Scheduling - SCRIC Home · 5 1. System Overview The eSchoolPLUS Scheduling System is an online, interactive system designed to help school district per- sonnel with the entire scheduling

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Contents1. System Overview.............................................................................................................. 5

Using This Guide............................................................................................................... 6

Scheduling System Features ............................................................................................ 8

Scheduling System Initial Procedures............................................................................. 12

Scheduling System Procedural Outline........................................................................... 13

Next-Year Scheduling Process Overview .................................................................. 15

Next-Year Scheduling with Multiple Bell Schedules Process Overview..................... 19

Using Staff Qualifications ........................................................................................... 24

Glossary of Scheduling Terms ........................................................................................ 25

2. Course Setup Overview ................................................................................................. 31

About Course-Sections in the Master Schedule.............................................................. 32

Multiple Period Courses - Multiple Session or Single Session........................................ 34

Overview of Block Courses ............................................................................................. 36

How Blocks and Proxies Are Scheduled ......................................................................... 38

3. Master Schedule ............................................................................................................. 41

Master Schedule List....................................................................................................... 43

Master Schedule List Report...................................................................................... 45

Master Schedule Course Information.............................................................................. 47

Adding Regular Course-Sections............................................................................... 59

Adding Block Course-Sections................................................................................... 60

Changing Course-Sections ........................................................................................ 61

Deleting Master Schedule Information ....................................................................... 62

How Can I Check If a Master Schedule Is Successful? ............................................. 63

4. Course Analysis Reports............................................................................................... 65

Conflict Matrix.................................................................................................................. 66

Room Availability............................................................................................................. 72

Class Matrix..................................................................................................................... 74

Room Utilization .............................................................................................................. 76

Seat Availability ............................................................................................................... 78

Teacher Schedule Matrix ................................................................................................ 81

Teacher Availability ......................................................................................................... 84

Teacher Schedules ......................................................................................................... 86

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A. Appendix......................................................................................................................... 89

About Multiple Bell Schedules......................................................................................... 90

Setting Up Multiple Bell Schedules ............................................................................ 92

Multiple Bell Schedules and Courses.............................................................................. 94

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1. System OverviewThe eSchoolPLUS Scheduling System is an online, interactive system designed to help school district per-sonnel with the entire scheduling process, from gathering student requests through building a master schedule to scheduling students.

There are multiple processes involved in setting up and running the Scheduling System for the current year and next-year scheduling. This chapter includes overviews of these procedures. An additional procedure is included for buildings using Multiple Bell Scheduling.

PreviewThis chapter provides information on the following topics:

Using This Guide

Scheduling System Features

Scheduling System Initial Procedures

Scheduling System Procedural Outline

Next-Year Scheduling Process Overview

Next-Year Scheduling with Multiple Bell Schedules Process Overview

Using Staff Qualifications

Glossary of Scheduling Terms

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System Overview

Using This GuideThe eSchoolPLUS guides use the following conventions:

Convention DescriptionSymbols9 Indicates a numeric variable. For example, a sample error message

may include 999 to indicate that a numeric value from the database will be displayed.

X Indicates an alpha-numeric variable. For example, a sample error message may include XX to indicate that a value from the database will be displayed.

< > Indicates a key on your keyboard. For example, press <Tab> indi-cates that you need to press the Tab key on your keyboard. Do not key the angle brackets.

Field Description Information[Character/99] Indicates that you can enter up to the specified number of characters

for the field. This information is only specified for fields that allow you to key in values.

[Integer] Indicates that you can enter a numeric value up to the value of an in-teger (2,147,483,647) for the field. This information is only specified for fields that allow you to key in values.

[Small Integer] Indicates that you can enter a numeric value up to the value of a small integer (32,737) for the field. This information is only specified for fields that allow you to key in values.

MM/DD/YYYY Indicates that a date is entered in the format of 10/25/2007.HH:MM Indicates that a time is entered in the format of 10:25.Typographical ConventionsButton Name Indicates the name of a button on a page or dialog. For example, the

following instruction indicates that you should click on the Save button that displays on the page:

To save information, click Save.Action Link Text Indicates the text of a link on a page or dialog that you can click to

complete an action. For example, the following instruction indicates that you should click the link Personal Information that displays on the page:

To display the Personal Information page for the student displayed on the Student Summary page, click the Personal Information link.

On some pages, a value from the database is used as an action link to allow you to access additional information. For example, the stu-dent name is also a link on many pages. You can click the link to dis-play the Student Summary page for the student.

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Using This Guide

Menu Option > Menu Option

Indicates the menu path you need to open a page. For example, Stu-dent Center > Student Summary indicates that you should first click the Student Center option to open that menu and then click the Stu-dent Summary option.

A menu path may include additional steps that need to be completed to access a page.

List of values for drop-down fields

Indicates the text of the values listed when you click on a drop-down arrow. These values are system-defined.

tablename Indicates the table name for the record in the database. For example, reg_entry_with is the table name for the entry/withdrawal record.

AlertsIndicates information that is very important. Generally, cautions in-form you of potential problems you might have if you use a procedure incorrectly or carelessly.

Note: Indicates important information pertaining to the procedure or topic being discussed.Indicates information that might make your work easier.

Convention Description

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System Overview

Scheduling System FeaturesThe system includes, but is not limited to, the following features:

General Features

• Supports scheduling an unlimited number of periods per day and marking periods per year.

• Supports a rolling time table.

• Supports an unlimited number of cycle days. Different buildings may use different cycles. All calendars in a building must have the same cycle day for a calendar date.

• The ability to track course prerequisites over multiple years.

• Permits students to enroll in courses in schools within the district other than the school that the student is currently registered in.

• Allows flexible scheduling by building.

• Students can be pre-scheduled into a course-section before the scheduler (Schedule Students option) is run.

• The system supports multiple bell schedules.

• The system can handle multiple time schedules within the same building.

• The system will handle multiple teams within a time schedule in a building.

• Students can be scheduled by house/team.

• Provides the ability to automatically assign students to a team based on a course selection.

• The system allows student alternate requests, student course alternates, and course alternates. Alter-nates can be automatically scheduled if requested courses are full.

Course Setup

• Allows adding courses to a building’s Course Catalog, then uploading them to the District Course Cat-alog, or adding courses to the district catalog, then downloading them to building catalogs.

• Enables sequencing courses, so that a course can be scheduled with, not with, or before another course.

• Allows setting a course alternate for all students requesting the course. A course alternate identifies the course to substitute if the scheduler is unable to schedule the primary request.

• Courses may be assigned to a department and house/team.

• Allows you to inactivate a course in a course catalog, without deleting the course.

• Provides the ability to define a block or super course that groups a number of courses for scheduling purposes.

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• Allows courses to be linked or blocked so that students can be scheduled in groups or with blocks of courses.

• Enables setting a course priority for scheduling purposes.

• Tracks fees associated with courses in your course catalogs.

• Allows mass updating of course catalogs.

• Provides the ability to prioritize individual students for scheduling.

• Allows restricting courses to students in specific grades or of a specific gender.

• Provides the ability to specify CurriculumCONNECTOR values for courses.

Master Schedule

• Enforces classroom maximum seating.

• Provides for variable class sizes.

• Allows mass updating of the Master Schedule.

• Supports multiple meeting time sessions per course in the Master Schedule, allowing efficient sched-uling of lab courses, double meeting time courses, and split meeting time courses.

• Provides the ability to assign secondary staff members to courses.

• Provides the ability to assign a grade requirement to a course.

• Allows for classes to meet on alternating days.

• Supports varying course durations, such as quarter, semester, trimester, and full-year courses.

• Provides the ability to track a teacher’s Highly Qualified Teacher status and alert the person responsi-ble for scheduling when an unqualified teacher is assigned to teach a class.

• In addition to the standard marking periods, the system can support an unlimited number of course du-rations that will allow the school year to be divided into different segments. For example, a school with 4 marking periods can also have an 8-segment wheel and a 3-segment exploratory.

• Allows multiple language translations to be used in Report Cards.

Student Requests

• The Course Request page allows you to enter requests, model a schedule, and enroll a student in a modeled schedule on one page.

• If your district uses Career Planner, requests for future years can be entered for the district, instead of a specific building. The requests can then be moved to the student’s next building, when you process the next year’s requests.

• Provides the option of entering student course requests via optical sheet scanner.

• Provides the ability to mass load, mass update, mass replace, and mass delete course requests from the student course request table.

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System Overview

• Enables you to load course recommendations entered by teachers in Teacher Access Center and cre-ate requests from the recommendations in eSchoolPLUS.

• Includes the ability to set a general alternate that can be used for any course that has not been sched-uled.

Student Scheduler

• The Scheduler (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Schedule Students) can schedule students selectively by grade, gender, name, or a set priority based on either the individual student or the course taught.

• Provides the ability to override maximum class enrollment.

• Provides the ability to schedule single or multiple semester classes.

• Supports "locking" a scheduling run.

• Provides the ability to schedule sub-groups of students (e.g., freshmen) after the scheduling process is complete, not affecting those schedules that are "locked."

• Supports a separate study hall scheduler. Students are optionally scheduled into study halls for any free periods in their schedules.

• Study halls can be requested by students or the system can fill any unscheduled time in a student’s schedule with a study hall.

• Student alternate requests can be scheduled if any regular request is not scheduled.

• Student course alternates can be scheduled if the associated regular request is not scheduled.

• Provides the ability to run the scheduler selectively by semester.

• Allows entering a student’s requests at any time during the school year and automatically scheduling the student into the requested classes. This eliminates hand scheduling while maintaining balance and integrity in the Master Schedule.

• During the scheduling process, a shuffle option can be utilized which will shuffle students from one sec-tion to another or reschedule students to improve the overall scheduling rate.

• The shuffling process moves students who are partially scheduled in an attempt to schedule another student; it does not touch students who have been fully scheduled.

• Provides the ability to mass update and move students from one scheduled course into another.

Student Schedules

• Marks can be trailed from a course that is dropped to one that is added.

• The system offers the option to withdraw students and preserve their schedules. The system will re-lease the seats but maintain the schedules, or you may optionally save their schedules.

• In Entry/Withdrawal, you can select to preserve a schedule for re-entry.

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• The Re-Enter Student option on the Entry/Withdrawal page reactivates students withdrawn with the previous option. It re-enters the student in Demographics and makes them active, and re-adds all the saved courses.

• Online schedule changes are allowed, and updated schedules can be generated immediately and printed.

• Provides the ability to quickly add courses to a student’s existing schedule.

Reports

• Provides a load report for teachers.

• Provides a current enrollment summary of each course and section via screen and report (Class Lists report).

• Provides a Simple Tally by course number at each school.

• Provides a Free Period Analysis report. This report summarizes the number of students who have a specific period free (not scheduled), tallied per marking period.

• Provides a Free Time Detail report. For each student selected, this report lists the open periods in the student’s schedule, per cycle day and marking period.

• Provides the option to enter text describing the courses offered, which may be compiled and printed to serve as a course selection booklet.

• Generates a Conflict Matrix report, which can process all courses, singletons only, doubletons only, or singletons and doubletons but no other courses.

• Provides the ability to print Teacher Schedules in a list or grid format.

• Provides a Seat Availability report. For each course, this report lists requests and seat counts, including total seats, seats needed and seats available. You can limit the report to courses that have either too few or too many seats.

• Provides the ability to print a Room Utilization report. This report lists the courses meeting in the room. It includes the course code and description, when it meets, seats used, and whether the course-section is closed (no seats left).

• Provides the ability to print Student Schedules on a full page, half page, or as a grid.

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System Overview

Scheduling System Initial ProceduresThe initial procedures identified below are usually performed by your system administrator or building per-sonnel and include the following steps.

Prerequisites:

1. Make sure the appropriate options in the following packages have been set up:

Registration - Rooms, Registration Cycle Days, Staff Information, Durations, and Marking Periods.

Mark Reporting - If your building uses Mark Reporting, Mark Types must be set up before the Master Schedule is added. You will also need to set up Honor Roll, GPA, and Level tables.

