December 2022

If your school is approaching mid-quarter report for the 2nd quarter, then these functions in FastDirect might need to be addressed. Opening up teacher input for 2nd Mid-Quarter Report will require:

  • Changing input for 1st quarter report cards from ‘Allow Input’ to ‘Input Complete’ in ‘ReportCard Input Controls’
  • Confirming the mid-quarter dates for 2nd quarter in ‘Grades’ then ‘Report Card Input Controls’
  • Changing input for mid-quarter from ‘Not Yet’ to ‘Allow Input’ in ‘Report Card Input Controls’
  • Having teachers go through the mid-quarter report card input process
  • Closing the input process by changing ‘Allow Input’ to ‘Input Complete’

With the winter season upon us, this could mean school closings and changes to school days due to inclement weather.  If your school closes because of snow or other unexpected reasons, then you will need to change the day in the Master School (Standard) Calendar to a non-attendance day. If the calendar is not changed, then your teachers will be asked to take attendance for the day that was cancelled.  Here are the steps:

  1. Go to ‘Calendar’ then scroll down to the gold box below the months
  2. The first option in the gold box allows you to select a day and determine what type of day it is – Normal, Holiday, Other etc.
  3. Select the month/day/year in the drop down, then select ‘Weather off’
  4. Click ‘Change type of day’
  5. Repeat these steps if your school was closed for additional days
  6. Please note – if you have teachers who are using separate attendance calendars, then you will need to change those as well!

Notifying your parents of snow days, late starts or early dismissals has never been easier! To notify your staff and parents of any closings, late starts or early dismissals, use the FDbroadcast feature. These broadcasts can go directly from the school to the parents’ cell phones and email accounts, keeping everyone informed instantly!

FDbroadcast was designed to allow principals (and selected staff) the ability to message the school community in multiple methods in case of an emergency or urgent situation. The option “FDbroadcast” must be selected when sending the FDmail message. The system, by default, allows the Principal access to this feature. To give other staff members access, the Principal must edit their Teacher (Staff) form in the People section. This feature sends all users a copy of your urgent FDmail as well as a Text Notification and an Email Forward. Even if your school does not currently use the feature ‘Email Forward’, the FDbroadcast will still forward your FDmail message directly to the recipients’ email. However, in order for the text notification to work, your school will need to enable ‘SMS Text Notification’ in Settings. The last critical step is that your parents have entered in all the necessary information on their parent form. This means they will need an email address, a cell phone number and a cell phone provider. A text notification and email forward are only sent if the appropriate fields are completed on the staff and parent forms. If a parent has opted out of receiving SMS Text Notifications or has opted out of receiving Staff Email Forward, an FDbroadcast will still be sent to that parent in all methods regardless of the parents’ preferences. This is why an FDbroadcast is ideal for urgent or emergency situations, as it overrides the parents’ preferences for communication.

Here are some helpful FAQ links to help explain these features and how to get started:

Click here for the FAQ explaining FDbroadcast

Click here for the FAQ on how to send an FDbroadcast

Click here for the FDbroadcast video tutorial

The login screen is another way to communicate school closings and announcements from the school.  Here are the steps for posting an announcement on the login screen:

  1. Go to ‘Settings’ and click on Login Page Design in the left hand navigation menu
  2. In the middle box labeled ‘Message of the Day’, type in your message or announcement
  3. Click ‘Save Changes’

This announcement will post on the login screen above the login box. To add addition detail, color, font changes, etc, you will want to use an HTML editing software, such as KompoZer, which can be downloaded for free.

If you are a trimester school, December may be too soon for you to open up mid-trimester report card input.

With the winter season upon us, this could mean school closings and changes to school days due to inclement weather.  If your school closes because of snow or other unexpected reasons, then you will need to change the day in the Master School (Standard) Calendar to a non-attendance day. If the calendar is not changed, then your teachers will be asked to take attendance for the day that was cancelled.  Here are the steps:

  1. Go to ‘Calendar’ then scroll down to the gold box below the months
  2. The first option in the gold box allows you to select a day and determine what type of day it is – Normal, Holiday, Other etc.
  3. Select the month/day/year in the drop down, then select ‘Weather off’
  4. Click ‘Change type of day’
  5. Repeat these steps if your school was closed for additional days
  6. Please note – if you have teachers who are using separate attendance calendars, then you will need to change those as well!

Notifying your parents of snow days, late starts or early dismissals has never been easier! To notify your staff and parents of any closings, late starts or early dismissals, use the FDbroadcast feature. These broadcasts can go directly from the school to the parents’ cell phones and email accounts, keeping everyone informed instantly!

