MAISD PowerSchool

The MAISD PowerSchool Support Team has created this email newsletter to keep our district contacts and stakeholders updated on current needs, future updates, and tips and tricks to make using PowerSchool more convenient and effective.

Please let us know someone else should receive this newsletter by emailing Joel Selby at jselby@muskegonisd.org.

Did you know that your student and/or staff photos can be imported into PowerSchool to help you identify them? Don't worry, you don't have to attach them one-by-one. The MAISD PS Support Team can import them for you in bulk.

Please open a ticket with the support team to have your pictures imported to PowerSchool. Most school picture vendors will provide the photo files and the necessary mapping file to you via Dropbox link. Your ticket is as simple as "Please import our student photos to PowerSchool. Here's the link from the vendor!"

We're in the process of adding Knowledge Books to our ticketing system, HelpSpot. This feature allows users to find helpful articles and step-by-step instructions and videos on their own, as well as lets our support staff easily respond to your ticket with a link to a relevant article.

You can access the MAISD PowerSchool Support Knowledge Books by going to our ticketing system and clicking on the categories on the left. You can access HelpSpot by clicking on the Help (?) icon in PowerSchool and choosing "MAISD PS Help Desk."

We're working on adding more helpful reminders and tools throughout PowerSchool. Here are a few recent additions:

• Added PowerTeacher User Preference to Hide Non-Attendance Sections by default
• Added Contact Access Account History and Last Credential Change to the Contact Edit screen
• Added Guardian Alert display to the top of a student's Contact Management screen
• Added alert to the top of the Compliance Reports page with list of school buildings excluded from State Reporting and/or TSDL
• Added Search Filter to the top of sqlReports
• Added link to navigation to go directly to a student's Current Enrollment
• Updated SCED Codes page search feature to be not case sensitive

New Staff

Be sure to notify the PowerSchool Team when new staff members are hired. New staff will be given a PowerSchool Training account and assigned the appropriate learning path. Learning paths include online courses relevant to the job the staff member will be performing. This will provide a foundation of PowerSchool knowledge. Once the online training has been completed, we suggest scheduling a one-on-one in person or virtual training with a PowerSchool team member to answer any questions and provide further instruction.

Ongoing Training

The PowerSchool Team is available to provide training to staff on an as needed basis. Please contact us to schedule training.

Throughout the School Year

The PowerSchool Team holds annual training sessions throughout the school year for elementary scheduling, beginning of the year, end of the year, and PowerSchool 101. Please contact the PowerSchool Team for dates and times. Training dates are also published in this newsletter.

• Asset Tracking - Allows admin staff/technology departments to track ownership of Chromebooks and/or other devices, as well as keep repair logs.
• Positive Behavior Acknowledgments - Allows teachers and admin staff to acknowledge students' positive behaviors, track data over time, and automatically notify parents and students.
• SWIS Integration - Allows log entries in PowerSchool to be sent to SWIS.
• Enrollment Queue (Registration)/Demographic Update - Online enrollment, yearly forms and demographic info update within the Parent Portal.
• Chronic Absenteeism - Allows districts to quickly view students who have met attendance thresholds, generate attendance letters en masse, track parent meetings, and generate reports as needed.
• Accommodation Log - Allows teachers to enter accommodations offered (accepted and refused) for students with an IEP or 504 plan. The data is stored, reportable, and accessible to parents.
• Other - 31a Reporting, Online Report Cards, among others.

The PowerSchool Team can create automated jobs that integrate the flow of data between PowerSchool and third party software applications, removing the need to compile data and upload it manually.

The PowerSchool Team can write a variety of reports, including data reports, detail reports, analytical reports, and student performance reports (report cards, progress reports, transcripts).

Day to day support, secondary scheduling, standards support, and all things related to PowerSchool!

Submit a PowerSchool Helpdesk Ticket

Bill Smith, SIS Support Specialist

Joel Selby, SIS Support Specialist

Keith Jelinek, SIS Support Specialist

Heidi Strong, SIS Helpdesk

Website: https://www.muskegonisd.org/techservices/ps/
Location: 630 Harvey Street, Muskegon, MI, USA
Phone: (231) 767-0414