2. Set up the following Validation Tables:

Registration - Departments and House/Teams.

Mark Reporting - Graduation Requirement Areas.

Setting up the Scheduling System:

1. Set up the Intervals (Scheduling Center > Setup > Intervals).

2. In the Scheduling Configuration page (Administration > System Setup > Building > Scheduling), set up each building that uses the Scheduling System.

3. Set up the Periods (Scheduling Center > Setup > Periods).

4. Set up the Timetables (Scheduling Center > Setup > Timetable).

5. Set up the District-Defined screens for courses (Administration > District-Defined Setup > Course).

6. Set up the security resources for the Scheduling System, designating which users may access which options (Administration > Security > User Profiles).

For more information, refer to the appropriate topics in eSchoolPLUS online help.

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Scheduling System Procedural OutlineThe eSchoolPLUS Scheduling System provides options to handle all of your district’s scheduling needs, in-cluding entering student requests, setting up the Master Schedule, running the scheduler (Schedule Stu-dents option), and generating reports to verify information for each phase of the scheduling process.

Pre-Scheduler Process:

1. Create/update the following Scheduling Center > Building Course Setup options: Course Catalog, Course Groups, and Course Sequence.

If your district uses the District Course Catalog, refer to Using the District Course Catalog in eSchoolPLUS online help before running the Building Course Setup options.

2. Update the following Registration Center options: Room Information and Staff Information.

3. Enter student requests using the following options: Course Requests (Student Center > Scheduling > Course Requests) and Request Load/Unload/Erase (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Re-quest Load/Unload/Erase).

Requests can also be entered through Home Access Center, Scanning, and Career Planner.

4. Analyze/verify student requests by running one or more of the following Scheduling Center > Reports > Pre-Scheduler options: Conflict Matrix Book, Conflict Matrix Grid, Pre-Assignment Class Lists, Sim-ple Tally, Student Request Detail, Student Request Summary, and Student Request Verification.

Master Schedule Process:

1. Create/update the Master Schedule (Scheduling Center > Master Schedule > Master Schedule) for the school year.

2. Analyze/verify the Master Schedule by running the Master Schedule List (Scheduling Center > Master Schedule > Master Schedule > Report).

You can also run the following Scheduling Center > Reports options.

• Pre-Scheduler reports:

Room Availability, Seat Availability, and Teacher Availability

• Post-Scheduler reports:

Class Matrix, Teacher Schedule Matrix, and Teacher Schedules

Student Scheduler Process:

1. Use the Student Schedule page (Student Center > Scheduling > Entry) to lock individual students into specific course-sections.

2. If needed, update the Student Scheduler Parameters page (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Parameters) for your building.

3. Run the Error Scan option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Error Scan), then correct any errors found.

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System Overview

4. Run the Schedule Students option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Schedule Students) to schedule students into courses based on their requests.

5. Analyze/verify student schedules by running one or more of the following Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler options: Student Conflict Analysis, Unscheduled Request Detail, and Unscheduled Request Summary.

If the results are satisfactory, skip to Step 9. If you wish to re-run the scheduler, continue to Step 6.

6. If desired, run the Back Up/Restore option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Back Up/Re-store) to back up the results of your scheduling run.

7. If changes to the Master Schedule are needed, run the Scheduled Course Load/Unload/Lock/Erase option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Scheduled Course Load/Unload/Lock/Erase) to erase student schedules, then update the Master Schedule.

8. Return to Step 4 to re-run the Schedule Students option.

9. Resolve conflicts in students’ schedules using the following Student Center > Scheduling options: Entry and Mass Entry.

Study Hall Process:

1. If your school schedules study halls into the student’s free time, run one or both of the following Sched-uling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler options to determine how to create your study halls: Free Pe-riod Analysis and Free Time Detail.

2. Create/update study halls in the Master Schedule option (Scheduling Center > Master Schedule > Mas-ter Schedule).

3. Run the Schedule Study Halls option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Schedule Study Halls) to assign study halls to students’ schedules.

Post-Scheduler Maintenance:

1. Generate Class Lists (Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler > Class Lists) for distribution to teachers.

2. Generate Student Schedules (Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler > Student Schedules) for distribution to students.

3. Once school has started and schedule changes have begun, run the Add/Drop By Teacher report (Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler > Add-Drop By Teacher) periodically to inform teach-ers of changes in their classes.

4. As needed, modify student schedules using the following Student Center > Scheduling options: Entry and Mass Entry.

5. As needed, schedule students who move to your building. Use the Course Requests option (Student Center > Scheduling > Course Requests) to enter requests for a student, and then run the Model option in the Course Requests page to schedule the student.

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Next-Year Scheduling Process OverviewScheduling students for next year using the scheduler (Schedule Students option) is a continuous process that may be occurring throughout most of the current school year.

If you are using multiple bell schedules, refer to Next-Year Scheduling with Multiple Bell Schedules Process Overview on page 19.

Scheduling Preparation

Next-year buildings need to be assigned for next-year scheduling. If your site is not using GeoCode, pro-ceed to Step 2.

1. If the site uses GeoCode for assigning buildings or validating student addresses, school staff should make sure that plan areas are defined correctly for next year. For example, if an area has been re-dis-tricted to move students from one building to another, make sure that the plan information has been updated.

Staff should verify that students are assigned to the correct next building and grade for next-year schedul-ing.

Staff can use the Mass Assign Buildings page (Utilities > Mass Update > Building Assignments) to assign the next building information based on the plans.

Staff may need to review the next-year assignments for students whose assignments were overridden.

Note: When the year-end rollover program runs, the next-year values are moved to the current year fields based on the specified criteria. Because the next-year values themselves are not updated, you must use

15

System Overview

the Mass Assign Buildings page to make sure that students are assigned to the correct next-year building.

2. Set up the next school year. In eSchoolPLUS, some setup options are defined by school year to allow you to change how students are processed from one year to the next. Setups that are defined by year need to be created each school year. For most setups, you can copy the current year options to the next school year. Refer to the Next Year Preparation List in eSchoolPLUS online help for more infor-mation about the next-year setups that need to be defined.

3. Modify the Course Catalog (Scheduling Center > Building Course Setup > Course Catalog) based on approved curriculum changes. If a course will not be available for next year, make the course inactive in the Course Catalog.

The Course Groups and Course Sequence options may also need to be run from the Building Course Setup menu to update how courses are sequenced for the coming school year.

If your district uses the District Course Catalog, refer to Using the District Course Catalog in eSchoolPLUS online help before using the Building Course Setup options.


Before changing staff information, you may need to analyze request information first (Step 6) to determine your building’s staffing needs.

If you will need new hires to teach course-sections but have not yet filled the positions, you can cre-ate staff records in advance using generic names, such as NewStaff1 and NewStaff2. Once you fill a staff position, you can update the staff catalog record with the new staff member’s information.

5. If your building allows teachers to enter next year course recommendations for students, teachers can enter recommendations by clicking the REC link for a course-section. Note that students must have mark reporting records for the course-section before course recommendations can be entered. After recommendations have been entered, use the Load Course Recommendations to Requests option to create the requests. For more information on the course recommendation process, refer to Using Course Recommendations to Create Requests.

6. Enter student requests using the following options: Course Requests (Student Center > Scheduling > Course Requests) and Request Load/Unload/Erase (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Re-quest Load/Unload/Erase). Requests can also be entered through Home Access Center, Scanning, and Career Planner.

You may also run the Student Request Verification report (Scheduling Center > Reports > Pre-Scheduler > Student Request Verification) at this step so counselors and students can verify the request information.

7. Analyze section needs by running one or more of the following Scheduling Center > Reports > Pre-Scheduler reports: Conflict Matrix Book, Conflict Matrix Grid, Pre-Assignment Class Lists, Simple Tally, Student Request Detail, and Student Request Summary.


Schedule Students


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10. If you need to load a group of students to a particular course-section, run the Scheduled Course Load/Unload/Lock/Erase option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Scheduled Course Load/Unload/Lock/Erase).

11.Run the Error Scan (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Error Scan), then correct any errors found.

12. If needed, update the Scheduling Parameters page (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Param-eters) for your building.

13.Run the Schedule Students option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Schedule Students).

14.Analyze and verify student schedules by generating one or more of the following Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler reports: Student Conflict Analysis, Unscheduled Request Detail, and Un-scheduled Request Summary.

15. If you are satisfied with the results of the scheduler, skip to Step 19. If you want to re-run the scheduler, continue to the next step.

16. If you want to be able to return to the current setups after making changes, back up the scheduling run by running the Back Up/Restore option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Back Up/Restore).

17. If you need to change Master Schedule information, run the Scheduled Course Load/Unload/Lock/Erase option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Scheduled Course Load/Unload/Lock/Erase) to erase scheduled courses that are not locked.

18.Repeat Steps 7 - 17 until satisfied with the scheduler run.

19.Resolve conflicts in student schedules using the following Student Center > Scheduling options: Entry and Mass Entry.

Schedule Study Halls (optional)

If your school schedules study halls into students’ free time, complete the following steps:

20.Run one or both of the following Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler options to determine how to create your study halls: Free Period Analysis and Free Time Detail.

Both reports will use the timetable assigned to the student’s house/team in determining which periods are free for the student.

21.Create/update study halls in the Master Schedule option (Scheduling Center > Master Schedule > Mas-ter Schedule).

22.Run the Schedule Study Halls option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Schedule Study Halls) to assign study halls to students’ schedules.

We do not recommend using this option if you are attempting to use the scheduler in the current school year. If you restore data, you will lose changes for Scheduling and Mark Reporting made between the time that you backed up and restored data.

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System Overview

Print Schedule Information

23.Generate Class Lists (Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler > Class Lists) for distribution to teachers.

24.Generate Student Schedules (Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler > Student Schedules) for distribution to students.

25.Once school has started and schedule changes have begun, periodically run the Add-Drop By Teacher report (Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler > Add-Drop By Teacher) to inform teachers of changes in their classes.

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Next-Year Scheduling with Multiple Bell Schedules Process OverviewPrerequisites

1. Building must be set up to use multiple bell schedules. Refer to Setting Up Multiple Bell Schedules on page 92 for more information.

2. All students must be assigned to a house/team. If you are scheduling courses for next year, then the house/team on the Next Year tab of the Registration page must be populated.

Overview

Scheduling students for next year using the scheduler (Schedule Students option) is a continuous process that may be occurring throughout most of the current year.

Scheduling Preparation

Next-year buildings need to be assigned for next-year scheduling. If your site is not using GeoCode for assigning buildings, proceed to Step 2.

1. To use GeoCode to assign buildings, school staff should make sure that plan areas are defined cor-rectly for next year. For example, if an area has been re-districted to move students from one building to another, make sure that the plan information has been updated.

Staff should verify that students are assigned to the correct next building and grade for next-year scheduling.

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System Overview

Staff can use the Mass Assign Buildings page (Utilities > Mass Update > Building Assignments) to as-sign the next building information based on the plans.

Staff may need to review the next-year assignments for students whose assignments were overridden.

Note: When the year-end rollover program runs, the next-year values are moved to the current year fields based on the specified criteria. Because the next-year values themselves are not updated, you must use the Mass Assign Buildings page to make sure that students are assigned to the correct next-year building.

2. Set up the next school year. In eSchoolPLUS, some setup options are defined by school year to allow you to change how students are processed from one year to the next. Setups that are defined by year need to be created each school year. For most setups, you can copy the current year options to the next school year. Refer to the Next Year Preparation List in eSchoolPLUS online help for more infor-mation about the setups that need to be defined for the next school year.

3. Modify your building’s Course Catalog (Scheduling Center > Building Course Setup > Course Catalog) based on approved curriculum changes. If a course will not be available for next year, make the course inactive in the Course Catalog.

You can assign house/teams to the course only if specific teams will use the course code. Otherwise, you can wait to assign house/teams to individual course-sections in the Master Schedule.

The Course Groups and Course Sequence options may also need to be run from the Building Course Setup menu to update how courses are sequenced for the coming school year.

If your district uses the District Course Catalog, refer to Using the District Course Catalog in eSchoolPLUS online help before using the Building Course Setup options.


