Report Cards grades are correct, and teachers are pretty much done entering comments in it.
- No pending tasks on all the other modules like Homework, Class Discussions, etc.
Once you’re done with the items listed above, you’re all set to move to the next term. Click here for instructions in creating and activating a new term. After activating the new term, you’re good to go. Teachers may start entering attendance, grades, homework, and other data for the new term.
We’ve put in some FAQs that might be helpful for you:
1. When do I activate the next term?
Answer: We recommend activating the next term when the current term is about to end. This is to ensure that the latest data from the active term are copied into the next term.
In activating the next term, the system copies data from the active term into the new term. So if you added new subjects and enrollments after activating the next term, these data won’t appear in the next term; you’d have to recreate them in the next term.
2. Can we activate the next term ahead of time so we can start creating schedules, posting homework, etc.?
Answer: Yes, just take note of the things mentioned above.
3. What if I activate the term late?
Answer: Best practice would be to activate the new semester before it starts. This is to avoid possible problems it can cause to the teachers:
- Attendance entered in the wrong semester
- Grades entered in the previous semester’s Gradebook (e.g. Term-2 grades entered in Term-1 gradebook)
- Homework, Lesson Plans, Class Discussions posted in the wrong semester
4. Can teachers enter grades in the Gradebook for previous terms?
Answer: Yes, the teacher simply needs to select the previous semester in the Semester drop-down box
5. Teachers are still entering comments in the Report Cards, can I go ahead and activate the next term?
Answer: Yes, you can migrate to the next term even if the teachers are still working on the current term’s report cards. Report Cards remain unlocked and editable until you lock/publish them. For more info in publishing report cards, click here.
6. What data gets copied into the new term?
Answer: When activating a new term, you’ll have the option to copy data from the currently active term:
The system copies all data, but some modules are reset so you’ll have a fresh semester to accommodate new data. Modules like Gradebook, Homework, Class Discussions, Scheduling, etc. are blank when you start a new term.
If you activate an empty semester though, you’ll get a new semester with blank subjects, grade levels, and homerooms. So all students won’t have assigned grade levels, no homeroom enrollments, and no subject enrollments.
QuickSchools Integration to Schoology
We’ve gotten a lot of traction in recent weeks with the QuickSchools integration to Schoology app that’s available on our App Store. We’ve actually had several improvements released over the previous Sprints D11 and D10. And we thought it was high time we also updated our online support documentation on it too. For latest documentation on the Integration to Schoology app, check out this link:
Just to highlight some key points:
- If you already have student data in Schoology, you can map your students in QuickSchools with students in Schoology. Same thing goes for other elements like Teachers, Semesters and Subjects.
- If you are new to Schoology, you can export all related data (i.e. students, teachers, semesters and subjects) from QuickSchools to Schoology. Data will be automatically mapped.
- Once your core roster data are mapped, you can then synchronize the grades from your Schoology Gradebook into your QuickSchools Gradebook. The synchronization can be scheduled to run daily.
- Once Gradebook data is transferred to QuickSchools, you can then use that data to generate Report Cards and Transcripts.
Schoology Integration App on QuickSchools App Store
We do integrate with other Learning Management Systems (LMS) other than Schoology. Some examples include Canvas (Beta), and Haiku (Beta). We are also looking into integrating with OdysseyWare as well. If you are interested in integration with any of these Learning Management Systems, or you have another LMS in mind, please feel free to reach out to our technical staff.
Latest Improvements to SBG (D13)
Although Sprint D13 was released early last week, there were some planned improvements to the Standards-Based Gradebook (SBG) that were only released this week. Here, we discuss those improvements:
- “Standard Gradebook” tab on the Student record
- Mastery Levels Improvements
“Standard Gradebook” tab on Student record
When configuring the SBG app in QuickSchools, there is now a new option to “Turn on standard gradebook tab”:
Turn on Standards Gradebook tab
With this setting turned on, you can now access a students SBG records directly from the student record, via a new “Standard Gradebook” tab:
Standards Gradebook tab on Student record
Mastery Levels Improvements
When editing the “Standards-Based Setup” screen, the “Mastery Levels” section now supports additional Mastery Levels, which can be assigned by grade level: Read more…
