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Ensure that the school course catalog is ready

[Applies to elementary [>>] and secondary [>>] school scheduling.]

The district course catalog defines the courses and subjects available for scheduling in schools. The District Administrator creates a Planning Calendar [>>], PowerSchool SMS copies the course catalog from the Active Calendar to this new Planning Calendar; the District Administrator need only adjust aspects of the catalog to prepare for the next year.

The District Administrator must assign the courses to schools before School Administrators can view and work with the courses.

Caution: Some adjustments to the catalog affect both the Active and Planning Calendars.

To update the course catalog for the next year: 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

Click Course Catalog. The Course Catalog Home page appears.

3

Use the following links to adjust course Setup Lists for both the active and Planning Calendars:

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PowerSchool SMS Subject Area

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PowerSchool SMS Course Type

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PowerSchool SMS Department

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PowerSchool SMS Room Type

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Use the following links to adjust the catalog for the next year:

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Subject Framework

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Courses

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Constraints (Elementary)

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Constraints (Secondary)

Setting course properties

The District Administrator sets the properties of each course, such as its name, applicable grade levels, course load value, and the maximum number of students allowed per class. A School Administrator can adjust some of these properties for a course available to his school.

To view a course's properties: 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

Click Course Catalog.

3

Click Courses. The Course List page appears displaying a list of the courses available to schools in the district.

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To include inactive courses in the list, in the Edit menu, select Show Inactive Courses.

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Alternatively, in the Course Search section, you can use a Basic or Detail search to generate a relevant list of courses from the district's course catalog. PowerSchool SMS runs the search and displays matching courses (if any) under Search Results.

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Perform the search using the same methods as a Basic [>>] or Detail [>>] search for students. You can save the results of a search, or save the search criteria for re-use as a favorite search.

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Course name is case insensitive (that is, entering "english" for the course name will produce courses named English and english).

4

In the Search Results section, under Number, click a course's number to view its properties. The Course Detail page appears.

5

In the control bar, click the course property you want to view or work with:

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Course Detail [>>]

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Course Scheduling [>>]

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Course Grading [>>]

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School Assignment [>>]

6

On each page, click Save.

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Click Reset to restore the properties to the district's values.

Course detail information includes:

Course scheduling information includes:

To change a course's Maximum students / Minimum students / Optimal students values :You can do this if your role is School Administrator.[SA]

1

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

2

Click Course Request Tally. The Course Request Tally page appears.

3

In the Course Search section, click Display All Records.

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Or, use a Basic [>>] or Detail [>>] search to generate a relevant list of courses from the district's course catalog. PowerSchool SMS runs the search and displays matching courses (if any) under Search Results.

4

Locate the course.

5

In the Opt Size column, enter a new value.

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To view the Min Size and Max Size columns and change those values, in the Edit menu select Choose Columns... and move these columns to the Selected Columns lists.

6

Click Save.

Assign subjects and courses to schools

In the Planning Calendar [>>] [>>], the District Administrator can adjust the assignment of specific subjects to each elementary school and the assignment of courses to each secondary school, before making the district course catalog available to schools.

Make the district course catalog available to schools

When the District Administrator has fully prepared the Planning Calendar [>>], he or she publishes the course list for use by secondary schools and the subject framework for use by elementary schools. Publishing these items makes the course catalog available to School Administrators. The availability of this information enables the School Administrator to schedule classes for the district's courses.

Caution: After the District Administrator publishes the course catalog, changes to that catalog are limited to the following:

To publish the district course catalog: 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

Click Next Year Preparation. The Next Year Preparation page appears.

3

Under Step 3, click Publish Calendar Items. The Publish Calendar Items page appears.

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The Date Published column indicates if any items have been published.

4

Under District Calendar Item, select the items to publish, which include:

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Course List

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Subject Framework

5

Click Publish.

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Note: PowerSchool SMS can take several hours, even overnight, to publish the selected items to all schools. The time required varies according to the number of courses, subjects, and schools.

