Monthly Mentions Newsletter – September 2017

For most of our schools, the Summer Transition steps have been completed and the new school year is underway.For most of our schools, the Summer Transition steps have been completed and the new school year is underway. 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!

Getting your parents activated in FastDirect is an important step to building a strong partnership between the school and the school community.  Communication is a major component of that partnership and FastDirect will help in establishing strong lines of communication. To help get your parents familiar with FastDirect and our services, we have created a Family User Guide.  This packet is designed to introduce FastDirect, explain our features and provide some step-by-step instructions on how they can use their parent account to stay connected.  Besides finding this document in your Links section, you can also download it by clicking clicking this link.

We’ve recently redesigned our website which means the Monthly Mentions Newsletter content has a new home, too!  We’ll still be sending out the newsletter email, so make sure to subscribe over on the right hand column of this page!  All previous months can be found in the Articles section, too.  If there is a past Monthly Mentions that you are unable to find, just contact HelpDesk and we can get that information to you.

Are you a new administrator at the school or do you feel that you could benefit from some additional training? If you are interested in receiving new or additional training, let HelpDesk know and we will schedule a time for a phone training session.

Here are some functions that typically require new or additional training:

• Monitor
• Finance
• Cafeteria
• FDmail and messaging options
• System Settings

For some teachers, 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 HelpDeskfrom the principal.

Don’t want to log in to read your FDmail messages? With Email Forwarding, you can receive all FDmail messages directly to your email! If this is not an option at your school, contact a school administrator to let them know this is something you are interested in receiving.

Any changes to lunch prices this year? Watch this video tutorial to learn how to add or edit prices in the Master Menu.

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