February 2025
If your school is approaching the end of the 2nd quarter, then these functions in FastDirect might need to be addressed. Opening up teacher input for 2nd Quarter ReportCards will require:
- Changing input for 2nd mid-quarter report cards from ‘Allow Input’ to ‘Input Complete’ in ‘ReportCard Input Controls’
- Confirming the dates for 2nd quarter in ‘Grades’ then ‘Report Card Input Controls’
- Changing input for 2nd quarter Report Cards from ‘Not Yet’ to ‘Allow Input’ in ‘Report Card Input Controls’
- Having teachers go through the 2nd quarter report card input process
- Closing the input process by changing ‘Allow Input’ to ‘Input Complete’
FDpay! Activate the online payment component to make your February even sweeter! Watch the video below to see just how simple it can be for everyone!
Contact HelpDesk if you would like to have easy, electronic payments at your school!
Registration! Registration is an important part of the school year and FastDirect can help make the process easier. In FastDirect, you can track new student applications, re-registrations of returning students, as well as the charging and depositing of registration fees. Here is some of the information that is tracked in the Registration report:
- The number of students for each grade level
- The number of students returning in each grade level
- The number of new student applications in each grade level
- An estimated number of spots available in each grade level
- A breakdown of each existing family and their re-registration status
Here are some other features involved in registration through FastDirect:
- The ability to allow your parents to re-register their child online
- A time-stamp for when the child was re-registered
- Time stamps for when parents verify their parent information
- The finance account for Registration 2024-2025
- A report showing all families and if they have been charged their registration fees
- A report showing all families and if they have paid their registration fees
Click here to watch the Registration video tutorial in MP4 format
Click here to watch the Registration video tutorial in Youtube
WildCards! WildCards are a good way to keep track of all the required forms and if parents have completed and submitted those forms to the office. Here are other uses for WildCard:
- Student immunizations
- State testing scores
- Protecting God’s Children
WildCard fields can be created for:
- Students
- Parents
- Staff
Here are the steps to create a WildCard field:
- Click on the ‘Settings’ icon
- Click on the ‘People’ option in the left hand menu
- Click on the link that reads ‘Add/Change WildCards’
- In the drop down, select who you are creating the WildCard for: Staff, Parents or Students
- Type in the name of the WildCard field, such as ‘Immunizations’
- Click ‘Create New WildCard’
Registering students for next year often means forms and paperwork. With the file upload function, you can add these forms to the Links page, send them as attachments or create links to them on the login screen. Making these forms available online means you won’t be spending your time making copies and mailing them out. Additionally, by allowing your parents to upload files, you can have a paperless process! After you have uploaded the forms and made them available online, your parents can fill the forms out and send them back to you through our secure FDmail eMessaging. Here is how to turn on file upload for your parents and ways to help get your parents started:
You can activate this feature either for parents or students or both. To do so, you’ll go to Settings and click on FDmail in the left hand navigation menu. Check mark the option to Allow Parent File Upload and click ‘Save Changes’. To allow students, repeat these steps and check mark the option for Allow Student File Upload. To learn more about file upload, click on your FAQ Icon (the blue question mark), click on the “Look in: All categories” drop-down menu, select File Upload/File Attachment and click “View FAQ”. To help teach you parents and/or students how to use the file upload tool, you can point them to the FAQ section under the heading of ‘File Upload/File Attachment’. HelpDesk would like to help you get your Registration processes set up in FastDirect. Please send an FDmail message or give HelpDesk a call when you are ready to get started.
If your school is approaching the 2nd trimester Report Card, then these functions in FastDirect might need to be addressed. Opening up teacher input for 2nd trimester Report Cards will require:
- Changing input for 2nd mid-trimester reports from ‘Allow Input’ to ‘Input Complete’ in ‘Report Card Input Controls’
- Confirming the dates for 2nd trimester in ‘Grades’ then ‘Report Card Input Controls’
- Changing input for 2nd trimester Report Cards from ‘Not Yet’ to ‘Allow Input’ in ‘Report Card Input Controls’
- Having teachers go through the 2nd trimester Report Card input process
- Closing the input process by changing ‘Allow Input’ to ‘Input Complete’
FDpay! Activate the online payment component to make your February even sweeter! Watch the video below to see just how simple it can be for everyone!
Contact HelpDesk if you would like to have easy, electronic payments at your school!