Reserving periods for students, teachers, or room

As a School Administrator, you can reserve specific periods in the schedule for students, teachers, or rooms using a reservation label

A reservation label works like a course in the scheduling structure. PowerSchool SMS prints reservation labels on schedules.

You can assign a reservation label or let the Master Schedule Builder or Student Loader assign the label automatically based on teacher preferences and student course requests. A reservation label does not have a course number and grades and attendance are not collected for it.

PowerSchool SMS provides three types of reservation labels:

To create a reservation label: You can do this if your role is School Administrator.[SA]

1

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

2

Click Course Setup. The Course List page appears.

3

In the Actions menu, select Add Reservation Label. The Add/Edit Reservation Label page appears.

4

Set options, which include:

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Name: A descriptive name of up to 99 characters.

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Short Name: An abbreviated name of up to 11 characters. PowerSchool SMS displays this short name on the screen and in reports. PowerSchool SMS also uses this name as the course number.

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Type: Types include:

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Teacher: Indicates that this label can be assigned to a teacher.

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Student: Indicates that this label can be assigned to a student, teacher, or room. For this type, the administrator can also specify Maximum students / Minimum students / Optimal students, that is, the maximum, minimum, and optimal number of students that a class for this course should have.

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Room: the reservation label can be assigned to rooms only. Once the reservation label type is set, it cannot be changed.

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Scheduling load: The value used to determine whether the student has a full course load for the year. This value is also used to determine a teacher's scheduling load. This value can be left at its default: 0.

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Print on Reports: Specifies that this reservation label be included in printed reports, such as a teacher or student schedule. The report must be designed to accommodate this information.

5

Click Save. The Course List page appears. The new reservation label is listed under the category "Reservation Labels".

6

In the Number Column, click the name of the reservation label. The Add/Edit Reservation Label page appears.

7

In the control bar, click Reservation Offerings. The Course Offerings page appears.

8

Locate the Scheduling Group to apply to this reservation label and select it in the Default Offering column.

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(Optional) Select Allowed Offerings to enable users to schedule classes manually in different term sets.

9

Under Meeting Patterns, specify the meeting patterns available to this label by moving them to the Selected Patterns list.

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For a reservation label for a preparation period, consider assigning all the meeting patterns available. This facilitates the automatic assignment of preparation periods.

10

Click Save.

Example: Assigning a reservation label for a preparation period

A typical reservation label is one for a preparation period. You can assign a preparation period to one teacher at a time or have the Master Scheduler automatically assign preparation periods to teachers based on teacher preferences.

To assign a preparation period to a teacher: You can do this if your role is School Administrator.[SA]

1

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

2

Click Master Schedule.

3

Under By Course, under Course Search, under Basic, set up a search for "Course Subject Area equals Reservation Labels". Click Search. A list of reservation labels appears under Course Search Results.

4

Under Course Search Results, for the desired reservation label, click Add Class.

5

Select the class to which to assign the reservation label.

6

Under Class Schedule (which appears when the class is selected), select the following:

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Meeting Pattern

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Teacher

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Click Save.

To have PowerSchool SMS automatically assign preparation periods to teachers based on teacher preferences: You can do this if your role is School Administrator.[SA]

1

For each teacher, assign a preference for a preparation period:

a

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

b

Click Staff Setup.

c

Use Staff Search to find the teachers to whom you want to assign a preparation period.

d

Under Search Results, under Name, click the teacher. The Staff Scheduling Properties page appears.

e

Under Course Search, under Basic, set up a search for "Course Subject Area equals Reservation Labels". Click Search. A list of reservation labels appears under Search Results.

f

Under Search Results, select the preparation period and click Add.

g

Click OK.

h

Under Preferred Courses, select the preparation period and set its Preference to "1".

i

Click OK.

2

Create a preparation period class for each teacher who has this reservation label as a preference:

a

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

b

Click Course Request Tally. The Course Request Tally page appears.

c

Under Course Search, under Basic, set up a search for "Course Subject Area equals Reservation Labels". Click Search. A list of reservation labels appears under Search Results.

