Category: News and Announcements

Ugly bug.. yucks! :(

Azreen LatiffLeave a comment

Bugs and software go together like butter on toast. There’s just no escape.

We recently encountered a cosmetically ugly bug that got introduced when Adobe upgraded their Flash software. What happens is that text in certain parts of QuickSchools now appears vertically.

We have researched this issue and have contacted Adobe to get it sorted out. Needless to say, this bug has caused a lot of irritation to many Flash users, including users of QuickSchools.

There are a few areas affected by this bug, but most notable is the Homework module, especially if you’re a parent. If you regularly update your browsers, you may have seen this bug rearing it’s ugly head.

For some schools that use the homework module extensively, we’ve put together a temporary workaround to help parents print out homework assignments for their child. We can enable a “Reports” tab for parents to access homework assignments, instead of the previously used “Homework” tab. Parents can then print the homework assignments directly from the browser, or even export it to excel.

We have since rid this bug with a temporary patch but just in case it comes out again (you’ll just never know in software!), contact us so we can turn on the Reports tab for the parents again.

This particular bug is a little annoying to say the least but rest assured, we’ll continue working with Adobe on this, and it will be exterminated! For more information on this bug, check out this link.

https://bugbase.adobe.com/index.cfm?event=bug&id=2941694

New Subscriber Testimonial

Azroy KandanLeave a comment

Hi everyone,

We were pleasantly surprised this summer, when we received a video testimonial from a recent subscriber, the Mars Hill Christian School in Fairfield CA. The video came fully edited (and very well, I might add), by Pastor Jason Yarbrough, the principal of the school. Watch and listen to what Pastor Jason Yarbrough had to say when he found QuickSchools:

Jason Yarbrough shares his views on why he chose QuickSchools.

You can check out more of Jason’s videos on his youtube channel here.

If you’re interested in a fully integrated school administration system, where you can quickly share student information with parents online, why give us a try  at http://www.quickschools.com?

Check out more videos of QuickSchools on our youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/quickschools

Select a template for your school’s report card soon

Azreen Latiff2 Comments

As we announced last month, the new report cards module is out and since then we’ve been building a bank of templates for you. There are of course various styles and formats to suit the diverse requirements i.e. from pre school right up to college level. We want to start showcasing these templates to give you an idea of what’s available to help you select the right template(s) for your school.

In this post, we’ll go over the 2 distinct template styles e.g.

  • The classic style template which supports marks, grade, effort, comments template.
  • The high school/college style templates with support for credits and GPA values.

The single term template e.g. Classic White

QuickSchools Report Cards template - Classic White

The Classic White template is a single term template that supports the following fields:

  • Marks column (can be automatically filled out from the Gradebook)
  • Letter-grades (also from the gradebook)
  • Effort column (can be filled out via the Report cards module)
  • Comments section
  • This template can also support multiple criteria per subject

Variation of Classic White can be found in the other templates e.g.

  • Adding sections for homeroom teacher and principal comments – see Hot Safari
  • Adding a general section which is not subject related e.g. behavior – see Night Sky III

The college style template

The second style we’d like to highlight is the college style template. This is more typically used by high schools and colleges. The “Classy Clay” example template shown below is perfect if you’d like to show grades for 2 semesters. The template will calculate the GPA automatically and also has areas for attendance and comments.

QuickSchools report card template - Classy Clay

Variations of the college style templates are available in the following:

  • Elegant Blue (GPA, credits, cumulative GPA & credits and also the grades achieved for the term)
  • Contemporary Quarters (supports 4 quarters display)

There are of course more templates available in your QuickSchools accounts. Feel free to check them out and let’s get you up and running on a nice template when school reopens.

CCEA East Coast Conference 2011

Azroy KandanLeave a comment

Hi everyone,

Last June 23-24, we were again at the CCEA East Coast Conference in Farmington NY. This was our third straight year at this conference. This is where we met some of our strongest supporters, like the Finger Lakes Christian Academy (FLCS) in Seneca Falls NY, as well as the Calvary Chapel Christian School in Fredericktown PA.

Pastor Scott from FLCS has been using QuickSchools for several years now. You’ll see his video testimonials from 2009 on our YouTube channel. And this is from before our official launch in August 2009. Our software was evolved tremendously since then.

