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Projecting enrollment for the next year

When the district's school year comes to an end, typically the District Administrator runs Year-End Processing [>>] to convert the Planning Calendar [>>] to the new Active Calendar. During Year-End Processing, PowerSchool SMS adjusts each student's enrollment and grade level according to the system's year-end transfer method [>>] and various student-related criteria such as the student's school's graduation grade level [>>]. For a particular student, a District or School Administrator can override the year-end transfer method and directly specify the student's enrollment [>>].

Enrollment changes during Next-Year Preparation

When a School Administrator creates a Planning Calendar, PowerSchool SMS changes each student's enrollment according to various factors [>>]. The resulting change might involve PowerSchool SMS:

In general, PowerSchool SMS can determine a student's enrollment in the Planning Calendar where:

PowerSchool SMS advances a student's grade level in his or her school (and does not transfer the student to another school) where:

To enroll a student in a grade level at a different school, PowerSchool SMS takes into account:

Controlled enrollment at a school: A School Administrator must explicitly enroll a student in a controlled enrollment program after the student has applied and been accepted. Note: A student can only be enrolled in a program if that student is enrolled at that program's school, that is, PowerSchool SMS does not automatically create participant records and program applications for a student not enrolled in the school.

The setting of Planning Calendar Requested School Controlled by Program Management see Projecting enrollment for the next year [>>]

A program session's setting for the Planning Calendar Option.

If the student is enrolled in several controlled-enrollment programs at a school.

Year-end transfer method

During Year-End Processing [>>], for each district student who has completed a grade level, PowerSchool SMS determines if that student is to be transferred to another school by applying the year-end transfer method. The District Administrator sets the method to use. Options are:

To set the year-end transfer method [You can do this if your role is District Administrator.DA]:

1

In the Admin menu, click District Setup. The District Setup page appears.

2

Under Preferences, click General.... The General Preferences popup page appears.

3

Under Year-End Transfer, set the Year End Transfer Method. Options include:

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"Projected School Map" [>>]

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"Geocode Map" [>>]

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Click Save.

Projected School Map

A Projected School Map pairs each feeder school in the district to a projected school, that is, another school in the district to which PowerSchool SMS transfers a student during Year-End Processing [>>] when that student has completed the school's graduation grade level [>>]. A School Administrator can specify the projected school for his or her school, a District Administrator for any or all schools in the district. Note: You must be in the Active Calendar [>>] to set the projected school mappings. Caution: If a student's school is not mapped to a projected school, PowerSchool SMS withdraws the student from his or her school but does not enroll the student in another.

To set a single school's projected school [You can do this if your role is School Administrator or District Administrator.SA, DA]:

1

In the School menu, click School Info. The School Info page appears.

2

Click the school's name. The School Info Detail page appears.

3

Click Edit. The School popup page appears.

4

In the Projected School drop down, select a school.

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The Projected School field appears only if the district's Year End Transfer Method is set to "Projected School Map" [>>]. At a school that does not feed students into another school, the Projected School is "N/A".

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Click Save.

To set the projected school for multiple schools in the district [You can do this if your role is District Administrator.DA]:

1

In the Admin menu, click District Setup. The District Setup page appears.

2

Under Year-End Processing, click Year-End Processing. The Year-End Processing page appears.

3

Under Step 1, click Projected Schools.... The Projected Schools popup window appears [Figure 91].

4

For each school, select the Graduation Grade and a Projected School.

5

Click Save.

Geocode Map

On a system that employs Address Validation, a District Administrator can set the year-end transfer method so that PowerSchool SMS refers to the district's Geocode Map [>>]. During Year-End Processing [>>], PowerSchool SMS uses the Geocode Map to transfer a student (where that student has completed the school's graduation grade level [>>]) to the appropriate school by examining the location of that student's residence.

The Geocode Map, created by the District Administrator, pairs each of the district's geocodes with an entry grade level [>>] at a particular school [Figure 88]. A school's entry grade can have more than one geocode assigned to it (the school can serve a broad geographical area). A geocode can be assigned to only one school's entry grade. Note: The Planning Calendar [>>] must be active for an administrator to change the Geocode Map.