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For each reservation label, the number under Prim Reqs indicates the number of teachers who have the reservation label as a preference.

d

Select the preparation period reservation label.

e

In the Actions menu, select Calculate Classes Needed. The scheduler creates one reservation label class for each teacher who has the reservation label as a preference.

f

In the Actions menu, click Create Classes.

g

Click Save.

3

Allocate preparation period classes to teachers

a

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

b

Click Teacher Allocations. The Teacher Allocations page appears.

c

Under Course Search, under Basic, set up a search for "Course Subject Area equals Reservation Labels". Click Search. A list of reservation labels and the teachers to whom they are assigned appears under Search Results.

d

Select one or more teachers.

e

In the Actions menu, click Allocate Teachers.

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PowerSchool SMS allocates classes proportionately according to each teacher's course preference settings.

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PowerSchool SMS replaces any existing allocations, except those that are locked.

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PowerSchool SMS does not automatically allocate a class to a teacher with a preference of 9. 9 is a special setting for the purpose of holding a teacher as a spare.

f

Click Save.

4

Schedule a preparation period class:

a

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

b

Click Master Schedule.

c

Under Course Search, under Basic, set up a search for "Course Subject Area equals Reservation Labels". Click Search. A list of reservation labels and the classes to which they apply appears under Search Results.

d

Select the class(es) you want to schedule.

e

In the Actions menu, click Schedule Classes....

f

Click Save.

Example: Using reservation labels to assign a student to an early or late starting time

You can use reservation labels to reserve the early or late periods for schools that use extended day patterns. In this example, you assign to one or more students either an early start or a late start. This involves setting up a meeting pattern to reserve the first three periods of each day and another meeting pattern to reserve the last three periods of each day. This setup enables the student loader to automatically assign either an early start or a late start to the selected students and prevents the Master Scheduler from scheduling classes during the reserved times.

For this example, assume that the school has an eight-period bell schedule and students are required to attend five periods. The school has approximately 1000 students.

To assign a student to an early or late starting time: You can do this if your role is School Administrator.[SA]

1

Create early start and late start meeting patterns:

a

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

b

Click Meeting Patterns. The Meeting Patterns page appears.

c

In the Actions menu, select Add Meeting Pattern. The Add Meeting Pattern page appears.

d

Create two meeting patterns using the following settings:

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Meeting pattern name = "Reserve - am", Short name = "RAM", periods 1, 2, and 3 for each day in the day pattern

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"Reserved - pm", "RPM", periods 6, 7, and 8 for each day in the day pattern.

2

Create two reservation labels: one for the early start and one for the late:

a

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

b

Click Course Setup. The Course List page appears.

c

In the Actions menu, select Add Reservation Label. The Add/Edit Reservation Label page appears.

d

Set options, which include:

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Name: Early Start

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Short Name: ES

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Type: Student

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Scheduling Load: 0

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Maximum Students: 525

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Minimum Students: 475

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Optimal Students: 500

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Print on Reports: Not selected

e

Click Save. The Course List page appears. The new reservation label is listed under the category "Reservation Labels".

f

In the Actions menu, select Add Reservation Label. The Add/Edit Reservation Label page appears.

g

Set options, which include:

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Name: Late Start

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Short Name: LS

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Type: Student

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Scheduling Load: 0

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Maximum Students: 525

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Minimum Students: 475

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Optimal Students: 500

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Print on Reports: Not selected

h

Click Save. The Course List page appears. The new reservation label is listed under the category "Reservation Labels".

i

In the Number Column, click the reservation label "ES". The Add/Edit Reservation Label page appears.

j

In the control bar, click Reservation Offerings. The Course Offerings page appears.

k

Locate the Scheduling Group to apply to this reservation label and select it in the Default Offering column.

l

Under Meeting Patterns, make the "Reserve - pm" meeting pattern available to this label by moving it to the Selected Patterns list.

m

Click Save.

n

In the Number Column, click the reservation label "LS". The Add/Edit Reservation Label page appears.

o

In the control bar, click Reservation Offerings. The Course Offerings page appears.

p

Locate the Scheduling Group to apply to this reservation label and select it in the Default Offering column.

q

Under Meeting Patterns, make the "Reserve - am" meeting pattern available to this label by moving it to the Selected Patterns list.

r

Click Save.