We mentioned the folks from Fredericktown at last year’s CCEA East Coast Conference. Just this past year, they started using the Report Cards module. They’ve been using QuickSchools for 2 years now. They were kind enough to share with us a few words while at the this most recent conference. Check out what they had to say:

Beckie Cannon and Carol Steve share about their experiences using QuickSchools. Recorded at Farmington NY

We have many new features planned for this summer, and also for the coming year. We’ll continue to listen to what schools are looking for in a great school management system, and build it into future releases. If you haven’t tried QuickSchools yet, just sign up for a free trial. It’s powerfully simple!

For more information about QuickSchools, come chat with us at http://www.quickschools.com

Thank you from Team QuickSchools!

Azreen LatiffLeave a comment

Hello everyone,

It’s been a fantastic year for QuickSchools and we just want to say thank you to all of you for your support, thoughtful feedback and warm compliments. The encouragement we receive from you inspire us to work harder and make QuickSchools even better for everyone.

We have also been really privileged to have the opportunity to get to know many of you better throughout the course of the year. And we even had the pleasure of meeting some of you on the road as we make our way through the conference circuit. We look forward to getting to know everyone more as we head into the 2011/2012 school year and beyond.

We are continuously amazed at the dedication we see from the school administrators, the teachers and parents to making sure that students get the best care and wholesome education they deserve. It’s truly inspiring stuff. And we are absolutely excited to be by your side and helping any way we can to improve education for children all around the world.

Looking back, I am sure there were moments when we answered chat a second later than you would have preferred or you felt a feature could be just that bit smoother and many other imperfections. For those moments, we truly apologize.  We’ll keep on improving though and that’s a promise!

As we chart the course for next year, we’d love to hear your thoughts on improvements you’d like to see in QuickSchools. Right now, we’re working on the transcripts module to make it cool and awesome like the Report Cards module and we have a very nice surprise for everyone in a couple of months. Won’t say what it is but we’re super excited about it. 🙂

Ooops I digress. So, please let us have your feedback and thoughts for next year. Already we hear requests for an iPad version, online payments, language support etc etc. Let us know and help us make QuickSchools better for you.

Finally, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Azreen and Team QuickSchools

Testimonial from Westfall Academy in Rochester NY

Azroy Kandan1 Comment

During my recent trip to Farmington NY to attend the Calvary Chapel Education Associate (CCEA) East Coast Conference, I took the opportunity to visit Sr. Yasmin Kabir, at Westfall Academy in Rochester NY. Westfall Academy incidentally is one of our first subscribers, and has been using QuickSchools since before our official launch in August 2009. They have been very supporting of our growth, as we have with theirs. Here she is sharing a few words about her experience using QuickSchools.

Sr. Yasmin Kabir shares about QuickSchools

Founded in 2004, Westfall Academy is a small Islamic school, catering to Pre-K thru 5th Grade. They have steadily grown to about 100 students this year. To find out more about Westfall Academy, you can visit their website at http://www.westfallacademy.org.

For more information about QuickSchools, come chat with us at http://www.quickschools.com

Check out more videos of QuickSchools on our youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/quickschools

Testimonial from La Paz Community School, Costa Rica

Azroy KandanLeave a comment

A little over a year ago, we signed on a school from Guanacaste, Costa Rica. They are a private, non-profit, preschool through high school, serving about 200 students in English and Spanish. They have very specific requirements when it came to report cards. Now fast forward a year and a half later, Abel McClennon, principal of La Paz Community School, shares his experience using QuickSchools. Thank you Mr Abel, for sending us this video:

Mr. Abel McClennon speaks about QuickSchools

For more information about La Paz Community School, you can visit their website at http://www.lapazschool.org.

For more information about QuickSchools, come chat with at us at http://www.quickschools.com

Check out more videos of QuickSchools on our youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/quickschools

Have a great summer everyone!

Share the love!

Azreen LatiffLeave a comment

Did you ever notice the “Share the love!” link near the top right of your screen? If you think you know of a fellow educator who would benefit from using QuickSchools at their school, simply send them a message via the “Share the love!” button and we’ll do the rest.

We hope through your recommendation, they’ll give QuickSchools a try and fall in love with us, or more like with our our sweet attendance or smooth gradebook modules. 🙂

And should everything work out and they subscribe at the end of their trial, your school will get 50% off it’s monthly subscription for 2 straight months. And we think your principal should share those savings with you for a fun activity for your class. But hey, that’s just our opinion… 🙂

With all sincerity, thanks so much for helping spread the word about QuickSchools. We just want to keep on delighting more schools around the world by giving them the best online student information system they’ve ever experienced!