| Scheduling > Scheduling an elementary school

Scheduling an elementary school

Typically, a School Administrator creates an elementary school's initial schedule in the Planning Calendar [>>]. At year end [>>], the Planning Calendar becomes the Active Calendar [>>] and the administrator continues to make adjustments to the school schedule throughout the school year. Some scheduling tasks, such as setting up resource services and a resource roster, can only be completed in the Planning Calendar and others can only be completed in the Active Calendar thus the administrator may need to switch between them [>>].

For the purposes of elementary scheduling, the following terms are useful:

= Homeroom: A group of students, usually in the same grade, who spend most of their time together. In a homeroom, students have attendance taken and receive instruction in core subjects, such as Math, Language Arts, and Social Studies. For example, Homeroom 1-A is a Grade 1 homeroom where twenty-five Grade 1 students spend most of their time.
= Class: A group of students who meet regularly to receive instruction in a subject from a specific teacher. For example, Band 4 meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2 p.m. with Mr. Bell providing instruction for thirty Grade 4 students.
= Subject see Set up a subject framework for an elementary school [>>]
= Room: Specifies the location of classes not taught in the homeroom. Typically, in elementary schools, classes are taught in the homeroom. If a class is not taught in the homeroom, you can specify a different room. For example, all computer classes are taught in the computer lab in room 102.

The general scheduling setup procedure is as follows:

1 Set up scheduling elements [>>] (required)
2 Set up a subject framework for an elementary school [>>]
3 Set up multiple tracks [>>]
4 Set up homerooms [>>]
5 Configure student loading rules [>>]
6 Set subject scheduling rules for an elementary school [>>]
7 Set up classes for an elementary school [>>]
8 Student schedule creation for an elementary school [>>]
9 Assign resource services [>>]

If it is a requirement that an elementary school track instructional minutes or create multiple tracks [>>], the School Administrator sets up a scheduling structure; this involves the following:

= Defining scheduling groups [>>]
= Defining day patterns and Special Days [>>]
= Setting up bell schedules [>>]
= Setting up meeting patterns [>>]
= Applying a constraint [>>]

Keep in mind:

= Every student in an elementary school must be assigned to a homeroom [>>]. A student's current grade level must match a grade level assigned to his or her homeroom.
= The administrator can choose to automatically assign subjects to a student, based on the student's grade level [>>]. As a result, all students in a particular grade receive instruction in the core subjects associated with that grade, such as Language Arts, Math, and Social Studies. A subject can be taught either in the homeroom or in a different room. For example, multiple homerooms in a grade can be scheduled to take Grade 5 PE together, which is taught in the Gymnasium.
= The administrator can automatically assign a student to classes based on that student's homeroom [>>]. For example, the administrator can designate Social Studies 4 as a subject whose classes correspond to specific homerooms. As a result, students in Homeroom 4-A are automatically assigned to the Social Studies 4 (4-A) class.
= The administrator can create enough classes to accommodate all the students in a grade who are taking a particular subject. For example, if there are ninety students in Grade 3 who are taking Computer Applications and the administrator wants to limit the class size to fifteen students, he or she can create six classes.
= Students automatically receive a schedule of most of their core and specialty subjects (also known as non-academic subjects), based on the homeroom and grade assignment. The administrator can adjust class rosters to accommodate exceptions, such as team teaching [>>].

Table 57: Permissions pertaining to elementary scheduling

To

You need this permission

Set to

Details

Switch between calendars.

School Setup > Define School Calendar

Yes

[>>]

Specify calendar day exceptions and Special Days for the Active Calendar.

School Setup > Calendar Day Exceptions

Delete

[>>]

Create and edit day types.

School Setup > Day Type Setup List

Yes

[>>]

View the subject framework.

School Setup > Subject Framework / Course Catalog

View

[>>]

Schedule core and specialty subjects.

School Setup > Subject Scheduling

Edit

[>>]

School Setup > Subject Framework / Course Catalog

View or Edit

[>>]

Add, edit, and delete buildings.

Facilities Management > Buildings

Delete

[>>]

School Setup > Secondary Scheduling Setup

Yes

[>>]

Add, edit, and delete rooms.

Facilities Management > Rooms

Delete

[>>]

School Setup > Secondary Scheduling Setup

Yes

[>>]

Set up the scheduling structure.

School Setup > Secondary Scheduling Structure Setup

Yes

[>>]

Define schedules for classes.

School Setup > Classes

Yes

[>>]

School Setup > Secondary Scheduling Setup

Yes

[>>]

Define class or homeroom constraints.

School Setup > Define Constraints - School

Delete

[>>]

Schedule a student into a class for which the student exceeds the constraints.

School Setup > Override Constraints

Yes

[>>]

Assign default classes based on student homerooms.

School Setup > Subject Scheduling

Edit, Delete, or None

[>>]

Students > Edit Student Schedules

Yes

[>>]

Re-assign default classes based on student homerooms.

School Setup > Subject Scheduling

Edit

[>>]

Students > Edit Student Schedules

Yes

[>>]

Create resource services.

School Setup > Resource Services

Delete

[>>]

Update the scheduling statistics.

School Setup > Change Planning Schedule

Yes

[>>]

Assign resource services to students.

Students > Resource Assignments

Delete

[>>]

Students > Edit Student Schedules

Edit

[>>]

Set up homerooms for scheduling.

School Setup > Homerooms

Delete

[>>]

Assign homerooms to students.

Students > Assign Homerooms

Yes

[>>]

Make changes to student schedules.

Students > Edit Student Schedules

Yes

[>>]

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