Registration! Registration is an important part of the school year and FastDirect can help make the process easier. In FastDirect, you can track new student applications, re-registrations of returning students, as well as the charging and depositing of registration fees. Here is some of the information that is tracked in the Registration report:
- The number of students for each grade level
- The number of students returning in each grade level
- The number of new student applications in each grade level
- An estimated number of spots available in each grade level
- A breakdown of each existing family and their re-registration status
Here are some other features involved in registration through FastDirect:
- The ability to allow your parents to re-register their child online
- A time-stamp for when the child was re-registered
- Time stamps for when parents verify their parent information
- The finance account for Registration 2024-2025
- A report showing all families and if they have been charged their registration fees
- A report showing all families and if they have paid their registration fees
Click here to watch the Registration video tutorial in MP4 format
Click here to watch the Registration video tutorial in Youtube
WildCards! WildCards are a good way to keep track of all the required forms and if parents have completed and submitted those forms to the office. Here are other uses for WildCard:
- Student immunizations
- State testing scores
- Protecting God’s Children
WildCard fields can be created for:
- Students
- Parents
- Staff
Here are the steps to create a WildCard field:
- Click on the ‘Settings’ icon
- Click on the ‘People’ option in the left hand menu
- Click on the link that reads ‘Add/Change WildCards’
- In the drop down, select who you are creating the WildCard for: Staff, Parents or Students
- Type in the name of the WildCard field, such as ‘Immunizations’
- Click ‘Create New WildCard’
Registering students for next year often means forms and paperwork. With the file upload function, you can add these forms to the Links page, send them as attachments or create links to them on the login screen. Making these forms available online means you won’t be spending your time making copies and mailing them out. Additionally, by allowing your parents to upload files, you can have a paperless process! After you have uploaded the forms and made them available online, your parents can fill the forms out and send them back to you through our secure FDmail eMessaging. Here is how to turn on file upload for your parents and ways to help get your parents started:
You can activate this feature either for parents or students or both. To do so, you’ll go to Settings and click on FDmail in the left hand navigation menu. Check mark the option to Allow Parent File Upload and click ‘Save Changes’. To allow students, repeat these steps and check mark the option for Allow Student File Upload. To learn more about file upload, click on your FAQ Icon (the blue question mark), click on the “Look in: All categories” drop-down menu, select File Upload/File Attachment and click “View FAQ”. To help teach you parents and/or students how to use the file upload tool, you can point them to the FAQ section under the heading of ‘File Upload/File Attachment’. HelpDesk would like to help you get your Registration processes set up in FastDirect. Please send an FDmail message or give HelpDesk a call when you are ready to get started.
Sending messages through Email Forwarding is often times the most preferred method for parents and a guaranteed way to keep them connected and informed. Email Forwarding allows users to get messages as instant emails and does not require the user to log in to FastDirect.
Email Forwarding is an optional feature that allows staff members to forward their FDmail messages to the recipients’ preferred email. Please be aware that your school policy concerning email communication should apply. Email is not a secured communication vehicle and others may in certain circumstances be able to view its contents. Conversely, FastDirect Communications and FDmail messages which are not forwarded to email will remain secure and archived for your school administration. Email Forwarding has two settings that allow the school principal to control how it works. The first setting determines whether the system defaults to sending an email forward or not. It effects the options seen when a staff person is sending an FDmail message. In other words, it can default to select either “Email Forward” or “Do Not Email Forward.” In either case, the sender can elect to change the setting as needed. The second setting allows the principal to determine whether all parents start out opted in to the feature (able to receive email forwards) or not. In other words, it effects the Parent Data Form and whether they are initially opted-in or out. In either case, the parent can change the setting to their preference by changing the setting on their Parent Data Form or by contacting the school administration, depending on your ‘Allow parents to change data’ setting.
Click here for the FAQ explaining Staff Email Forwarding
Click here for the FAQ on how to set up Staff Email Forwarding
Click here for the FAQ on how to help your parents receive Staff Email Forwarding
Note – If your school is currently using Email Forwarding and you are interested in resetting the opt in/out setting for your parents, please contact HelpDesk and we can walk you through the steps.
For some teachers and staff, having access to any student’s report card or grade book is essential for their job. With a principal’s request, HelpDesk can allow specific staff accounts access to all grade books and report cards for all students.
Here are some specifics regarding giving permission to Gradebook and ReportCard viewing:
- When a staff account is given permission to view Gradebooks and ReportCards, this staff member will be able to see GB and RC information for every student and not just specific students.
- The Gradebook and ReportCard information that can be seen is similar to what an administrator sees.
- HelpDesk can permission any staff account but the request needs to be made in an FDmail message to HelpDesk from the principal.
When viewing your finance account balances in FastDirect, each balance is a clickable link. When you click on a specific balance, you will see a list of all the transactions (deposits & charges) made to that account. Once clicked, the list of transactions will give you the following information:
- Finance account name
- Date of transaction (when added to FastDirect)
- Charge or Deposit label
- Amount of money in transaction
- Description/note of transaction (for example, check number)
- How do I take attendance (and order lunch) for my secondary accounts?
- Does FastDirect have a mobile app?
- How can parents view and/or print their tax report information?
Helpful FAQs from February 2024:
- How to add colors to your links in the Links section
- What is the Registration Report?
- How do I print out report card comments (and attendance) for my homeroom for the whole school year?
Helpful FAQs from February 2023:
Watch this video tutorial to find out how to exclude a student’s name in a gradebook:
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