3

Assign the Early Start reservation label to a student:

a

View a list of all students [>>].

b

On the Student Search page, under Student Search Results, select the student(s).

c

In the Actions menu, select Assign > Course Requests. The Assign Requests page appears.

d

Under Course Search, under Basic, set up a search for "Course Subject Area equals Reservation Labels". Click Search. A list of reservation labels appears under Course Search Results.

e

Select the reservation label "Early Start" and click Add Request.

f

Click Apply.

4

Assign meeting patterns:

a

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

b

Click Course Request Tally. The Course Request Tally page appears.

c

Under Course Search, under Basic, set up a search for "Course Subject Area equals Reservation Labels". Click Search. A list of reservation labels appears under Search Results.

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For each reservation label, the number under Prim Reqs indicates the number of teachers who have the reservation label as a preference.

d

Select the reservation labels "Early Start" and "Late Start".

e

In the Actions menu, select Calculate Classes Needed.

f

In the Actions menu, click Create Classes.

g

Click Save.

h

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

i

Click Master Schedule. The Master Schedule page appears.

j

Under Course Search, under Basic, set up a search for "Course Subject Area equals Reservation Labels". Click Search. A list of reservation labels appears under Search Results.

k

Select the class "Early Start-1".

l

Under Class Schedule (which appears when the class is selected), for Meeting pattern, select "RAM".

m

Click Save.

n

Select the class "Late Start-1".

o

Under Class Schedule (which appears when the class is selected), for Meeting pattern, select "RPM".

p

Click Save.

5

Load student schedules [>>].

Example: Using reservation labels to have students automatically assigned to early or late starting times

You can use reservation labels to reserve the early or late periods for schools that use extended day patterns. In this example, the administrator sets up PowerSchool SMS to have the student loader to automatically assign either an early start or a late start to the selected students and prevent the Master Scheduler from scheduling classes during the reserved times. This involves setting up a meeting pattern to reserve the first three periods of each day and another meeting pattern to reserve the last three periods of each day.

For this example, assume that the school has an eight-period bell schedule and students are required to attend five periods. The school has approximately 1000 students and wants half scheduled for early classes and half scheduled for late classes.

To have students automatically assigned to early or late starting times: You can do this if your role is School Administrator.[SA]

1

Create early start and late start meeting patterns:

a

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

b

Click Meeting Patterns. The Meeting Patterns page appears.

c

In the Actions menu, select Add Meeting Pattern. The Add Meeting Pattern page appears.

d

Create two meeting patterns using the following settings:

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Meeting pattern name = "Reserve - am", Short name = "RAM", periods 1, 2, and 3 for each day in the day pattern.

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"Reserved - pm", "RPM", periods 6, 7, and 8 for each day in the day pattern.

2

Create a reservation label to be used to reserve either the first three or last three periods of the day for each student:

a

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

b

Click Course Setup. The Course List page appears.

c

In the Actions menu, select Add Reservation Label. The Add/Edit Reservation Label page appears.

d

Set options, which include:

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Name: Do Not Schedule

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Short Name: DNS

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Type: Student

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Scheduling Load: 0

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Maximum Students: 525

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Minimum Students: 475

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Optimal Students: 500

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Print on Reports: Selected

e

Click Save. The Course List page appears. The new reservation label is listed under the category "Reservation Labels".

f

In the Number Column, click the reservation label "DNS". The Add/Edit Reservation Label page appears.

g

In the control bar, click Reservation Offerings. The Course Offerings page appears.

h

Locate the Scheduling Group to apply to this reservation label and select it in the Default Offering column.

i

Under Meeting Patterns, make the "Reserve - am" and "Reserve - pm" meeting patterns available to this label by moving them to the Selected Patterns list.

j

Click Save.