Before updating the staff catalog, you may need to analyze request information first (Step 6) to determine your building’s staffing needs.

You may assign a teacher to a house/team, but you do not need to. You should keep in mind teacher re-sponsibilities when creating your Master Schedule and assigning teachers to course-sections.

If you will need new hires to teach course-sections but have not yet filled the positions, you can cre-ate staff records in advance using generic names, such as NewStaff1 and NewStaff2. Once you fill a staff position, you can update the staff catalog record with the new staff member’s information.

5. If your building allows teachers to enter next year course recommendations for students, teachers can enter recommendations by clicking the REC link for a course-section. Note that students must have mark reporting records for the course-section before course recommendations can be entered. After recommendations have been entered, use the Load Course Recommendations to Requests option to create the requests. For more information on the course recommendation process, refer to Using Course Recommendations to Create Requests.

6. Enter student requests using the following options: Course Requests (Student Center > Scheduling > Course Requests) and Request Load/Unload/Erase (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Re-quest Load/Unload/Erase). Requests can also be entered through Home Access Center and Scanning.

You may also run the Student Request Verification report (Scheduling Center > Reports > Pre-Scheduler > Student Request Verification) at this step so counselors and students can verify the request information.

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7. Analyze section needs by running one or more of the following Scheduling Center > Reports > Pre-Scheduler reports: Conflict Matrix Book, Conflict Matrix Grid, Pre-Assignment Class Lists, Simple Tally, Student Request Detail, and Student Request Summary.


You must consider house/teams when adding course-sections. You may assign a course-section to multi-ple house/teams, but all house/teams you select must be assigned to timetables that have the same start and end times for the selected course periods. Only students assigned to one of the selected house/teams will be scheduled for the course-section.

If the timetables assigned to the selected house/teams have any overlap between periods, you will get a warning, and you will not be able to save the course-section.

If you do not want to assign the course to a house/team, you can leave the course-section without a house/team designation. You must make sure that the start time and end time of the selected periods do not over-lap in any of the timetables.

Once a student has been enrolled in a course-section, you cannot change the house/team designation for a course.

Schedule Students

Keep in mind that you can only schedule courses that are assigned to students’ house/teams or that do not have a house/team.


10. If you need to load a group of students to a particular course-section, run the Scheduled Course Load/Unload/Lock/Erase option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Scheduled Course Load/Unload/Lock/Erase).

11.Run the Error Scan (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Error Scan), then correct any errors found.

• Scan Registration checks that students have a valid house/team for their building.

• Scan Master Schedule checks that course-sections with multiple house/teams are scheduled for periods that have matching times in the applicable timetables.

• Scan Master Schedule checks that course-sections with no house/team designation are sched-uled for periods that have matching times in all timetables.

12. If needed, update the Scheduling Parameters page (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Param-eters) for your building.

13.Run the Schedule Students option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Schedule Students).

14.Analyze and verify student schedules by generating one or more of the following Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler reports: Student Conflict Analysis, Unscheduled Request Detail, and Un-scheduled Request Summary.

15. If you are satisfied with the results of the scheduler, skip to Step 19. If you want to re-run the scheduler, continue to the next step.

21

System Overview

16. If you want to be able to return to the current setups after making changes, back up the scheduling run by running the Back Up/Restore option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Back Up/Restore).

17. If you need to change Master Schedule information, run the Scheduled Course Load/Unload/Lock/Erase option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Scheduled Course Load/Unload/Lock/Erase) to erase scheduled courses that are not locked.

18.Repeat Steps 7 - 17 until satisfied with the scheduler run.

19.Resolve conflicts in student schedules using the following Student Center > Scheduling options: Entry and Mass Entry.

Schedule Study Halls (optional)

20.Run one or both of the following Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler options to determine how to create your study halls: Free Period Analysis and Free Time Detail.

Both reports will use the timetable assigned to the student’s house/team in determining which periods are free for the student.

21.Create/update study halls in the Master Schedule option (Scheduling Center > Master Schedule > Mas-ter Schedule).

You must consider house/teams when adding a study hall. You may assign a study hall to multiple house/teams, but all house/teams you select must be assigned to timetables that have the same start and end times for the course periods. Only students assigned to one of the selected house/teams will be scheduled for the study hall.

If the timetables assigned to the selected house/teams have any overlap between periods, you will get a warning, and you will not be able to save the course-section.

If you do not want to assign the study hall to a house/team, you can leave the house/team without a house/team designation. You must make sure that the start times and end times of the period do not overlap in any of the timetables.

Once a student has been enrolled in a study hall, you cannot change the house/team designation for a course.

22.Run the Schedule Study Halls option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Schedule Study Halls) to assign study halls to students’ schedules.

Only courses assigned to the student’s house/team or those with no house/team may be added to a stu-dent’s schedule. The Override House/Team field will be set to unchecked and will be disabled. The timeta-ble associated with the student’s house/team will be used when determining the student’s schedule status.

Print Schedule Information

23.Generate Class Lists (Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler > Class Lists) for distribution to teachers.

We do not recommend using this option if you are attempting to use the scheduler in the current school year. If you restore data, you will lose changes for Scheduling and Mark Reporting made between the time that you backed up and restored data.

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24.Generate Student Schedules (Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler > Student Schedules) for distribution to students.

25.Once school has started and schedule changes have begun, periodically run the Add-Drop By Teacher report (Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler > Add-Drop By Teacher) to inform teachers of changes in their classes.

23

System Overview

Using Staff QualificationsStaff qualifications allow you to manage the highly qualified teacher requirements of the No Child Left Be-hind Act. You can assign qualifications to teachers and define qualification requirements for courses. When you assign a teacher to a course-section, a warning will display if the teacher’s qualifications do not fill the course requirements.

To use staff qualifications to enforce highly qualified teacher requirements:

1. Define the qualifications that your district uses in the Staff Qualification validation table (Administration > System Setup > Validation Tables > click Registration > select Staff Qualification).

2. Define the qualifications and associated expiration dates for staff members on the Qualification tab of the Staff District Information page (Registration Center > Staff Information).

3. Define the qualifications required to teach the course in the Course Catalog (Scheduling Center > Building Course Setup > Course Catalog). If there are multiple qualifications for the course, enter all the qualifications that are required. If multiple qualifications are listed for a course, teachers are re-quired to meet all qualifications.

4. When you define the Master Schedule record for a course-section, you can change the staff qualifica-tions required for the course (Scheduling Center > Master Schedule > Master Schedule). When you assign a primary staff member or secondary staff member for a session, the Master Schedule option checks that the selected staff member is qualified to teach the course based on staff and course infor-mation. If the teacher does not have all the qualifications required for the course, you will get a warning message, and you must select a qualified teacher in order to save the course-section.

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Glossary of Scheduling TermsThe following terms are used frequently throughout this manual in reference to scheduling.

Alternate Course (see Course Alternate)

Alternate RequestA course requested by a student that can be substituted when the regular course request cannot be scheduled. Alternate requests are processed by the Student Scheduler (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Student Schedules) if a student cannot be scheduled into every regular request and there are open periods in the student’s schedule. Related term: Regular Course Request.

BlockA group of course-sections defined in the Course Catalog that can be scheduled based on a single course request. A block course allows you to schedule students together as a group for two or more courses. Blocks can also be set up so that the students do not have to attend the same sections of all courses, but must be scheduled for all of the block’s blockettes. Related terms: Blockette, Course Cat-alog, and Proxy Block.

BlocketteA course-section within a block. When a block is requested for a student, the Student Scheduler (Sched-uling Center > Student Scheduler > Student Schedules) schedules the block’s blockettes, not the block itself. In setting up the Course Catalog, blockettes should be created first, and then the block. Related terms: Block, Course Catalog, Course-Section, and Proxy Block.

ClassA session when a course is taught. Class can also refer to the body of students expected to graduate in a particular year, for example, the Class of 2012. This sense of the term is used in eSchoolPLUS in relation to class rank. Related term: Session.

Classification WeightA value used to balance course-section scheduling based on student classifications, such as Multiple Handicaps or Special Education. If your district uses classification weights for scheduling, a student cannot be scheduled into a course-section if the student’s classification weight would cause the course-section’s maximum weight to be exceeded. Related term: Course-Section.

Course(see Regular Course)

Course AlternateA course to substitute if the Student Scheduler (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Student Schedules) is unable to schedule a regular course request for a student. The alternate is defined in the regular course’s Course Catalog record. If the regular course and course alternate cannot be sched-uled, then the student course alternate is scheduled. Related terms: Regular Course, Student Alternate, and Student/Course Alternate.

Course CatalogThe table used for storing course records, including both courses and blocks. In eSchoolPLUS, two types of catalogs can be set up, one for the district and the other for individual buildings. The District Course Catalog can be used to create catalogs for buildings. Similarly, new courses can be added at the building-level, then uploaded to the district catalog for downloading to other Building Course Cata-logs. Related terms: Block, Blockette, and Proxy Block.

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System Overview

Course GroupA group of courses used in sequencing to link multiple courses. For example, a Math 9 course group might contain a set of courses, any one of which would meet a student’s requirement for Grade 09 Math. You can also create a course group to include all codes for a course when a separate code is used in each building where the course is taught. For example, if Pre-Algebra is taught in multiple middle schools within a district, a Pre-Algebra group could be set up to include all Pre-Algebra course codes used in all buildings. This group could then be used in a sequence to determine whether a student has fulfilled the prerequisite for taking Algebra I. Course groups can be set up for building-level courses and if you use the District Course Catalog, for district-level courses as well. Related term: Course Sequence.

Course Request(see Regular Course Requests )

Course SequenceA record defining the relationship between either courses or course groups. Sequences can be set up to establish prerequisites for taking a course, as described under Course Group. A sequence could also be used to link courses to determine whether a course can be scheduled with, not with, or before a sec-ond course in the same scheduling interval. Sequences can be set up for building-level courses and if you use the District Course Catalog, for district-level courses as well. Related terms: Course Group and Scheduling Interval.

Course-SectionA record in the Master Schedule that determines when, where, and by whom the section is taught. In-dividual course-sections should be set up for a course that is offered at different times and locations. Course-sections can also be set up to define the blockettes to be scheduled in place of a block. Related terms: Block, Blockette, Master Schedule, and Regular Course.

District Course RequestA future year request entered through Student Career Planner in eSchoolPLUS or Home Access Cen-ter. These requests use -1 as a generic building number, since students’ future year buildings have not yet been assigned. You can import district requests and assign students’ next-year registration build-ings using the Student Scheduler Error Scan or the Student Center’s Course Requests option. Related term: Regular Course Request.

DoubletonA regular course that will likely have only two course-sections set up. Courses are defined as double-tons in the Course Catalog. During the scheduling process, the Conflict Matrix report can be run to an-alyze singletons and doubletons since courses with fewer sections generally have a greater potential for conflicts. Related terms: Course-Section, Regular Course, and Singleton.

House/TeamA designation applied to a group of students for scheduling the students as a group. House/team codes are defined in Registration’s House/Teams table and are assigned to students in the Current Year and Next Year tabs of their Registration Information pages. If your building uses multiple bell schedules, you can also assign house/team codes to timetables. Timetables are applied to course-sections in either the Course Catalog or if overrides are allowed, in the Master Schedule. Related terms: Course Catalog, Master Schedule, Multiple Bell Schedule, and Timetable.

Interval (see Scheduling Interval)

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Master ScheduleThe table used in eSchoolPLUS for storing information for the course-sections in which students can be scheduled. This can include the sessions for regular course-sections or the blockettes that should be scheduled for a block. A Master Schedule record defines general information for a course-section, such as building, maximum seating, and grade restrictions, as well as specifics, such as the class peri-od, room, marking periods, and mark types that apply to the section. The Master Schedule record for a block course can also contain the block’s blockettes. In this case, you must set up Master Schedule records for the blockettes first before creating the record for the block. Related terms: Block, Blockette, Course-Section, and Session.

