| 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:

Set up scheduling elements [>>] (required)

Set up a subject framework for an elementary school [>>]

Set up multiple tracks [>>]

Set up homerooms [>>]

Configure student loading rules [>>]

Set subject scheduling rules for an elementary school [>>]

Set up classes for an elementary school [>>]

Student schedule creation for an elementary school [>>]

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	[>>]
Schedule core and specialty subjects.	School Setup > Subject Framework / Course Catalog	View or Edit	[>>]
Add, edit, and delete buildings.	Facilities Management > Buildings	Delete	[>>]
Add, edit, and delete buildings.	School Setup > Secondary Scheduling Setup	Yes	[>>]
Add, edit, and delete rooms.	Facilities Management > Rooms	Delete	[>>]
Add, edit, and delete rooms.	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	[>>]
Define schedules for classes.	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	[>>]
Assign default classes based on student homerooms.	Students > Edit Student Schedules	Yes	[>>]
Re-assign default classes based on student homerooms.	School Setup > Subject Scheduling	Edit	[>>]
Re-assign default classes based on student homerooms.	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	[>>]
Assign resource services to students.	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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