Figure 88: Geocode mapping example

Note: For Year-End Processing [>>] to run successfully, the Planning Calendar must have a Geocode Map. During next-year preparation (NYP) [>>], when the District Administrator creates a Planning Calendar PowerSchool SMS copies the Geocode Map from the Active Calendar to the new Planning Calendar; the District Administrator need only adjust the Geocode Map to prepare for the next year. Any changes that the District Administrator makes to the map or geocodes take effect in the school year being planned. Note: A District Administrator can use scripts to verify the validity of the geocode map. For information, refer to the Checking Geocode Setup Technical Bulletin. Caution: If a student does not end up with a valid Geocode in the Planning Calendar, PowerSchool SMS withdraws or graduates the student from his or her school but does not enroll the student in another.

Caution: A change to the geocodes associated with a school can cause PowerSchool SMS during Year-End Processing [>>] to change a student's Zoned School [>>] for the next year. If this occurs, PowerSchool SMS takes time to implement any change to the Zoned School; it unenrolls the student from the former school and, during the nightly process, enrolls the student in the new school. You can view these changes in the Planning Calendar the next day (PowerSchool SMS displays "N/A" for the Zoned School until transfer mapping is complete).

To assign geocodes to a school's entry grade(s) [You can do this if your role is District Administrator.DA]:

1

In the Planning Calendar, in the Admin menu, click District Setup. The District Setup page appears.

2

Under District, click Next Year Preparation. The Next Year Preparation page appears.

3

Under Step 4, click Geocode Map. The Geocode Map page appears with a list of schools for which an entry grade is assigned [Figure 89].

4

In the School Name column, click the school's name. The Edit Geocode School Map page appears [Figure 90].

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For School, select an entry grade from the list.

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A District or School Administrator designates a school's entry grades [>>].

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Assign one or more geocodes by selection them, and then using the arrow key to move them from the Available Geocodes column to the Selected Geocodes column

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You can also double-click a geocode to move it from one column to another.

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Click OK.

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Caution: PowerSchool SMS takes time to process these new assignments. We recommend waiting at least overnight before conducting YEP.

Figure 89: Geocode Map page

Figure 90: Edit Geocode School Map page

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Available Geocodes: These geocodes are not yet assigned to this entry grade at any other school.

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Selected Geocodes: These geocodes are assigned to this entry grade and this school.

School graduation grade level

To determine if it should transfer a student to another school during Year-End Processing [>>], PowerSchool SMS refers to the student's school's graduation grade level. This is the grade level at which a student completes his or her education at the school. A School Administrator can specify the graduation grade level for a school, a District Administrator for any or all schools in the district. Note: To set the graduation grade level for district schools, the district's year-end transfer method must be set to Projected School Map [>>].

To set a single school's graduation grade level [You can do this if your role is School Administrator or District Administrator.SA, DA]:

1

In the School menu, click School Info. The School Info Detail page appears.

2

On the Basics panel, click Edit. The Schools popup page appears [Figure 92].

3

Under Basics, set Graduation Grade.

4

Click Save.

To set the graduation grade level for schools in the district: [You can do this if your role is Administrator.DA]

1

In the Admin menu, click District Setup. The District Setup page appears.

2

Under Year-End Processing, click Year-End Processing. The Year-End Processing page appears.

3

Under Step 1, click Projected Schools.... The Projected Schools popup window appears [Figure 91].

4

For each school, set the Graduation Grade.

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Click Save.

Figure 91: Projected Schools popup window

School entry grade level

An entry grade level at a school is a grade level into which students from other schools can be automatically transferred. Most schools have only one entry grade level set, typically the lowest grade level. However, for the purposes of the geocode mapping year-end transfer method [>>], a school may have more than one entry grade; for example, the elementary school for Geocode A may offer grade levels 1 to 5, while the elementary school for Geocode B offers grade levels 1 to 6. The middle school these students go to would have two entry grade levels: Grade 6 for students in Geocode A and Grade 7 for students in Geocode B. A District or School Administrator designates entry grade levels at a school. Note: To designate a school's grade as an entry grade, the district's year-end transfer method must be set to Geocode Map [>>].