FDbroadcast was designed to allow principals (and selected staff) the ability to message the school community in multiple methods in case of an emergency or urgent situation. The option “FDbroadcast” must be selected when sending the FDmail message. The system, by default, allows the Principal access to this feature. To give other staff members access, the Principal must edit their Teacher (Staff) form in the People section. This feature sends all users a copy of your urgent FDmail as well as a Text Notification and an Email Forward. Even if your school does not currently use the feature ‘Email Forward’, the FDbroadcast will still forward your FDmail message directly to the recipients’ email. However, in order for the text notification to work, your school will need to enable ‘SMS Text Notification’ in Settings. The last critical step is that your parents have entered in all the necessary information on their parent form. This means they will need an email address, a cell phone number and a cell phone provider. A text notification and email forward are only sent if the appropriate fields are completed on the staff and parent forms. If a parent has opted out of receiving SMS Text Notifications or has opted out of receiving Staff Email Forward, an FDbroadcast will still be sent to that parent in all methods regardless of the parents’ preferences. This is why an FDbroadcast is ideal for urgent or emergency situations, as it overrides the parents’ preferences for communication.

Here are some helpful FAQ links to help explain these features and how to get started:

Click here for the FAQ explaining FDbroadcast

Click here for the FAQ on how to send an FDbroadcast

Click here for the FDbroadcast video tutorial

The login screen is another way to communicate school closings and announcements from the school.  Here are the steps for posting an announcement on the login screen:

  1. Go to ‘Settings’ and click on Login Page Design in the left hand navigation menu
  2. In the middle box labeled ‘Message of the Day’, type in your message or announcement
  3. Click ‘Save Changes’

This announcement will post on the login screen above the login box. To add addition detail, color, font changes, etc, you will want to use an HTML editing software, such as KompoZer, which can be downloaded for free.

Creating a staff directory with home phone numbers and addresses can be a helpful report for maintaining contact information. You will also be able to track additional information, such as
birthdays, emergency contacts, and spouses. Establishing a staff directory involves making parent accounts for every staff member. For some of your staff, they may already be parents at the school. The important step is linking the staff account with the parent account. Here are the steps to creating and linking parent accounts with staff accounts:

  • Click on ‘People’ then ‘Teachers’
  • One of the columns on the far right is labeled ‘Parent ID for lunch charges’ This is the column we will be establishing in the next few steps
  • On the first staff account, click ‘edit’ to the left of their name
  • In the middle of their information (above the ‘Change’ button) will be a line that reads ‘Parent ID for lunch charges’ with a drop down
  • If the staff member is also a parent at the school, then click on the drop down to select their parent account, then click ‘Change’
  • If this staff member is not a parent at the school, check the drop down to make sure that there isn’t already a parent account created for them
  • If this staff member is not a parent at the school and you were unable to find a previously created parent account in the drop down, then click the button below the ‘Change’ button that is labeled ‘Add to Parents Database’
  • This will prompt the system to quickly create a parent account for this staff member and link the two accounts together

Click here for the FAQ explaining how to create a staff directory

Once all staff members have corresponding parent accounts, you can start to edit your staff directory. Here are the steps to locating and editing your staff directory:

  1. Click on ‘People’ then ‘Parents’
  2. Click ‘Display’ next to the third option labeled ‘Staff only’
  3. The first column in the list will be the Parent ID numbers for each parent/staff account. Click one of the ID numbers to edit that account
  4. Much like any other parent account, you are now able to edit any of their information. Make sure to click ‘Change’ when you are finished
  5. Note: On the top line of their information, in red, is a line that reads ‘Teacher/Staff’. When this option is set to ‘yes’, then the system will add this account to the staff directory
  6. When you are finished editing the parent account, you can scroll down to click ‘Display’ next to ‘Staff only’ and then repeat the steps

To track additional information on your staff, such as birthdays, awards/degrees or attendance, you will want to create WildCard fields. Reference the FAQ section for steps on how to create a WildCard.

When going through the ReportCard grade input process, it can be helpful to see what grades the students received in previous grading periods. Therefore, FastDirect has made the names of the students clickable so that you can see that specific child’s ReportCard.  This feature is also helpful for viewing subcategory grades and comments.  By clicking the name of the student (while in report card input), you can view their report card without having to leave the screen you are in.  No distractions, no disruptions! Here are the steps to view a report card while in the middle of the input process:

  1. After clicking the yellow button for ReportCard input, you will click the input button for a specific course
  2. The roster for that course will display, along with the column to enter in report card grades
  3. Each name in the roster on the left hand side is a link – click a student’s name and their report card will appear in a new window

Even though the ReportCard from the current grading period only has the comments for that period, you are still able to view/print the comments from the whole year. The same is also true for attendance. Here are the steps to view your child’s comments for the whole year:

  1. Go to ‘Home’
  2. Click the ‘View’ button in the ReportCard column
  3. When the ReportCard appears, click on the word ‘Comments’
  4. That student’s comments for the whole year will appear on a separate screen which is printable

These steps can be followed for viewing Attendance as well.

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