ModelingThe simulation of a schedule based on student requests on the Course Requests page. Additionally, when you add and drop courses and make other changes to a student’s schedule, a model is created to enable you to cancel the changes if needed. If the model is acceptable, you can keep it as the stu-dent’s schedule. Typically, this is done in the current year for individual students, as opposed to next year scheduling for multiple students.

Multiple Bell ScheduleA schedule that uses house/teams and multiple timetables to enable different bell schedules to be used in the same building. For example, students on one house/team can be dismissed from Period 1 at 8:00 and students on another house/team at 8:10, thereby limiting hallway traffic during period changes. Un-der this form of scheduling, teams are assigned to timetables, students are assigned to teams, and teams (and their timetables) are assigned to course-sections. If teams in a building have timetables with different start and end times, a separate course-section must be set up for each team/period. Related terms: House/Team, Period, and Timetable.

Multiple Building SchedulingThe scheduling of students who also take courses in buildings other than their buildings of enrollment. In this case, you must schedule the course by running one of the Student Center options or the Sched-uling Center’s Scheduled Course Load/Unload/Lock/Erase option. Note, however, that the system does not validate for conflicts with courses already scheduled in the enrollment building. In addition, if the MBS building uses the Multiple Bell Schedule feature, then the student needs to be assigned a house/team that applies to the course being scheduled. Related terms: House/Team and Timetable.

PeriodA segment of the school day, as defined in the Periods table (Scheduling Center > Setup > Periods). A period is associated with specific times in a cycle day in the Timetable. eSchoolPLUS uses two types of periods: attendance periods and scheduling periods. Attendance periods identify when attendance may be taken. Scheduling periods determine when classes meet. Attendance and scheduling periods are often the same, but can be different. Related terms: House/Team, Multiple Bell Schedule, and Time-table.

Proxy Block (or Proxy Course)A block containing a list of courses (blockettes) that should be scheduled when the proxy is requested for a group of students. For example, you can create a Grade 06 proxy block that includes the set of courses that should be scheduled for all 6th grade students. A proxy block does not force students to take the blockette courses as a group and instead enables them to be scheduled individually into the different sections. Including a block course with a proxy block is also useful, for example, if you want to group students for some but not all courses, and you have multiple course-sections of the block course that include the blockette courses you want to group. Related terms: Block, Blockette, and Course-Sec-tion.

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System Overview

Regular CourseA course defined as a record in the Course Catalog that will have sessions scheduled in the Master Schedule. Course records can also be created for scheduling study halls and lunch. Related terms: Course Catalog, Course-Section, and Study Hall.

Regular Course RequestA request that the Student Scheduler (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Student Schedules) should attempt to schedule before trying alternates. Related terms: District Course Request, Student Alternate, and Student/Course Alternate.

Scheduling IntervalThe scheduling time period identifying when the course is scheduled, such as a full year or semester. Intervals are defined in the Intervals option (Scheduling Center > Setup > Intervals). An interval indi-cates how many times a year a building goes through the scheduling process. It also determines the requests and marking periods that will be processed in scheduling.

SessionIndicates when and where a course-section meets, as defined in the Master Schedule. Session infor-mation includes periods within the day, cycle days, marking periods, room number, primary and sec-ondary staff, and mark reporting settings. Since sessions can span multiple periods, most course-sections require only one session. Additional sessions are needed if classes meet in different periods on different days or in non-consecutive periods. Related terms: Course-Section, Master Schedule, and Period.

SingletonA regular course that will likely have only one course-section set up. Courses are defined as singletons in the Course Catalog. During the scheduling process, the Conflict Matrix report can be run to analyze singletons (and doubletons) since courses with fewer sections generally have a greater potential for producing conflicts. Related terms: Course-Section, Doubleton, and Regular Course.

State CourseA course defined by your state and identified by a state code. If your state requires these codes in print-ing transcripts or filing state reports, you must set up course equivalency information in Mark Report-ing’s State Courses table to map Course Catalog codes to the state codes. Besides descriptions and local codes, state course records can also store marks and credit information drawn from their course equivalents, although this depends on your district’s procedures.

Student AlternateAn alternate request that can be used in place of any course that cannot be scheduled. Related terms: Alternate Request, Course Alternate, and Student/Course Alternate.

Student/Course AlternateA request by a student for an alternate course if a specific regular course cannot be scheduled. For ex-ample, a student requests Psychology and indicates that if this cannot be scheduled, then schedule So-ciology. Related terms: Alternate Request, Course Alternate, and Student Alternate.

Study HallA study period scheduled during a student’s open period. eSchoolPLUS supports two types of study halls. You can use the Schedule Study Halls option (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Sched-ule Study Halls) to fill in open periods with study halls. You can also set up study halls as regular course-sections in the Course Catalog, which allows them to be scheduled as course requests. Related terms: Course Catalog and Period.

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TimetableA record listing the start and end times of periods, as defined in the Timetable table (Scheduling Center > Setup > Timetable). Periods determine when course-sections meet. If your building uses multiple bell schedules, you can assign timetables to house/teams and define unique start and end times for the pe-riods in each team’s timetable. Related terms: House/Team, Multiple Bell Schedule, and Period.

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System Overview

30

2. Course Setup OverviewThe eSchoolPLUS Scheduling System offers the ability for you to improve your scheduling process using course linking options and block courses.


About Course-Sections in the Master Schedule

Multiple Period Courses - Multiple Session or Single Session

Overview of Block Courses

How Blocks and Proxies are Scheduled

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Course Setup Overview

About Course-Sections in the Master ScheduleThe Master Schedule stores information for the course-sections in which students can be scheduled. Each Master Schedule record represents one course-section of either a regular course or a block course’s block-ettes.

A course-section can include one or more sessions to define when its classes meet. You set up both the course-section and its sessions in the Master Schedule Course Information page (Scheduling Center > Master Schedule > Master Schedule). The answers to the following questions further clarify these concepts to assist you in creating Master Schedule records.

What is the difference between a regular course and a block course?

A regular course contains information for requesting and scheduling a course. Besides actual courses, a regular record can include a study hall, lunch period, or any other type of period you want to fill in the Master Schedule.

A block course allows you to schedule students together into a group of two or more courses (block-ettes). Create the regular courses as separate Master Schedule records first, then create a block record. You can assign the blockette courses to the block in the Master Schedule Course Information page’s Master Schedule Blockette Information section.

Additionally, a block course can be set up as a proxy block, which allows you to schedule multiple cours-es in response to a single student request. A proxy is a variation of a block where no blockettes have a section specified and no blockettes are mandatory.

For more information about blocks and proxies, refer to Overview of Block Courses on page 36.

What is a course-section?

A course-section identifies a specific class for a course. If more than one class is needed to fill student requests for a course, then additional Master Schedule course-sections must be set up, one for each class.

• Regular course-sections include the sessions that define when their classes meet and who teach-es them. Students scheduled into a course-section must be scheduled into all of the section’s ses-sions.

• Block course-sections include the blockettes that students should be scheduled for in place of the block course request. Students are scheduled into the sessions of the block’s blockettes.

What is a session?

Sessions are added to a Master Schedule record to indicate when and where a course-section meets. For example, a session stores the course’s marking periods, cycle days, and scheduling periods; the number of the room where the class meets; the staff members who teach the session; and the session’s mark reporting settings.

If a course meets in contiguous periods (for example, periods 1, 2, and 3), you can specify a range for the course’s starting and ending periods. Students are scheduled into the course for all periods in the range.

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About Course-Sections in the Master Schedule

When are multiple sessions needed for a course?

Since sessions can span multiple periods, most course-sections require only one session. Additional sessions are needed if classes meet in different periods on different days or in non-consecutive periods.

Example 1: If General Science meets in the same period Monday through Friday, create a course-sec-tion with one session. However, if Wednesday’s class is followed by a lab that is part of the course, you must add a second session for the lab period.

Example 2: If a class meets in 5th period on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and in 6th period on Tuesday and Thursday, you must set up two sessions: one for 5th period days and the other for 6th period days.

For related information, refer to Multiple Period Courses - Multiple Session or Single Session on page 34.

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Multiple Period Courses - Multiple Session or Single SessionWhen you are creating a Master Schedule record for a course-section that meets in multiple periods, you can set up the course with a single session or multiple sessions. You can only define a course-section as a single session if the same periods meet on all days of the course. If there is a variation in the meeting pat-tern, you must set up multiple sessions.

The following conditions determine whether to set up single or multiple sessions for Master Schedule course-sections that meet in multiple periods. Since sessions also affect how marks and attendance are entered, conditions are included to address these additional possibilities.

If a course’s periods change on some days that the course meets:

Multiple Sessions

If a course meets for the same periods on the same days:

Single Session

Note: You can also define this course as mul-tiple sessions.

If a student can be resolved out of one of the course’s periods:

Multiple Sessions

You cannot resolve a student out of one of a course’s periods if you schedule a single ses-sion that spans periods.

If the teacher should take attendance once and save it for all of the course’s periods:

Single Session

For example, if you set up a course to meet for a single session for periods 1 and 2, atten-dance is stored for the attendance periods for period 1 and period 2.

Note: There is no option available for multiple sessions to allow you to set up a course so teachers take attendance once to have it saved for all periods of the sessions.

If the teacher should take attendance once and only save attendance for a single period:

Multiple Sessions

Enter a check in the Take Attendance box for the session of the period that you want to save attendance for. Set the Take Attendance box to unchecked for all other sessions.

If the teacher should take attendance for each of the course’s periods:

Multiple Sessions

Enter a check in the Take Attendance box for all session.

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Multiple Period Courses - Multiple Session or Single Session

For information on how course absence totals are calculated for single sessions versus multiple sessions, refer to Understanding Multiple Period Handling for Course Absence Types in eSchoolPLUS online help.

Multiple Sessions and Gradebook

• If you define a multiple session course that has different periods meeting on different days and only one session is designated for mark reporting, then you must consider whether teachers need to enter assignments for the cycle days when the other sessions meet. For example, if a course-section has session 1 defined for M, W, F and session 2 for T, R, but a teacher wants to have an assignment due on a Tuesday, you must set up Gradebook to accept all valid membership dates in the marking period as assignment dates. This option is available in the Assessment Date Validation field on the Mark Re-porting Configuration page’s Gradebook tab.

• If you define a course with sessions that meet in different marking periods, you must set up at least one session in all marking periods that should be graded. You cannot enter Gradebook assignments for a marking period that is not set up to be graded.

If the teacher should enter IPR and/or report cards for each period of the course every mark-ing period:

Multiple Sessions

Select T- Retained for Transcripts or R - For Report Cards Only for the Marks Are field for every session of the course.

Note: The course will print multiple times on the report cards – once for each session.

If the teacher should enter IPR and/or report cards one time for the course every marking period:

Single Session

Note: You can also set up a multiple session course so that mark reporting data is only en-tered and reported once. Select T- Retained for Transcripts or R - For Report Cards Only for the Marks Are field for the appropriate session. For information on how this affects how teach-ers can enter assignments in Gradebook, refer to the Multiple Sessions and Gradebook sec-tion.

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Overview of Block CoursesBlock courses allow you to define groups of courses that you want to schedule together. Each block has a group of blockettes defined. The blockettes indicate the course - or usually, the course-section - that should be scheduled in place of the block course.

You can think of a block course as a "dummy" course - students request the course code, but are not sched-uled into the course. Instead, the student scheduler (Schedule Students option) schedules them into the course-sections associated with the block course, which are referred to as blockettes.

For example, you could define a block called Core06 if students in grade 06 take core courses with the same set of students. If the core courses are English, Math, Science, and Social Studies, you would define these courses as blockettes of Core06. Students would request Core06. The scheduler would schedule each stu-dent into a section of English, Math, Science, and Social Studies.

If you use the District Course Catalog, when block courses are created at the district level, a block course with the same course code is added to the Building Course Catalog for each building that shares the district course’s building type (for example, Middle School or High School). You can also add a course at the build-ing-level catalog and use it to create a block. However, if a block is created in the District Course Catalog, you cannot change it at the building level.

