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.

We are on track with our plan to release the new User Interface for the Admin portal over the next few months.

Our plan is to invite districts to designate certain users to have them test the new interface and make sure everything is still accessible and point out any issues before we release the change to all users.

These designated testers should be able to start their testing before the end of January.

We will be displaying a banner notification inside of PowerSchool before we make this change. From that banner you will be able to access documentation showing where old pages have moved and what their new name is.

All users will be updated to the new User Interface by the end of Spring Break. This will allow everyone to get used to the new interface before the summer break. PowerSchool will remove the option to use the older user interface in the update we install over the summer.

Please note the new User Interface will only affect the Admin Portal, not the Teacher or Student/Guardian Portals.

We're working on adding more helpful text reminders throughout PowerSchool. Here are a few examples coming down the pipeline at the moment:

• Add display of SCED and Exclude from TSDL values to the Sections Edit page
• Add information about the current Term and other Final Grade/Reporting Terms to the Final Grade/Reporting Term Edit page
• Add warning to State Personal Demographics tab about ethnicity mismatches related to Hispanic/Latino choices
• Add NCES School ID field to School Setup to help with certain exports
• Preparing for changes due to new User Interface

• Please review your Term dates for Semester 2 and make sure they're correct.
  (Reminder: A term should always begin on the first possible day of attendance. The previous term should end on the date immediately preceding the new term.)
  If you need to make any adjustments, please submit a MAISD Helpdesk ticket so we can adjust things and make sure your enrollments stay connected properly.

• Report cards for Semester 1 will be coming up soon. Make sure to review your report card setup BEFORE it's time to distribute them. Submit a ticket to have any changes made and don't forget to get your Grade Storing ticket submitted in advance with a requested date and time so we can store your grades on time.

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.

• SWIS Integration - Allows log entries in PowerSchool to be sent to SWIS.
• Enrollment/Registration - 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 - Chromebook Tracking, 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