Monthly Mentions Newsletter – October 2017

As the end of the quarter approaches, your teachers will need to go through the ReportCard input process.  This means an administrator will allow input, the teachers will enter grades into the ReportCards and then the administrator will close input.  From there, you can either print the ReportCards or permission them to be viewed by parents online.

Opening up teacher input for 1st Quarter ReportCards will require:

• Changing input for 1st mid-quarter from ‘Allow Input’ to ‘Input Complete’ in ‘ReportCard Input Controls’
• Changing input for 1st quarter ReportCards from ‘Not Yet’ to ‘Allow Input’ in ‘ReportCard Input Controls’
• Having teachers go through the 1st quarter ReportCard input process
• Closing the input process by changing ‘allow input’ to ‘input complete’

If your school started in late August or early September, then you may be gearing up for mid-quarter reports.  FastDirect allows you to create mid-quarter reports in two different ways. Click here to read about the two different ways to create progress reports.  If your school has chosen the import process, then here are the functions that will need to be addressed:

• Confirming the 1st mid-quarter dates in ‘Grades’ then ‘ReportCard Input Controls’
• Changing input for mid-quarter from ‘Not Yet’ to ‘Allow Input’ in ‘ReportCard Input Controls’
• Having teachers go through the mid-quarter ReportCard input process
• Closing the input process by changing ‘allow input’ to ‘input complete’

Previewing your report cards is a very important step and should be completed during these first few weeks of school. This step involves looking over each grade level’s report cards to make sure all courses, sub-categories, grade scale and layouts look correct. When you complete this step early in the school year, you help support your your teachers by making sure they have what they need and reduce last minute report card corrections at the end of the grading period. Please note that report card changes can take up to a week to process.

Here are the steps to view a report card:

1. Go to ‘Grades’
2. Choose a homeroom instructor in the ‘select instructor’ drop down then click the ‘view instructor’s grade book’ button
3. Click the button ‘view report cards’
4. When the homeroom roster appears, click ‘print’ next to any child’s name

Here are the components to review on a report card:

• Course names
• Course subcategories
• Grade scales/marking codes
• General formatting, for example school header, course list columns, layout

Click here to read the FAQ on how homeroom teachers can view their report cards!

Click here to read the FAQ on how administrators can view report cards!

If your school uses trimester scheduling, then you may be gearing up for mid-trimester reports.  FastDirect allows you to create mid-trimester reports in two different ways. Click here to read about the two different ways to create progress reports.  If your school has chosen the import process, then here are the functions that will need to be addressed:

• Confirming the 1st mid-trimester dates in ‘Grades’ then ‘ReportCard Input Controls’
• Changing input for mid-trimester from ‘Not Yet’ to ‘Allow Input’ in ‘ReportCard Input Controls’
• Having teachers go through the mid-trimester ReportCard input process
• Closing the input process by changing ‘allow input’ to ‘input complete’

Previewing your report cards is a very important step and should be completed during these first few weeks of school. This step involves looking over each grade level’s report cards to make sure all courses, sub-categories, grade scale and layouts look correct. When you complete this step early in the school year, you help support your your teachers by making sure they have what they need and reduce last minute report card corrections at the end of the grading period. Please note that report card changes can take up to a week to process.

Here are the steps to view a report card:

1. Go to ‘Grades’
2. Choose a homeroom instructor in the ‘select instructor’ drop down then click the ‘view instructor’s grade book’ button
3. Click the button ‘view report cards’
4. When the homeroom roster appears, click ‘print’ next to any child’s name

Here are the components to review on a report card:

• Course names
• Course subcategories
• Grade scales/marking codes
• General formatting, for example school header, course list columns, layout

Click here to read the FAQ on how homeroom teachers can view their report cards!

Click here to read the FAQ on how administrators can view report cards!

With each month in the school year, there are usually some functions that go hand-in-hand with that month (time of year).  We’ve added a new section to the Monthly Mentions Newsletter that will highlight some of the FAQs that involve functions which are typical for that month’s activities.  Look for the heading ‘Helpful FAQs for this Month!’ to see if there is something in there that can help you!

The Email Forwarding feature allows you to either opt in or out all of your parents with one click. While this is usually only done during the initial set up, there are advantages to resetting your parents’ settings every few years.  If you are interested in resetting the opt in/out setting for your parents, please contact HelpDesk and we can walk you through the steps.

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.” Here are some helpful FAQs to help explain these features and how to get started:

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

For some For most schools, GPA calculations do not always include every course taught at your school. Administrators have to set the weight for courses to be included in the GPA calculations or apply a zero weight for courses to not be included at all.  Please have your administrators review the GPA Calculation Control page to make sure your courses are weighted correctly.

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)

• Adding a school photo for a single student
• Adding school photos for all students
• Adding groups in Cafeteria for price groups
• Evaluate course weights in the GPA calculations

Watch this video tutorial to find out how to make changes to a family’s tuition payment schedule.

• Click here to watch the video tutorial as an MP4!
• Click here to watch the video tutorial in Youtube!