Options for Defining Blockettes

When you define the blockettes for the block in the Master Schedule, you can select options to specify how strictly students are grouped within blockettes. For example, for each blockette, you can select whether the blockette is mandatory. If all blockettes in the block are mandatory, the student will only be scheduled into a blockette course-section if the student can be scheduled into all of the blockettes.

If you want to schedule a course as part of a tra-ditional block (students are scheduled into a specific section and must be scheduled for the blockette in order to be scheduled for any block-ettes):

Specify a section for the blockette and check the Mandatory box.

This is the most strict way to define a blockette. If all blockettes are defined this way, then students will move together as a unit for all blockette courses.

If you want to schedule a specific section if the blockette can be scheduled, but allow the stu-dent to be scheduled for other blockettes if this blockette does not fit:

Specify a section for the blockette and un-check the Mandatory box.

If you want to schedule any section of the block-ette, but require that the student must be sched-uled for the blockette:

Do not specify a section for the blockette and check the Mandatory box.

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Overview of Block Courses

Note: We recommend defining blockettes with at least one mandatory blockette. When the scheduler tries to schedule a block with no mandatory blockettes, it attempts to schedule all possible combinations of block-ette sections, slowing down the scheduler’s performance.

If you want to schedule any section of the block-ette if it fits in the schedule:

Do not specify a section for the blockette and uncheck the Mandatory box.

This is the least strict way to define a blockette. If all blockettes are defined this way, then the block is considered a proxy block. Proxy blocks are useful for schedul-ing multiple courses based on a single course request for a student.

Note: A proxy block can contain another block as a blockette. For more information about scheduling block and proxy cours-es, refer to How Blocks and Proxies Are Scheduled on page 38.

If you want to use teacher linking to schedule blockettes that are not assigned to a section:

Define a block that has at least one sec-tion specified or at least one section de-fined as mandatory.

In the Same Teacher field for the block course-section, select P- Linking Pre-ferred or R - Linking Required.

This setting only applies to blockettes that do not have the Same Section box select-ed in the course catalog. When the sched-uler schedules a student for the block, it will not use teacher linking rules to keep the student with the same teacher for blockettes that have a section specified in the Master Schedule.

Note: Do not use teacher linking if you have defined a proxy (a block where no sections are specified and mandatory is not checked for any blockette).

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How Blocks and Proxies Are ScheduledBlock and proxy courses allow students to make a request for a "dummy" course in order to be scheduled into multiple courses. The options you select for the blockettes in a block determine how strictly students are scheduled into courses in the block. This topic illustrates how the scheduler (Schedule Students options) schedules a block and a proxy course, as well as a proxy course that includes a block course.

Scheduling Block Course Requests

Block courses are useful for scheduling the same group of students into multiple course-sections. For ex-ample, if a group of students attends 109-1 English 1, 209-1 US History, 309-1 Biology, and 409-1 Algebra 1, blocking the courses enables the students to travel from one class to another as a unit.

The following graphic illustrates the process that occurs when you set up a block that is defined with all blockettes defined as mandatory and with a section number for each blockette. The scheduler will only schedule the student into the blockettes for a block if all of the blockettes fit into the student’s schedule.

In this scenario, the student will be scheduled with the same group of students for all of the blockette courses because a section number was entered for all blockettes. If you wanted the students to be a unit for most courses, but not for all courses, you could leave the Section field blank for the blockette course(s) for which students do not need to remain in the same unit.

Scheduling Proxy Block Requests

Proxy blocks are useful because you can create one "dummy" course-section for the block and list all pos-sible course requests that should be scheduled for students who request the proxy course. For example, if all students in grade 06 take the same set of courses, you can create a proxy for grade 06 courses that includes blockettes for the set of courses you schedule for students. Then, you can use the Scheduled Course Load/Unload/Lock/Erase option to load the request for the proxy course for all students in grade 06.

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How Blocks and Proxies Are Scheduled

The following graphic illustrates the process that occurs when you set up a proxy block (a block that has no blockettes set to be mandatory and has no sections specified for blockettes). The scheduler will schedule the student into any section of the blockette that fits in the student’s schedule and will schedule some block-ettes even if all blockettes cannot be scheduled.

Scheduling Proxy Courses that Include a Block

Including a block course within a proxy block is useful if you want to group students for some courses, but not all courses, and you have a lot of sections of the block course that include the blockette courses you want to group. For example, you might group students for Math, Science, Social Studies, and English, but not for physical education. If you have 10 groups of students to schedule, you could create 10 sections for a block course with blockettes for Math, Science, Social Studies, and English. Then you could create one proxy that includes the block course and physical education.

The following graphic illustrates the process that occurs when you set up a block course within a proxy course. When scheduling a block within a proxy, the scheduler follows the same rules for proxy scheduling. In this scenario, the scheduler will try to schedule the blockette block for the proxy course, but if it cannot schedule the block, the scheduler will still schedule other blockettes for the proxy.

To schedule the block course in the proxy, the scheduler will try to schedule the blockettes as defined in the block. In most cases, the block course will have multiple course-sections defined.

Note: When you include a block within a proxy block, it is possible that the student may be scheduled for some courses, but not for the core courses in the block.

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40

3. Master ScheduleThe Master Schedule stores the course-sections that will be offered in your district. In setting up a Master Schedule record, you define basic information about a course-section and specify detailed information about when its sessions meet.

Master Schedule information is used to:

• Indicate basic demographic restrictions for the students who can be scheduled. For example, you can limit enrollment by gender, grades, and house/teams.

• Schedule when course-section sessions meet, including their marking periods, days, and scheduling periods.

• Specify the staff and room resources for course-section sessions.

• Validate whether seats are available in course-section sessions.

• For block courses, define which courses will be offered as blockettes.

• Specify how attendance should be taken for course-section sessions.

• Indicate if and how courses should be used in Report Cards and Transcripts.

If your system is set up to display district-defined information, contact your System Administrator for details.


Master Schedule List

Master Schedule List Report

Master Schedule Course Information

Adding Regular Course-Sections

Adding Block Course-Sections

Changing Course-Sections

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Master Schedule

Deleting Master Schedule Information

How can I check if a Master Schedule is successful?

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Master Schedule ListUse this page to select a Master Schedule section from the list of course-sections that match the criteria from your last search.

How do I get there?Scheduling Center > Master Schedule > Master Schedule

What can I do?Display session start/end periods, rooms, staff, marking periods, and days by selecting the Include Ses-sion Information box.

Open the Master Schedule Course Information page by clicking the Course-Section link.

Delete a course-section by checking the Delete box and then clicking Delete. You cannot delete a course-section that has students scheduled.

Run a report listing the courses selected by your search by clicking Report. The application displays the Master Schedule List Report page, on which you can choose from a variety of report formats. For more information about the Master Schedule List Report, refer to page 45.

Open the Master Schedule Alternate Language List page by clicking the Define Alternate Language De-scriptions link. You can use this page to translate the titles of courses into a selected language. These translations are used in alternate language report cards.

Sample Master Schedule List Page without Session Information

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Master Schedule

Sample Master Schedule List Page with Session Information

44


Master Schedule List ReportThis report lists course-section information for the courses selected in your search.

The report has two formats:

• List - contains course, section, description, house/team, period, track, teacher, room, grade list, max-imum seats, marking periods, seats used, and days the course meets. A total of course requests, max-imum seats and seats used is provided for all sections of the same course. If a course has a State ID associated with it, the number and state-assigned description also print.

• Expanded List - includes the above information, plus average type, building type, gender, course fees, credit, whether marks are given, whether attendance is taken, the honor roll type and level, the GPA type and level, the mark types given for the course, the subject areas for the course, and the way in which graduation requirement credits are applied. It also shows the number of seats used for each marking period.

How do I get there?Scheduling Center > Master Schedule > Master Schedule > search, then click Report

What can I do?Indicate how you want to print the report by clicking the appropriate options, then clicking Run.

Sample Master Schedule List Report Page

Fields

Blockette AppearanceDetermines how blockettes are handled in the report.

Select:

Print blockettes within their block - to have the course-section blockettes listed below the related block course.

Print blockettes as regular courses - to have the course-section blockettes printed as a course, as well as listed below the related block.

If you do not want block courses to print on the report, include Master Schedule Block Type <> B in the search.

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Master Schedule

Output FormatDetermines how much information is included in the report, as described in the introduction.

Sample Master Schedule Expanded List Report

Note: This report was generated with the option Print blockettes within their block. Shading occurs on alternat-ing courses. Within a block course, shading occurs on alternating blockettes.

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Master Schedule Course InformationUse this page to add or change a course-section in the Master Schedule. You can set up two different types of course-sections: regular, which include one or more sessions, and blocks, which allow you to schedule students into a group of course-sections (blockettes).

How do I get there?Scheduling Center > Master Schedule > Master Schedule > click the Course-Section link

What can I do?Add a course-section by clicking New, entering course information, then clicking Save.

Add a session to a regular course-section by clicking New Session, entering session information, then clicking Save.

Add a blockette to a block course-section by entering the course code in the blank row, then clicking Save.

Change a course-section by changing its information, then clicking Save.

Delete a session by checking its Delete box, then clicking Save.

Display the list of students scheduled into the course by clicking Class List. From the Class List, you can click a student’s name to access the individual’s Student Schedule page. Be sure to save your en-tries before navigating away from the Master Schedule Course Information page.

Display the course’s Building Course Catalog information by clicking Course Catalog. In the Building Course Catalog pop-up window, click the Course link to display the Building Course Catalog page. To access the course’s district-level course, click District Course Catalog in the pop-up window.

Display a window listing the course’s scheduling conflicts by clicking Conflicts.

Display seat detail by marking period by clicking the Seat Detail link in the Master Schedule Session Information section’s Used Seat field.

Display classified student detail by marking period by clicking the Weight Detail link in the Master Schedule Session Information section’s Classification Weight field.

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Master Schedule

Sample Master Schedule Course Information Page - Regular Course

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Master Schedule

Sample Master Schedule Course Information Page - Block Course

Fields

The page is divided into multiple sections.

General Information Section

These fields identify the course and course-section.

BuildingBuilding where the course-section meets.

CourseCode identifying the course.

Course SectionNumber of the course-section. The system defaults 1 for the first section and the next sequential num-ber for each subsequent section.

Master Schedule Course Information Section

These fields provide general information on the course-section that applies to all sessions or blockettes en-tered. The section’s Block Type field enables you to define the course-section as a regular course or block.

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DescriptionDescription of the course-section. [Character/255]

Gender RestrictionGender of students who can be scheduled into the course-section.

Select:

M - Male Only

F - Female Only

B - Both

TrackScheduling track of the course-section. This field applies to year-round buildings. Only students as-signed to this track can be scheduled into the course-section.

Block TypeDetermines how the Student Scheduler (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Schedule Students) processes this course-section.

Select:

N - Regular Course - to schedule students into the sessions of the course-section. You must set up at least one session.

B - Block Course - to schedule students into the set of course-sections (blockettes) that are associated with the block. The Student Scheduler schedules the individual blockette course-sections, not the block.

If C - Blockette Course - displays, this is a regular course-section that is assigned to at least one block course.

Maximum SeatsMaximum number of students that can be scheduled into the course-section. This value defaults from the Scheduling Configuration. This field displays only for regular courses, not for block courses.

FeeAmount to charge a student for enrolling in the course.

Note: The Student Fees package does not process this fee. Student Fees uses Fee Groups to charge fees for courses.

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Master Schedule

Grad Req Credit RuleIf multiple subject areas are assigned to the course, indicates how credit should be applied to the sub-ject areas for graduation requirements.

Select:

E - Evenly Divide Credit Among All Subject Areas - to divide the credit for the course across all listed subject areas, for example, if the credit for Physics should be split between a lab science requirement and a lecture science requirement.

F - Full Credit Goes To All Subject Areas - to apply the full credit for the course to all listed subject areas, for example, if the credit for Physics should be applied to both the lab science requirement and a lecture science requirement.

O - Fill Credit Into Subject Areas In Order - to apply the credit for the course to the first subject area listed that still needs credits filled, then apply any remaining credit to the next subject area that needs to be filled. For example, if a student takes a Modern Fiction course that is 1 credit, which can be used to fulfill an English subject area requirement or Elective requirement, and the student needs .25 credits for English, the first .25 credits will be applied to fill the English requirement and the remaining credit will be applied to fill the subject area Elective requirement.

