School Setup

Where to Start

1. Go to Scheduling. 
2. Select School Setup to get started. 

School Schedule

The School Schedule tab opens by default: 

3. Select the scheduling year to be set up. To copy a previous year’s course catalog, select the previous year in the Copy schedule from previous year dropdown. If this option is selected, the remaining setup tabs will be populated with the previously used scheduling parameters, including minute block designations and lengths.

   • The previous year’s Classes and Resource Classes can be copied by selecting the corresponding radio buttons. When copying both Classes and Resource Classes, if a course has duplicate section numbers assigned to classes and resource classes (e.g. ELA 9 class section 1 and ELA 9 resource class section 1), only the Resource Class section will be copied.

   • The Copy Classes option will copy all class details, including the assigned teachers and schedules and seat caps for courses and classes. The Copy Resource Classes option will copy all resource class details that have been defined.

4. If the message “School Setup is in use, data manipulation is not allowed” appears, and the other options are grayed out, this indicates that the setup was run previously. If you need to make changes other than adding periods after existing periods, please contact Support for assistance.
5. If the day patterns will be changed and/or the number of semesters or period schedules will be reduced, do not Copy Classes or Copy Resource Classes. If semesters or periods will be added, users can Copy Classes and/or Copy Resource Classes. Do not select a value in this field and proceed to the next step. Select Next to continue. 

School Periods

6. Define the building’s period schedule using the available fields. This includes the number of periods, duration of the periods, time the first period starts, and time between periods. 
7. Select Generate to create the period schedule. Users can also manually make changes to the generated period schedule, including period Start Times and End Times, if needed. Periods must be numbered sequentially, without gaps. Users can only delete periods which do not have a subsequent period number in use.
8.  Select the Minute Block checkbox for a period to designate that period and all subsequent periods as Minute Blocks, then enter the length of each Minute Block in the Minutes column. Minute Blocks are periods with a defined length, but without defined Start/End Times.
9. Select Next to continue. 

If Classes or Resource Classes have been copied from a previous year, users cannot decrease the number of existing periods. Users can still adjust the Period Start/End Times when classes and/or resource classes are copied from a previous year. If not updated during School Setup, the periods’ Start Times and End Times can also be updated by editing the Bell Time (District > Schools > Bell Time).

School Shifts

10. School Shifts are used when a building is running multiple sessions, typically morning and afternoon shifts, due to high student enrollment and insufficient classroom space. Users may create multiple shifts for a building. Buildings that use one shift need only fill out the fields in the first shift row.

11. Select Next to save all information and proceed to the next tab.

School Day Pattern

The system can accommodate up to 10 unique single-character day codes (day designators). Day codes can be alpha and/or numeric characters. However, duplicate day designators are not allowed. If a school chooses to use M-F designators, users cannot select “T” for both Tuesday and Thursday. In this situation, eSchoolData recommends using “T” for Tuesday and “R” for Thursday.

12. Enter the day code (day designator) values to be used for class schedules. 
13. Click Generate to populate the Day Patterns field with all possible Day Pattern permutations. 
14. Using the corresponding checkboxes, select only those Day Patterns that will be used when creating the class schedules. The fewer Day Patterns selected, the easier it will be to find the needed pattern when associating it to class sections.
15. Select Next to save all information and proceed to the next tab.

If Classes or Resource Classes have been copied from a previous year, users cannot deselect the previous year’s selected Day Patterns or change the existing day designators.

Semester Pattern

The term “semester” refers to the smallest length of days during which a course will be completed. Districts that complete a course within one trimester or quarter will create 3 or 4 semesters, respectively. The typical elementary school uses one year-long semester. However, an elementary school that uses the same scheduling cycle as a middle school may need two semesters.

16. Enter the number of semesters to be used by the building, along with the start and end dates of each. 
17. Select Generate to populate the Semester Patterns field with all possible patterns. 
18. Using the corresponding checkboxes, select only the semester patterns that will be used when creating the class schedules.
19. Select Finish to save all information and apply it to the selected scheduling year.

After School Setup is Complete

At the completion of the School Setup process, the following are copied over to the selected Scheduling Year:

• Marking Period Events & Grade Entry Windows - edit dates as needed, do not delete them
• Average Formulas - building-level and course-level
• Course Weights, Marking Period Weights and Assessment Weights
• Alternate Bell Schedules
• Course Request Groups
• Course Request Prerequisite Rules 
• Curriculum

To facilitate the scheduling process and assignment of course requests after School Setup is complete, users should update students’ Scheduling School and Scheduling Grade, and enter students’ Course Requests.

After that, proceed with updating Calendar Events, Day Codes, Bell Times and Time Equivalencies.