3

Assign the reservation label to students:

a

View a list of all students [>>].

b

On the Student Search page, under Student Search Results, select the student(s).

c

In the Actions menu, select Assign > Course Requests. The Assign Requests page appears.

d

Under Course Search, under Basic, set up a search for "Course Subject Area equals Reservation Labels". Click Search. A list of reservation labels appears under Course Search Results.

e

Select the reservation label "Do Not Schedule" and click Add Request.

f

Click Apply.

4

Create reservation label classes:

a

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

b

Click Course Request Tally. The Course Request Tally page appears.

c

Under Course Search, under Basic, set up a search for "Course Subject Area equals Reservation Labels". Click Search. A list of reservation labels appears under Search Results.

d

Select the reservation label "Do Not Schedule".

e

For this label, under Classes Needed, enter 2.

f

In the Actions menu, click Create Classes.

g

Click Save.

5

Assign meeting patterns:

a

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

b

Click Master Schedule. The Master Schedule page appears.

c

Under Course Search, under Basic, set up a search for "Course Subject Area equals Reservation Labels". Click Search. A list of reservation labels appears under Search Results.

d

Select the class "Do Not Schedule-1".

e

Under Class Schedule (which appears when the class is selected), for Meeting pattern, select "RAM".

f

Click Save.

g

Select the class "Do Not Schedule-2".

h

Under Class Schedule (which appears when the class is selected), for Meeting pattern, select "RPM".

i

Click Save.

6

Load student schedules [>>].

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PowerSchool SMS distributes the selected students equally into the two "Do Not Schedule" classes and does not schedule other classes during the reserved periods.

Example: Setting up a reservation label for a student-teacher meeting

You can use a reservation label to reserve time for student-teacher meetings, such as tutoring or special assistance, for which attendance and grades are not recorded.

In this example, you create a Math Assistance session in which a teacher provides additional math instruction to a small group of students. The Math Assistance session employs a meeting pattern created for other courses. You assign the reservation label directly to both a teacher's and student's schedules.

To employ a reservation label for a Math Assistance tutoring session: You can do this if your role is School Administrator.[SA]

1

Create a reservation label to be used for the tutoring session:

a

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

b

Click Course Setup. The Course List page appears.

c

In the Actions menu, select Add Reservation Label. The Add/Edit Reservation Label page appears.

d

Set options, which include:

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Name: Math Assistance

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Short Name: Math Asst.

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Type: Student

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Scheduling Load: 0.5

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Maximum Students: 5

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Minimum Students: 1

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Optimal Students: 3

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Print on Reports: Selected

e

Click Save. The Course List page appears. The new reservation label is listed under the category "Reservation Labels".

f

In the Number Column, click the reservation label "Math Asst.". The Add/Edit Reservation Label page appears.

g

In the control bar, click Reservation Offerings. The Course Offerings page appears.

h

Locate the Scheduling Group to apply to this reservation label and select it in the Default Offering column.

i

Under Meeting Patterns, make one or more meeting patterns available to this label by moving them to the Selected Patterns list.

j

Click Save.

2

Assign the Math Assistance reservation label to a teacher and room:

a

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

b

Click Master Schedule.

c

Under By Course, under Course Search, under Basic, set up a search for "Course Subject Area equals Reservation Labels". Click Search. A list of reservation labels appears under Course Search Results.

d

Under Course Search Results, for the reservation label "Math Assistance", click Add Class.

e

Select the class to which to assign the reservation label.

f

Under Class Schedule (which appears when the class is selected), select the following:

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Meeting Pattern

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Teacher

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Room

g

Click Save.

3

Assign the Math Asst. reservation label to a student:

a

View a list of all students [>>].

b

On the Student Search page, under Student Search Results, select the student(s).

c

In the Actions menu, select Assign > Course Requests. The Assign Requests page appears.

d

Under Course Search, under Basic, set up a search for "Course Subject Area equals Reservation Labels". Click Search. A list of reservation labels appears under Course Search Results.

e

Select the reservation label "Math Assistance" and click Add Request.

f

Click Apply.

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