This field is display only when you are viewing current year courses.

Part Of Block Course(s)List of links to the blocks that include this blockette course. To display the Master Schedule record for one of the blocks, click on the block’s link.

This field only displays if the course is part of a block.

LockChecked if the course-section is locked. Locking a course-section prevents the Master Schedule Builder from deleting the section and rescheduling it. The Master Schedule Builder will instead anchor this sec-tion in the selected meeting time, with the selected resources, and schedule all other sections around it.

NCES CodeSelect the NCES code that corresponds to the course. These codes were developed by the United States Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics to classify secondary school courses for reporting purposes.

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Classified Students MaximumMaximum weight of classified students that can be scheduled for a course-section, entered as either a percentage or number. [Decimal/5,2]

If your district enforces classification weights when scheduling students, enter a value in the numeric field, then select one of the following:

Percent - to set the default scheduling weight as a percentage, for example, 10.000 percent of a class.

Number - to set the default scheduling weight as a decimal number, for example, 10.000 as the total allowed for a class.

Classification weights are used to limit the scheduling of classified students into course-sections. The weights are assigned to student classifications in Registration’s Classifications table, for example, 1.0 for 504 Plan students or 2.0 for Special Education students. In scheduling a course-section, the system compares the total weight of all students against the maximum in the Master Schedule record.

The total weight for students scheduled into the course-section displays in the Master Schedule Session Information Section’s Classification Weight field. Once the maximum is reached, additional students with classification weights cannot be scheduled unless you have the appropriate security.

Note: This field was introduced in eSchoolPLUS version 2.5.

DepartmentCode identifying the department offering the course.

Study HallChecked if you intend to use Schedule Study Halls to fill open periods in students’ schedules with study halls. Students do not request these courses. The Schedule Study Halls option automatically resolves conflicts by assigning study halls for days and marking periods that are open in the student’s schedule.

Unchecked for regular courses as well as study halls that are requested and scheduled like regular courses. The Student Scheduler (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Schedule Students) pro-cesses these course-sections.

Grade RestrictionGrade(s) of the students who can take this course-section.

Students who do not meet the grade restriction can only be scheduled into a course by a user with se-curity to override grade restrictions.

House TeamHouse team associated with the course-section. Make sure the students you want to schedule are on the team you specify.

If the building uses Multiple Bell Schedules, you may select multiple house teams. The Multiple Bell Schedules feature allows a building to define different timetables for groups of students within a build-ing. The timetable is associated with students and courses by the house/team.

If more than one house/team is associated with a course and the house/teams use different timetables, then the timetables for all specified house/teams must have the same starting and ending times for the course’s periods.

For more information, refer to About Multiple Bell Schedules on page 90.

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Master Schedule

Duration TypeDetermines durations, such as, M - Marking Period or Q - Quarter, that a session can meet. You select the specific periods in the Marking Periods field.

VoTecChecked if this is a vocational-technical or career-technology course.

Average IDThe average type to use for average calculations. If the course uses the M - Main Average type, leave the field blank. For more information, refer to Average Setup in eSchoolPLUS online help.

Course Credit BasisThe type of enrollment associated with the credit hours for the course.

Gradebook Category TypeIf your building limits teachers to pre-defined Gradebook category and mark override definitions, select the category type for the course-section.

• If a category type is selected, the associated category and mark average settings will be saved for the course-section and the teacher will not be able to change the categories, IPR averages, or Re-port Card averages for marks that use assignment averages. The building’s Mark Reporting Con-figuration determines if the teacher can change the drop lowest and exclude missing settings in Gradebook.

• If you leave this field blank, the teacher will be able to set up Gradebook categories and marks for themselves.

This field can only be accessed if the Gradebook tab in the building’s Mark Reporting Configuration has its Limit Teachers to Pre-defined Category Types box checked for Categories, weights, and marking periods.

Additionally, you cannot change the category type for a course-section if assignments have been en-tered for the course. You can remove the category type if you want to allow the teacher to change Gradebook category and mark settings.

You can mass assign category types to course-sections. For more information, refer to Assign Category Type to Master Schedule in the online help.

Teacher Qualification Section

This section defines the qualifications required for a teacher to be considered highly qualified for teaching the course-section.

QualificationSelect the types of qualifications a staff member must have to teach the course section. The selections available are set up in Registration’s Staff Qualifications table.

You will receive a warning if the teacher assigned to the course-section does not meet all of the quali-fications selected.

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Master Schedule Session Information Section

These fields define when and where the course session meets. You must add at least one session if the Block field is set to N - Regular Course. When the Student Scheduler is run, students are scheduled into all of the course-section’s sessions.

To set up a session, click New Session, then complete the following fields. This button is disabled after students are scheduled into the course-section.

DescriptionDescription of this session of the course-section. [Character/255]

Start PeriodClass period when the session begins.

End PeriodClass period when the session ends. For a single-period session, the start and end periods are the same.

Used SeatsDisplays the maximum number of students scheduled into any of the session’s marking periods. Click on the Seat Detail link to display the Master Schedule Seat Detail page. This page shows the number of seats used per class period by marking period.

Classification WeightDisplays the maximum classification weight for all students scheduled into any of the session’s marking periods. Click on the Weight Detail link to display the Master Schedule Weight Detail page. This page shows the total classification weight for students scheduled for the course-section per class period by marking period.

Note: This field was introduced in eSchoolPLUS version 2.5.

Primary StaffID of the staff member responsible for the course-section. If teacher qualifications are specified, the teacher must have all of the qualifications to be assigned to the course-section.

Your state requirements may require that you track dates for staff assignments. Refer to your state re-porting user guide for more information.

Secondary StaffID numbers of staff members providing support to the primary teacher. Enter IDs separated by commas, or Ctrl+click the desired IDs in the table help list.

Secondary staff members will be able to access the course in Teacher Access Center.

If teacher qualifications are specified, secondary staff must have all of the qualifications to be assigned to the course-section.

RoomCode identifying the room where the session meets.

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Master Schedule

Marking PeriodsChecked if the session meets in the marking period.

This field cannot be changed after students are scheduled into the course-section unless you have se-curity to override the Master Schedule.

CyclesChecked if the session meets on the cycle day.

This field cannot be changed after students are scheduled into the course-section unless you have se-curity to override the Master Schedule.

Take AttendanceChecked if attendance should be taken for the session. Keep in mind that attendance is sometimes only taken in the first session of a course-section.

This field cannot be changed after students are scheduled into the course-section.

Include in Passing Time CalculationChecked if the Day Totals Calculation should include the minutes for this course and the passing time to and from this course in the minutes for the day. This setting only affects the Day Totals Calculation for attendance views that are defined to calculate totals as minutes and to include passing time. For more information, refer to Passing Time Calculation for Day Totals in eSchoolPLUS online help.

Marks AreIndicates how the Mark Reporting System should process the course.

Select:

T - Retained for Transcripts - to create mark reporting records and store the records for transcripts. In the field to the right, you can specify the building types that will include this course on a transcript. For example, if a middle school wants to print a transcript to keep a record of the student’s courses, but the courses should not be included on the high school transcript, a building type indicating middle schools should be used. Ctrl+click each building type to include, or enter a comma-delimited list.

If there is no building type selected, the course is included in transcripts regardless of building types defined in the Transcript View setup.

R - For Report Cards Only - to create mark reporting records, but not store the records for transcripts.

N - Not issued - to not create mark reporting records.

To preserve an archive of the course’s grades, set the Marks Are value to T - Retained in Transcripts. This enables users to change the environment to view students’ marks from previous years. With the R - Report Cards Only setting, report card records are deleted when the Mark Reporting Year-End Roll-over is run.

Course LevelIndicates the level table that applies to the course in general. For example, if the course is an academic course that uses a non-weighted grading scale, select the non-weighted level table for your building.

This level is used for the Assign Credits calculation, Average Calculation, Teacher Access Center Load from Gradebook, and mark reporting reports that display information from the level table for the course.

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CreditNumber of credits awarded for successfully completing the course.

Issue MarksChecked if the mark type is reported for the session.

Include in Honor RollSet of fields that indicate whether this session is included in an honor roll calculation for an honor roll type. Checked if the course session is included in the honor roll.

If the course is included in the honor roll, select the level table to use for the honor roll calculation.

Include in GPASet of fields that indicate whether the course session is included in the GPA calculation for a GPA type. Checked if the course session is included in the GPA.

If the course is included in the GPA, select the level table to use for the calculation.

Graduation RequirementsGraduation requirement subject areas to which credit from this course should be applied. The subject areas for current year courses are defined in the course catalog. When the graduation requirement cal-culation is run, the subject areas are copied to the current year Master Schedule.

The following fields display for each graduation requirement:

Subject OrderThe priority of this subject area when Divide Credit is set to O - Fill Subject Area Credits in Order. Order 1 will be filled first, order 2 next, and so forth.

Subject AreaLists the subject areas that the course meets. For example, if a course can fulfill the graduation requirements for the English or Elective subject area, you would select the two subject areas.

TagsCourse tags applied to the subject area for this course. Tags are used as a way to group courses within a subject area so that rules can be established for the types of courses a student needs to take to meet credit requirements.

Note: The Graduation Requirement calculation only tracks tag rules for graduation requirement groups defined as Career Plans. If you do not use Career Planner, the course tag feature does not apply.

Master Schedule Blockette Information Section

These fields define the blockette course-sections that are part of the block. To set up blockettes, set the Block Type field to B - Block Course, than add blockettes to the course-section.

57

Master Schedule

Same TeacherIndicates whether blockettes that are not assigned to a section should be taught by the same teacher. You must have at least two blockettes that are not assigned to a section in order to select a value other than N - No Linking.

Select:

N - No Linking - to indicate that the Student Scheduler should schedule students into course-sections taught by any teacher for blockettes that do not have a section specified.

P - Linking Preferred - to indicate that the Student Scheduler should try to schedule students into course-sections taught by the same teacher for blockettes that do not have a section specified. If the student cannot be scheduled with the same teacher, the Student Scheduler will still attempt to schedule the student into the course-sections.

R - Linking Required - to indicate that the Student Scheduler should only schedule students into the course-sections if the blockette sections do not have a section specified and are taught by the same teacher.

Note: This setting applies only to the blockettes that are not defined with a section. The Student Sched-uler will not try to schedule students in other blockette course-sections based on the teacher assigned for blockettes that are defined with a section.

CourseCode identifying the blockette. If you want to select a section, you must define the Master Schedule record for the blockette course before you can add the block course-section.

SectionSection number that must be scheduled for this blockette. If the blockette’s Same Section box is checked in the course catalog record, then the blockette defaults the same section number entered for the block course-section when you add a blockette for a block.

If the block is being used as a proxy block, do not enter a section number for blockettes.

For more information about blocks and proxies, refer to Overview of Block Courses on page 36.

DescriptionThe blockette’s course name.

If the block has already been saved and a section was entered for the blockette, you can click the name to view details on the course-section.

MandatoryChecked if the blockette must be scheduled for this block. The student will be scheduled for the block-ettes in the block only if the student can be scheduled into all mandatory blockettes.

If the block is being used as a proxy block, do not check the Mandatory box for any blockette.

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Adding Regular Course-SectionsWhen you add a course-section to the Master Schedule, you define general course information, as well as specific session information to indicate when and where the course meets. A regular course-section must include at least one session.

To add a regular course-section:

1. Select Scheduling Center > Master Schedule > Master Schedule.

2. Click New to open the Master Schedule Course Information page.

3. Complete scheduling information for the course-section. For field descriptions, refer to Master Sched-ule Course Information on page 47.

4. Click New Session to add a session.

5. Enter session information, then repeat Steps 4-5 for each additional session.

6. Click Save.

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Master Schedule

Adding Block Course-SectionsA block course-section consists of two basic elements: course information defining the block and a set of regular course-sections (blockettes). Students request the block, then are scheduled into the sessions held in the blockettes. The block itself is not scheduled, because it does not include sessions.

