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Getting started

You get access to PowerSchool SMS by using a web browser such as Internet Explorer® or Safari® . You sign in [>>] to a web page that is set up for use across your district. Each web browser page gives you access to information that is stored in a central location on the network.

Signing in

To work with PowerSchool SMS, you must first sign in to your district's system. For this purpose you need:

The User ID matches a user account [>>] and determines the role(s) [>>] to which you have access. A User ID is provided by the system's administrator. On some systems, the ID's prefix is a domain name and the ID matches your domain login ID.

This is provided by the system's administrator for use with a User ID. It is case-sensitive. On some systems, the password is identical to the domain login ID. The user can change his or her own password [Figure 3].

Also known as a URL, this address is provided by the system's administrator [see System maintenance & setup >>]. An example is "http://DistrictServer/PowerSchoolSMS/User/Login.aspx".

To sign in to PowerSchool SMS:

1

On your computing device, open a web browser.

2

In the browser's Address field [Figure 2], enter the web address of your district's PowerSchool SMS system.

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Once you have entered the address in the web browser, consider adding it to your list of favorites so that you can return to it without typing.

3

Press the Enter key. The PowerSchool SMS Sign In page opens [Figure 3].

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This page displays the version number of the PowerSchool SMS system software [Figure 3].

4

Enter a User ID.

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The User ID field is not sensitive to case.

5

Enter a Password.

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The Password field is sensitive to case.

6

Click Sign In. The home page appears [>>].

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If your user account has more than one role and you have not yet chosen a default role [>>], the Choose Role dialog appears. Select the default role that you would like to enter automatically each time you sign in.

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Caution: For a District Administrator to sign in as a school-level user, that administrator's user account must have an appropriate role [>>] AND a staff record at that school [>>].

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You can switch roles while staying logged on [>>].

Figure 2: Web browser: Address field

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Figure 3: Sign In page

Signing out

When you sign in to a PowerSchool SMS system, you start a work session. PowerSchool SMS continues your session until you sign out or until you do not interact with PowerSchool SMS for a certain period of time (typically 20 minutes, unless your district has changed this to some other length of time).

Five minutes before your session will end due to inactivity, a countdown notification appears in which you can choose to continue working with the session or end it. If you choose to end the session or if you do nothing, PowerSchool SMS signs you out and the sign-in page appears. Note: Make sure you save your work in PowerSchool SMS before you end your session or before your session times out. A system administrator can adjust the length of the timeout period for all users of a system [>>].

To sign out of from PowerSchool SMS:

In the top right corner of the PowerSchool SMS window [Figure 6], click Sign out. The Sign In page appears.

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Or click the web browser's close button [Figure 4].

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Or click End Session in the session notification dialog.

Figure 4: Web browser: Close

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

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