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Q. Will the report card change?

A. The content of the report cards should not change. The physical appearance of the report cards will change, but will be somewhat similar. It is also expected that you will have an easier time adding comments.

Q. When we get our classlists can information about student status such as IEP, LEP, Title I, etcetera be included?

A. Actually, we have the capability to run the report that way now, it just hasn't been done.
The other problem is that data about special needs was not always accurate or up to date.
Here are some ways that this will be resolved in the new system:

1. Departments that maintain specific data will be directly responsible for it. In other words, Derrig/Bestwina enter in special ed. info; Baricovich maintains LEP data, and so forth. In the past, that information was sent to building secretaries to enter and was not always up to date.
2. PowerSchool is more customizable than SIRS, so creating reports for a specific need such as you described will be easier.
3. Setting up staff resources such as access to certain reports that you can then print out yourself is possible in the new system, so ultimately you will have more access to information that is useful to you.

Q. Is there an IEP component?

A. Not with the detail that our current IEPs have. Basically, no student management systems do anything as detailed as what the paperwork for an IEP would require. Most systems are compatible, though, with stand-alone/separate IEP systems. What you'll be able to do is run the reports of all students who are serviced through 104 and correctly classify them into the program that they are in.
Once we get more involved with the system, though, I'll play with the customizing features and see if we can generate IEP documents that are at least pre-filled with whatever data is kept in PowerSchool.

Q. How might the gradebook look for younger students. Will everything be measured in percentages? Some subjects don't end up with twenty grades in the primary grades. Can you give me insights?

A. We can use most of our current primary grade marks and symbols.
Grades are set up in percentages for the sake of calculating current and quarterly grades. However, there is much that can be done with weighting and/or setting aside assignments that are not counted toward the grade.
You can also pick and choose between which subjects will receive on-going updates or grade entires and which ones will just receive a final grade for the quarter.
There should be enough flexibility in the system to accomodate our needs (Consider also that some districts are successfully using PowerSchool for standards based report cards, which are even more detailed and complex than what we use).