Prerequisite

Add Master Schedule records for the blockette course-sections for the block. If the Course Catalog record for the block has the Same Section box checked for blockettes, then the blockette course-sections default to the same section number as the block.

To add a block course-section:


2. Click New to open the Master Schedule Course Information page. For field descriptions, refer to Master Schedule Course Information on page 47.

3. Enter scheduling information for the block. Set the Block Type field to B - Block Course.

4. In the Blockette Information section, complete a row for each blockette you want to add to the block course-section.

• If students who get scheduled by this section of the block should move as a class from one block-ette section to another, enter the sections for the blockettes.

• If students can be scheduled for any section of the blockette, leave the section blank.

• If students must be scheduled into the blockette in order to be scheduled into other blockettes within the block, check the Mandatory box.

5. Click Save.

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Changing Course-SectionsUse the Master Schedule Course Information page to update scheduling information on course-sections. Keep in mind that some changes cannot be made once students have been scheduled for a class.

To change a course-section:

1. Select Scheduling Center > Master Schedule > Master Schedule to open the Master Schedule List page.

2. Click the course-section’s link to open the Master Schedule Course Information page.

3. Change the desired fields in the Master Schedule Course Information section. For field descriptions, refer to Master Schedule Course Information on page 47.

4. In the Master Schedule Session Information section:

• Add a new session by clicking New Session, then enter the session’s information.

• Change a session by changing the desired fields in the session’s column.

• Delete a session by checking the Delete box at the bottom of the session’s column.

5. Click Save.

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Master Schedule

Deleting Master Schedule InformationBefore a course-section is scheduled, you can delete sessions, blockettes, or the entire course-section. The following procedures explain how to delete Master Schedule information.

To delete a course-section:


2. On the Master Schedule List page, check the Delete box for the course-section to delete.

3. Click Delete.

To delete a blockette from a block:


2. On the Master Schedule List page, click the course-section link for the block course-section you want to change.

3. On the Master Schedule Course Information page, check the Delete box next to the blockette you want to remove.

4. Click Save.

To delete a session from a course-section:


2. On the Master Schedule List page, click the course-section link for the course-section you want to change.

3. On the Master Schedule Course Information page, check the Delete box at the bottom of the session column.

4. Click Save.

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How Can I Check If a Master Schedule Is Successful?You can run several options in the eSchoolPLUS System to compare your Master Schedule and student needs to determine if your Master Schedule is in good shape.

1. Run the Seat Availability report (Scheduling Center > Reports > Pre-Scheduler Reports > Seat Avail-ability). Use the needed seat threshold information to identify where you do not have enough seats. You can run the report for a specific threshold if you only want to check certain courses.

2. Run the Class Matrix report (Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler Reports > Class Matrix). Analyze one marking period at a time to identify if you are offering enough courses by grade level.

3. Run the Load Report (Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler Reports > Load Report). This report shows the course load based on course requests and the sections created in the Master Sched-ule. You can use the seat count and conflict information to identify whether or not you may want to move a section.

4. Run the Error Scan (Scheduling Center > Student Scheduler > Error Scan) throughout the process.

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Master Schedule

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4. Course Analysis ReportsThe eSchoolPLUS Scheduling System features a number of Pre-Scheduling and Post-Scheduling reports you can run to verify scheduling information before and after scheduling students.

This chapter focuses on the reports you can use to verify information concerning student course requests prior to scheduling students and refining the Master Schedule. Use the information in these reports to re-solve problems when you are scheduling students. For example, you can run the Conflict Matrix report to determine the optimum number of sections for each course based on the number of requests and the best period to schedule the sections.

Recommendation: Run the Pre-Scheduler reports and verify all information prior to scheduling the stu-dents.

If you make changes to your Master Schedule, run the following reports again: Seat Availability, Room Uti-lization, Teacher Availability, and Room Availability. When you have completed your scheduling run, you may want to run the Teacher Availability and Room Availability reports.

Note: You may want to run the Registration Scan in the Error Scan to list students who do not have requests entered. For information, refer to eSchoolPLUS online help.


Conflict Matrix

Room Availability

Class Matrix

Room Utilization

Seat Availability

Teacher Schedule Matrix

Teacher Availability

Teacher Schedules

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Course Analysis Reports

Conflict MatrixFor each course, this report provides a count of how many students have requested any two courses in the Course Catalog. Use this information to avoid scheduling conflicts by determining what courses should not have sections scheduled to meet in the same marking period and scheduling period.

The report has two formats:

• Book: Each course is listed as a heading, with all course codes with conflicts listed below and the num-ber of conflicts next to each course code.

• Grid: The courses selected are listed along the horizontal and vertical axes of a grid. The number at the point of intersection of any two different courses indicates how many students have requested both of these courses.

Printing the Report

1. Make sure that you are in the correct environment (current year or next year).

2. Select Scheduling Center > Reports > Pre-Scheduler > Conflict Matrix Book

or

Scheduling Center > Reports > Pre-Scheduler > Conflict Matrix Grid

3. Indicate how you want to run the report by completing the appropriate sections of the page.

4. Click Run.

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Conflict Matrix

Sample Conflict Matrix Book Report Page

67


Sample Conflict Matrix Grid Report Page

Fields

BuildingSelect the building of the courses to include in the report.

Scheduling IntervalSelect the scheduling interval to check for course requests.

Singletons or DoubletonsDetermines which courses from your building’s course catalog are included in the report.

Select:

All - to select all courses with either Y (all courses), S (singletons), or D (doubletons) in the catalog’s Conflict Matrix field. Courses with N (do not include) are not included. All is the default.

Singletons Only - to select all courses with S (singletons) in the Conflict Matrix field.

Doubletons Only - to select all courses with D (doubletons) in the Conflict Matrix field.

Singletons and Doubletons - to select all courses with S (singletons) or D (doubletons) in the Conflict Matrix field.

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Conflict Matrix

Conflict Threshold (Conflict Matrix Book Report only)Enter the minimum number of conflicts for including a course in the report. Zero includes all courses regardless of whether they have conflicts.

Include Student AlternatesChecked if you want to include student alternate requests and student course alternates.

Include Course AlternatesChecked if you want to include course alternates, as entered in the course catalog.

Log StatisticsChecked if you want to print the prompts as the first page of the report. Otherwise, a log page will be created only if an error occurs.

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Sample Conflict Matrix Book Report

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Conflict Matrix

Sample Conflict Matrix Grid Report

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Room AvailabilityFor each room and marking period selected, this report lists the courses meeting on each cycle day.

Printing the Report


2. Select Scheduling Center > Reports > Pre-Scheduler > Room Availability.


4. Click Run.

Sample Room Availability Page

Fields

BuildingBuilding of the rooms to include in the report.

Marking PeriodsSelect the marking periods for listing room availability information. Ctrl+click each marking period to in-clude. To select a range, Shift+click the first and last marking periods in the range.

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Room Availability

Print Rooms With No CoursesChecked if the report should include rooms that do not have courses assigned in the Master Schedule. Unchecked to only print rooms with courses assigned to them.

Bell ScheduleIf the building uses multiple bell schedules, select the bell schedule you want to use to display the room’s availability.

If the building does not use multiple bell schedules, you cannot access this field.


Sample Room Availability Report

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Class MatrixThis report lists scheduled courses, maximum seats, seats used, when the course meets, and whether the course is closed, a study hall, or a blockette. If a period does not meet on a cycle day, "N/A" displays on the report.

Printing the Report


2. Select Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler > Class Matrix.


4. Click Run.

Sample Class Matrix Page

Fields

BuildingBuilding of the courses to include in the report.

Marking Period(s)Select the marking periods for listing course scheduling information. Ctrl+click each marking period to include. To select a range, Shift+click the first and last marking periods in the range.

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Class Matrix

Grade(s)Select the grades to include in the report. Ctrl+click each grade. To select a range of grades, Shift+click the first and last grades in the range.

Bell ScheduleIf the building is set up for multiple bell schedules, select the bell schedule (timetable) to use for display-ing the class matrix. The report will include courses that meet in the timetable’s periods. If you leave the field blank, the report will use the first bell schedule found.

If your building is not set up for multiple bell schedules, this field is inaccessible.


Sample Class Matrix Report

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Room UtilizationFor each room, this report lists the courses that are scheduled to meet. The report’s information includes course codes and descriptions, when the courses meet, number of seats used, and whether the course-sections are closed (no seats remain).

Printing the Report


2. Select Scheduling Center > Reports > Pre-Scheduler > Room Utilization.


4. Click Run.

Sample Room Utilization Page

Fields

BuildingSelect the building of the rooms to include in the report.

Marking PeriodsSelect the marking periods for listing room information. Ctrl+click each marking period to include. To select a range, Shift+click the first and last marking periods in the range.

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Room Utilization

Print rooms with no coursesChecked if the report should include rooms that do not have courses assigned in the Master Schedule. Unchecked to only print rooms with courses assigned.


Sample Room Utilization Report

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Seat AvailabilityFor each course, this report lists requests and seat counts, including total seats, seats needed, and seats available. You can limit the report to courses that have either too few or too many seats.

Printing the Report


2. Select Scheduling Center > Reports > Pre-Scheduler > Seat Availability.


4. Click Run.

Sample Seat Availability Page

Fields

BuildingSelect the building of the courses to include in the report.

Scheduling IntervalSelect the scheduling interval for the course requests to include.

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Seat Availability

Type of RequestThe type of requests to include.

Select:

R - Regular Requests Only

S - Student Alternate Request

C - Student Course Alternate Request

A - All

Excess Seat ThresholdEnter the number of available seats as a threshold for limiting the courses listed. The report will include only courses with available seats equal to or greater than this number. Enter zero to includes all cours-es.

Needed Seat ThresholdEnter the number of needed seats as a threshold for limiting the courses listed. The report will include only courses with needed seats equal to or greater than this number. Enter zero to include all courses.


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Sample Seat Availability Report

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Teacher Schedule Matrix For each teacher, this report lists the courses scheduled for each period in a grid format. Open slots can be easily spotted.

Printing the Report


2. Select Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler > Teacher Schedule Matrix.


4. Click Run.

Sample Teacher Schedule Matrix Page

Fields

BuildingSelect the building of the staff members to include in the report.

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Marking Period(s)Select the marking periods for listing teachers’ scheduling information. Ctrl+click each marking period to include. To select a range, Shift+click the first and last marking periods in the range.

Print Teachers Without CoursesChecked if the report should include all active teachers from the Staff Catalog, including those who do not have courses assigned in the Master Schedule. Unchecked to only print teachers with courses as-signed.

Bell ScheduleIf the building uses multiple bell schedules, select the bell schedule you want to use to display the teach-er’s matrix.



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Sample Teacher Schedule Matrix Report

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Teacher AvailabilityFor each teacher, this report charts the courses scheduled by marking period and class period.

Printing the Report


2. Select Scheduling Center > Reports > Pre-Scheduler > Teacher Availability.


4. Click Run.

Sample Teacher Availability Page

Fields

BuildingBuilding of the staff members to include in the report.


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Teacher Availability

Print Teachers Without CoursesChecked if the report should include all active teachers from the Staff Catalog, including those who do not have courses assigned in the Master Schedule. Unchecked to only print teachers with courses.

Bell ScheduleIf the building uses multiple bell schedules, select the bell schedule you want to use for displaying the teacher’s availability.



Sample Teacher Availability Report

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Teacher SchedulesFor each teacher, this report lists scheduled courses, seats used, credits, rooms, when the courses meet, and course statuses.

Printing the Report


2. Select Scheduling Center > Reports > Post-Scheduler > Teacher Schedules.


4. Click Run.

Sample Teacher Schedules Page

Fields

BuildingSelect the building of the staff members to include in the report.


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Teacher Schedules

Print Teachers Without CoursesChecked if the report should include all active teachers from the Staff Catalog, including those who do not have courses assigned in the Master Schedule. Unchecked to only print teachers with courses as-signed.


Sample Teacher Schedules Report

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A. AppendixThis appendix provides information about the Scheduling Center’s Multiple Bell Schedules feature.