To designate a school's grade as an entry grade: [You can do this if your role is School Administrator or District Administrator.SA, DA]

1

In the School menu, click School Info. The School Info page appears.

2

Click the school's name. The School Info Detail page appears.

3

On the Basics panel, click Edit. The Schools popup page appears [Figure 92].

4

Under School Entry Grades, designate one or more Grades as an entry grade level by transferring them to the Assigned Items column from the Available Items column.

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Double-click a grade to transfer it between columns.

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School Entry Grades is available only if the year-end transfer method is set to Geocode Map [>>].

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Click Save.

Figure 92: School Entry Grades

Specifying a student's school of enrollment for the next year

During Year-End Processing [>>], PowerSchool SMS assesses each district student for potential transfer to another school by referring to the District's transfer mapping. Typically, a student who has graduated from a school is subject to transfer to another school or graduation from the district.

A District or School Administrator can override this mapping for a particular student by requesting a particular school. For example, a student interested in a specialized vocational program would want to go to the only district school to offer such a program. Note: Since either a District or School Administrator can override the transfer mapping, we recommend that the district impose a policy on such overrides.

To project a student's enrollment [You can do this if your role is School Administrator or District Administrator.SA, DA]:

1

On a page of the student's record [>>], in the control bar click Enrollments. The Enrollments appears.

2

In the Status Code column, click an enrollment's status code. The Edit Status Code page appears.

3

Under Projected Enrollment for Planning Calendar, set options, which include:

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Zoned school (projected): The school the student is projected to attend in the next school year for this school of enrollment. PowerSchool SMS sets the school based on the year-end transfer method [>>].

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Requested school: The desired school of enrollment (home school) for the student for the next school year. Selection options include:

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"Use Zoned School": This is the default choice. Directs PowerSchool SMS to—during Year-End Processing [>>]—enroll the student in the school specified by the district's transfer mapping [>>] (Zoned School displays this school [>>]). Note: PowerSchool SMS applies this choice if the request for a specific school is rejected or fails for any reason. PowerSchool SMS also applies this choice of if the request is pending. When the request is approved, then during NYP processing PowerSchool SMS changes the student's enrollment accordingly.

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[School name]: Specifies a District school. You can choose the school if the student is currently in a graduating grade and program management does not control the requested school.

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"None": Withdraws the student from this school and prevents PowerSchool SMS from enrolling the student in another school next year. Note: Use "None" for a student who will no longer attend the school of enrollment (for example, he or she was attending an Advanced Math program at this school and does not plan to continue). During the Next-Year Preparation process, the student will be withdrawn from the school and a new enrollment record will not be created.

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If Exception reason is displayed, enter a reason. This is necessary if the system employs Address Validation and approval is required for enrollment exceptions. PowerSchool SMS enrolls the student in the Requested School only if approval is granted; otherwise PowerSchool SMS enrolls the student in the Zoned School. Note: A School Administrator can set PowerSchool SMS to automatically copy approved address exceptions for returning students from the Active Calendar to the Planning Calendar.

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Note: On a system that allows a student to be enrolled in more than one school, the administrator can specify the school to which the student should transfer for each school of enrollment: Under Planning District Calendar, click Enrollment Status. An Enrollment summary for all the student's schools appears. Under Status Code, click the status for a school and make an appropriate selection for Requested School.

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Projected Grade: PowerSchool SMS sets this grade based on the current Grade at the school of enrollment [>>]. Note: Where a student is projected to attend a new school in which she was previously enrolled, the projected grade level is NOT affected by the student's previous grade level at that school.

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Click OK.

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PowerSchool SMStakes time to implement any change to the Zoned School [>>]. It unenrolls the student from the former school and, during the nightly process, enrolls the student in the new school. You can view these changes in the Planning Calendar the next day.

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Caution: Where a student's school of enrollment changes and the student is withdrawn from a school, PowerSchool SMS deletes any schedules created for that student at that school. You cannot recover these deleted schedules.

Note: You may be prevented from projecting a student's enrollment at a school that employs controlled enrollment in the following circumstances:

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