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Implementing PowerSchool SMS

PowerSchool SMS is a centralized solution, giving districts the ability to maintain both district-wide and school-specific data in the same, centralized database.

Overview of the steps

This section provides an overview of the steps involved in implementing PowerSchool SMS [see also Implementation planning >>].

Define the calendar

When you first sign in to set up PowerSchool SMS, you must sign in with a District Administrator role; it is the only user account that has the required permissions to set up district calendars. Calendars are the foundation on which other information is built and you cannot navigate in the system until you have set up a calendar [see District calendar setup >>].

Three types of calendars are available:

After you create calendars at the district level, schools have access to calendars at the school level [see School calendar setup >>] School Active Calendar [>>].

The options available for setting up calendars depend on whether you are installing PowerSchool SMS for the first time or upgrading from a previous version:

Defining the district calendar after a new installation

When you install PowerSchool SMSfor the first time [>>], you must create an active calendar.

After creating the active calendar, do not immediately create a planning calendar. See Choosing an approach to the planning calendar [>>].

To create the active calendar:You can do this if your role is District Administrator.[DA]

1

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

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Under District, select District Calendar.

3

From the Actions menu, click Add Active Calendar.

4

In the blank row that appears, define the active calendar as follows:

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District Calendar Name: A description for the active calendar, such as "2009-2010".

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Start: The first day of the active calendar, such as "08/10/2009".

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End: The last day of the active calendar, such as "08/09/2010". Ensure it is long enough to encompass the calendar of every school in the district, including summer schools. The end date can be 1 to 550 days after the start date., to accommodate major changes in calendars. Typically, it is 364 days after the start date.

5

Click OK. The District Setup page appears.

6

Continue with Identify the district and schools [>>].

Defining the district calendars after an upgrade

During an upgrade, PowerSchool SMS creates district calendars automatically. You may need to change the names and dates of these default calendars. To encourage a review of the calendars, PowerSchool SMS takes you to the District Calendar page when you first sign in. For a list of the calendars that are created and their default settings, see Default district calendars [>>].

Even though a planning calendar exists, do not immediately start setting it up. See Choosing an approach to the planning calendar [>>].

To change district calendars, see Managing a district's calendars [>>]

Choosing an approach to the planning calendar

Before setting up a planning calendar, decide how you will manage your district's course catalog. The course catalog is specific to each calendar at the district level. When you create a planning calendar, PowerSchool SMS takes a copy of course catalog in the active calendar. From then on, the two course catalogs are independent of one another.

If you already have a planning calendar, set up the course catalog only in the planning calendar. Ignore the course catalog in the active calendar, even if some of it is set up. If you do not have a planning calendar yet, we recommend that you set up the course catalog in the active calendar and then create a planning calendar. By using this approach, you:

If you want, however, you can start setting up the course catalog in the active calendar, create the planning calendar, and then finish setting up the course catalog in the planning calendar. Or you can set up the course catalog only in the planning calendar, and leave the course catalog in the active calendar empty. Whatever choice you make, pick an approach and stick to it.

Identify the district and schools

Set up district profile and district preferences

Create the district profile and set up general district preferences. The district profile includes the demographic information associated with the district see Entering District-specific information [>>]. The district preferences include settings for how student numbers are generated and padded, how students are enrolled, settings for required enrollment fields, and technical information associated with how PowerSchool SMS is set up see District setup [>>].

Create school profiles

The district administrator adds a profile for each school. For information about adding schools, see Adding schools [>>].

Standardize district-wide data

Populate Setup Lists

The district administrator populates the Setup Lists. For information about working with Setup Lists, see Ensure consistent data [>>].

Define district-wide grade levels

The district administrator defines the grade levels used in the district. Information entered in the Description field is visible in reports and in drop down lists found throughout PowerSchool SMS. In addition, for reporting purposes, enter information in the State Code and State Description fields. This is useful if the state codes and descriptions are different from those recognized by the district.

Define district-level course catalog

The district administrator defines the course catalog used by all schools in the district. The course catalog contains the subject framework and subjects for elementary schools, and courses for middle and secondary schools. Create the course catalog and assign subjects and courses to the schools in the district. You can assign the same subject or course to multiple schools.

For information on setting up the course catalog, see The district course catalog [>>].

Import student data

To reduce data-entry time when initially transferring data from your existing system to PowerSchool SMS, use ASCII Import to automatically import student data into district-wide fields, such as demographic, medical, and test score data.

For more information, see Overview of Import/Export [>>].

Set up log on accounts

As a District Administrator, you set up log on accounts and user roles for district and school users. Roles are assigned to each account. For more information, see User accounts [>>].

If your school uses Active Directory, refer to theDirectory Integrator Guide for more information about working with roles, accounts, and staff records.

Set up user roles

Set up roles suited for district and school users. User roles are a grouping of permission settings often associated with a specific job description. PowerSchool SMS provides a number of pre-defined roles suited for school users, such as Teacher and School Administrator. For more information, see Managing roles [>>].

Set up user accounts

Set up district user accounts and assign permissions using custom roles. In addition, set up school user accounts and assign access permissions using the PowerSchool SMS pre-defined roles, such as School Administrator, School Secretary, and Teacher. For more information, see Role permissions [>>].

Note: Before users can sign in to PowerSchool SMS, you must set up staff records. For more information, see School staff [>>].

Customize PowerSchool SMS

Create custom pages

The district administrator creates customized pages to meet the unique needs of the district. For example, new pages are created with custom fields so district and school staff can enter district-wide Special Education data about each student [see Customizing a system >>]. Note: All custom pages are district-wide.

Create custom district and school reports

You have a number of options when using the report functionality in PowerSchool SMS:

For more information about creating custom reports, see Report Writing [>>].

Standardize school setup

Complete school setup tasks for "source" school

Determine which schools will serve as the "source" for other compatible schools in the district. For example, use an elementary school to serve as the source for other elementary schools in the district.

Complete all PowerSchool SMS school setup tasks for the source school. This includes:

In addition to school setup data, you can also standardize grading setup information, such as:

For more information, see Adding schools [>>] and School setup [>>].

Standardize school setup data for "target" schools

The district administrator creates standardized school setup data for all PowerSchool SMS schools in the district. Use the Copy School Information feature to copy the school setup information from the source school to all target schools in the district.

For more information, see Adding schools [>>].

Advise school administrators that school setup is complete

The district administrator advises the school administrators when school setup is complete at each school. School staff can then set up homerooms, schedule students, and- if your district policy allows - add any additional school-specific setup data they might need.

For more information, see Adding schools [>>] and School setup [>>].

Use PowerSchool SMS to maintain district and school data

District and school staff can use PowerSchool SMS to perform key district-wide tasks, such as:

School staff can use PowerSchool SMS to perform key school-specific tasks, such as:

In addition, PowerSchool SMS enables you to report on student data, making it easy for schools and districts to track students scholastic performance.

For information about:

www.powerschool.com
Tel: 866-434-6276
Email: smssupport@powerschool.com

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