PreviewThis appendix includes the following topics:

About Multiple Bell Schedules

Setting up Multiple Bell Schedules

Multiple Bell Schedules and Courses

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Appendix

About Multiple Bell SchedulesThe Scheduling Center’s Multiple Bell Schedules feature allows a building to have different timetables to accommodate the scheduling needs for teams of students. Multiple bell schedules can also impact Regis-tration and Attendance processing.

What you can do with multiple bell schedules:

A building can use Multiple Bell Scheduling to control the number of students traveling between classes at one time, to accommodate students in different grade levels, or to schedule courses whose time lengths are different from those of other courses. This requires using multiple timetables. Each timetable can have pe-riods that have different starting and ending times.

The above illustration compares two timetables in a multiple bell schedule that were set up to limit the num-ber of students in hallways between class periods. In timetable A, homeroom for one group of students meets at the start of the day, and in timetable B, homeroom for another group meets at the end of the day. The timetables’ timeslots are then staggered to allow a 15-minute difference between periods.

What you need to set up for multiple bell schedules:

One of the basic requirements for both Scheduling and Attendance is that the cycle days in all of the calen-dars used in a building must be the same. This requirement, which applies whether you use multiple bell schedules or not, ensures that all students in a building attend courses for the same cycle day on a given date.

Besides cycle days and calendars, the following records need to be set up for a building to use multiple bell schedules:

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• House/teams should be defined in the Registration Center’s House/Teams table (Administration > Sys-tem Setup > Validation Tables > Registration tab > House/Teams).

• Multiple timetables should be set up in the Scheduling Center’s Timetable option (Scheduling Center > Setup > Timetable). Timetables used in multiple bell schedules should have at least some periods that differ from those in other timetables. In addition, timetables must have at least one house/team assigned to be used in bell schedules.

• House/teams should be assigned to course-sections in the Building Course Catalog (Scheduling Cen-ter > Building Course Setup > Course Catalog). Although a course-section can have multiple teams assigned, all of the teams must have either the same timetable or ones that have periods with the same start and end times. If not, separate course-sections with different timetables must be set up.

• House/teams should be assigned to students in the Student Center’s Registration Information page (Student Center > Demographic > Registration). Under a multiple bell schedule, students can be scheduled into course-sections that have either their house/team assigned or no house/team designa-tion.

All these rules and procedures apply to the course-sections defined in the Master Schedule to determine what classes students can be scheduled for and the timetables of the bell schedules they will follow.

Additional tips for using multiple bell schedules:

• Scheduling and Attendance both require that a building’s calendars have the same cycle days, for ex-ample, cycle A on Monday, cycle B on Tuesday, and so forth. This is true whether you use multiple timetables or not.

• If your building allows Multiple Building Scheduling (MBS), students enrolled in other buildings that need to be scheduled into your building must have the same house/team designation as the one as-signed to the course-sections they are taking. If the enrollment building does not use house/teams, you can assign the student to the house/team needed for the scheduling building. However, if the enroll-ment building uses different team designations, you must add the house/teams for the students you need to schedule to the Scheduling Configuration, in addition to assigning them to the appropriate time-tables and course-sections.

• You should use timetables to determine the starting and ending times for attendance periods, rather than define attendance periods based on periods or timeslots. If you do not use the timetable to define an attendance period’s start and end times, all students in the building will have the same start and end time for periods when reporting attendance.

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Appendix

Setting Up Multiple Bell SchedulesYou may update an existing building to use Multiple Bell Schedules in the next-year environment in prepa-ration for next-year scheduling. The following procedures can be used to change your setups.

Add House Teams

1. Select Administration > System Setup > Validation Tables > Registration.

2. Click the House/Teams link.

3. Enter each house/team code you plan to use.

This is a district-wide table. All entries made here will be visible to all buildings in the school district. In the Scheduling Configuration, you can limit which house/teams are available to buildings that use Multiple Bell Schedules.

4. Save changes.

Update the Scheduling Configuration

1. Select Administration > System Setup > Building > Scheduling.

2. Check the Multiple Bell Schedules box.

3. Enter each house/team used in the building.

If your building schedules students enrolled in other buildings and their buildings do not use the same house/team designations as yours, you must also include the house/teams from the other buildings.

4. Save changes.

Verify Scheduling Periods

1. Select Scheduling Center > Setup > Periods.

2. Review your Scheduling Periods.

3. If necessary, change the periods.

You may not need to make modifications, but if you had a scheme in place in the past to work around not having Multiple Bell Schedules, you may want to change your periods.

4. Save changes.

Add Scheduling Timetables

1. Select Scheduling Center > Setup > Timetable.

2. When viewing the building list for this page, note that all buildings that do not use Multiple Bell Sched-ules will have N/A displayed for their bell schedule descriptions.

3. Buildings configured for Multiple Bell Schedules will have an Add New link. Click this link to add a bell schedule for a house/team.

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4. Enter a Bell Schedule name, and select one or more House/Teams to follow this bell schedule. Note that students can only be assigned to one house/team.

5. Repeat Steps 3-4 for each bell schedule you want to add.

6. Save changes.

Verify Attendance Setups

If a building takes attendance by period and you adjusted your Scheduling Periods, you may also need to make adjustments to Attendance Periods.

1. Select Administration > System Setup > Building > Attendance to verify if the building takes atten-dance by period and if the timetable is being used.

2. Select Attendance Center > Setup > Periods, and adjust the periods as needed.

3. Review your needs for Attendance Views. Your Attendance Views may need to be adjusted to take into account students attending school for different numbers of periods in the day. For example, if 09 grade students only attend for 4 periods in a day, and 10 through 12 grade students attend for 8 periods, you may need different criteria lines to evaluate full-day and half-day absences. Calendars may be used to ensure students are evaluated by the appropriate criteria.

4. If you need to change views, select Attendance Center > Setup > Views, and adjust your views as needed.

5. Save changes.

Prepare Registration Records

1. If required by attendance views, create new calendars by selecting Registration Center > Setup > Calendars. Calendars may be assigned to students through the Registration Rollover during Year-End processing.

2. Assign students to house/teams. Select Utilities > Registration Assignment.

The Bell Schedule field may be used to limit the search to students who are following the selected bell schedule. If this is your first time assigning students to teams who are not currently assigned to a bell sched-ule, you may leave this field blank.

3. Save changes.

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Appendix

Multiple Bell Schedules and CoursesMultiple bell schedules impact how courses may be defined. Now you can assign multiple house/teams to a course, but the scheduled periods for a course must have the same starting time and same ending time for all timetables associated with the house/teams. You must review the timetables for the teams you in-clude in course-sections to determine whether you need to have separate sections to avoid conflicts result-ing from differences in timetables.

These examples illustrate how you may define courses based on a sample from three timetables.

You want to schedule: Timetables indicate:Course: Homeroom

Period: HRM

House/Teams: None

This course would be valid because all timetables have the same starting and ending times for the HRM period.

Course: 104 English

Period: P1

House/Teams: 04

This course would be valid.

Course: 200 Study Skills

Period: P2

House/Teams: 04,05

This course would be valid because all timetables for the se-lected house teams have the same start and end times for the P2 period.

Course: 500 Industrial Arts

Period: P1 - P2

House/Teams: 04,05

This course would be valid. Both timetable A and B have the same starting and ending times for periods P1 and P2.

Course: 400 Newspaper

Period: P3

House/Teams: 04,05

This course would be invalid. P3 has different times for the timetables used by the selected teams. If you want to offer this course to these teams, you must either offer it in a period that has the same meeting times or create separate sections for each team.

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Multiple Bell Schedules and Courses

Course: 600 Lunch

Period: P4

House/Teams: None

This course would be invalid. P4 has different times for the timetables. You must create separate sections for each team.

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Appendix

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IndexA F

About Course-Sections in the Master Schedule 32About Multiple Bell Schedules 90Adding Regular Course-Sections to the Master Schedule 59, 61Alternate Requests 25

B

Block Courses 25Blockette Courses 25, 36Blocks and Proxies 36, 38, 60

Deleting a Blockette from a Block 62Building Course Catalog

Block Courses 36Building-Level Block Courses 36

C

Class Matrix Report 74Classification Weights 25Conflict Matrix Report 66Course Alternates 25Course Analysis Reports 65Course Catalog

Blocks and Proxies 36, 38Course Groups 26Course Requests 28Course Section 26Course Sequences 26Course Setup Overview

About Course-Sections in the Master Schedule 32Blocks and Proxies 36, 38, 60Multiple Period Courses 34

Course-SectionsDeleting a Course-Section 62

D

Deleting Master Schedule Information 62District Course Catalog

Block Courses 36District Course Request 26Doubleton 26

FeaturesScheduling System Features 8

H

House/Teams 12, 26Multiple Bell Schedules 90

I

Index 97Initial Procedures 12Intervals 12

M

Mark Reporting 12Master Schedule 27, 47

About Course-Sections in the Master Schedule 32Adding Regular Course-Sections 59, 61Blocks and Proxies 60Deleting Information 62Master Schedule List 43

Report 45Multiple Period Courses 34Overview 41Tips to Check Success 63

Modeling Requests 27Multiple Bell Schedules 27, 90

Course Setup 94Process Overview 19Setting Up 92

Multiple Building Scheduling 27Multiple Period Courses - Multiple Session or Sin-gle Session 34

N

Next-Year Scheduling Process 15Multiple Bell Schedules 19, 90

And Courses 94Setting Up 92

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O

Overview of Block Courses 36, 60

P

Period 12, 27Procedural Overview

Initial Procedures 12Procedural Outline 13

Proxies and Blocks 27, 36, 38, 60

Q

QualificationsStaff Qualifications 24

R

Registration 12Regular Course 28Regular Requests 28Reports

Course Analysis Reports 65Post-Scheduler

Class Matrix 74Teacher Schedule Matrix 81Teacher Schedules 86

Pre-SchedulerConflict Matrix 66Room Availability 72Room Utilization 76Seat Availability 78Teacher Availability 84

Room Availability Report 72Room Utilization Report 76

S

Scheduling Configuration 12Scheduling Interval 28Scheduling Process

Next-Year Scheduling 15Multiple Bell Schedules 19, 90

Course Setup 94Setting Up 92

Scheduling SystemCourse Catalog

About Course-Sections in the Master Schedule 32

Course Setup OverviewAbout Course-Sections in the Master Schedule 32Blocks and Proxies 60

Creating Block Courses 60Multiple Period Courses 34

Features 8Initial Procedures 12Master Schedule 41, 47

Adding Regular Course-Sections 59, 61Deleting Information 62Master Schedule List 43

Report 45Multiple Period Courses 34

Procedural Outline 13Process Overview (Next Year) 15

Multiple Bell Schedules 19, 90Course Setup 94Setting Up 92

ReportsClass Matrix 74Conflict Matrix 66Room Availability 72Room Utilization 76Seat Availability 78Teacher Availability 84Teacher Schedule Matrix 81Teacher Schedules 86

Staff Qualifications 24System Overview 5

Scheduling System ReportsClass Matrix 74Conflict Matrix 66Course Analysis Reports 65Room Availability 72Room Utilization 76Seat Availability 78Teacher Availability 84Teacher Schedule Matrix 81Teacher Schedules 86

Seat Availability Report 78Security 12Sessions 28

Deleting a Session from a Course 62Setting Up Multiple Bell Schedules 92Singleton 28Staff Qualifications 24State Courses 28Student Alternate 28

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Student Course Alternate 28Student Scheduling Process

Next-Year Scheduling 15Multiple Bell Schedules 19, 90

Course Setup 94Setting Up 92

Study Halls 28System Features

Scheduling System Features 8

T

Teacher Availability Report 84Teacher Qualifications 24Teacher Schedule Matrix Report 81Teacher Schedules Report 86Timetable 12, 29

U

Understanding Next Year Scheduling 15Using This Guide 6

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Documents

Scheduling - SCRIC Home · 5 1. System Overview The eSchoolPLUS Scheduling System is an online, interactive system designed to help school district per- sonnel with the entire scheduling