Monthly Mentions... APRIL

Each month, FastDirect provides a newsletter to help our schools stay on top of all things related to FastDirect. Click any of the headers below to find out more information than what was included in the most recent Monthly Mentions.

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download April

  • Coming Up This Month...

    • Opening up teacher input for 4th Mid-Quarter Report will require:
      • Confirming the mid-quarter dates in 'Grades' then 'Report Card Input Controls'
      • Changing input for mid-quarter from 'Not Yet' to 'Allow Input' in 'Report Card Input Controls'
      • Having teachers go through the mid-quarter report card input process
      • Closing the input process by changing 'Allow Input' to 'Input Complete'
    • The end of the school year is right around the corner! In mid April, we will post the steps to complete the Summer Transition process on the Home screen. Here are explanations of what your school will need to complete before the end of the summer:
      • Extending the Master School Calendar forward to 2011-2012
      • Creating a statement to appear on report cards declaring that the student will be moving forward to the next grade level
      • Marking any students who will not be moving forward as 'Not Promoted'
      • Creating any new Homeroom teacher accounts
      • Establishing the Homeroom teacher changes for next year
      • Moving the students forward to their new homerooms and grade levels
      • Assigning courses to teachers and filling those courses with students
    • HelpDesk is dedicated to helping make the Summer Transition an easy process and allow you more time to enjoy your summer break. Please contact HelpDesk to set up a time when you will be ready to go through the steps.
    • Registration is another way to prepare for the next school year. HelpDesk can assist you in turning on Re-Registration, which will allow you to:
      • Keep track of which students will be returning next year
      • Have a running total of how many students per grade level are registered for the next school year
      • Charge and deposit registration fees and payments in Finance
      • Determine if you would like your parents to re-register their child on-line
    • Registration for new students can be done at any time by adding the family and then adding the student into the 'Applicants' group.
    • HelpDesk can also help set up the Tuition account for next year.

  • Did You Know...for Administrators

    • When tracking registrations in FastDirect, you will have available to you a Registration report. This CSV report will provide the following fields:
      • Student and Parent names
      • Grade level the student is registering for
      • Gender
      • If they are a new student
      • Home, work and cell phone numbers
      • Email addresses
    • By sorting this report in a variety of ways, you will be able to:
      • Contact the registrants for a specific grade level
      • Find a final count of registrants for each grade level
      • Contact the parents of students who will not be returning
      • Break up homeroom counts by gender
    • Here are the steps to create a Registration report:
      • Click on the 'Report' icon
      • Scroll down and click 'Go' next to the line that says 'Registrations for 2011-2012 school year'
      • Underneath the table will be a button labeled 'Download Report'
    • If registration has not be turned on yet for the upcoming school year, you can do so in 'Defaults or contact HelpDesk for assistance.

  • Did You Know...for Teachers

    • When importing grades into a student's report card, you might find it helpful to see what report card grades that student has received earlier in the year. This feature is also helpful for viewing subcategory grades and comments. By clicking the name of the student (while in report card input), you can view their report card without having to leave the screen you are in. No distractions, no disruptions!
    • Here are the steps to view a report card while in the middle of the input process:
      • After clicking the yellow button for ReportCard input, you will click the input button for a specific course
      • The roster for that course will display, along with the column to enter in report card grades
      • Each name in the roster on the left hand side is a link - click a student's name and their report card will appear in a new window

  • Did You Know...for Parents

    • April is tax month and FastDirect provides your parents with the ability to see the deposits they have made for a specific tax year. This report wil have the following information:
      • The Federal Tax ID Number
      • The tax year
      • A breakdown of deposit transactions for each account
      • A total deposit amount for each account
      • A total deposit amount for all accounts
    • For the parents, this report can be found:
      • On their Home screen
      • Underneath the Finance account balances box
      • Select a year for the tax report
      • Click the button labeled 'Tax Year Printout'
    • This report is also available for Administrators. It can be found:
      • On the main Finance screen
      • Select a family in the first 'select a family' drop down
      • Select a year for the tax report
      • Click the button labeled 'Deposits only for selected family in tax year'

  • What's New...

    • Communicating between school and home has never been easier! FastDirect has released several new tools to help build communication for the whole school community. Here are the new tools available for your school:
      • File Upload & File Attachment for Parents & Students!
      • SMS Text Notification
      • Administration Management through Defaults
    • File Upload & File Attachment for Parents & Students:
      • Now File Upload & File Attachment is an optional feature for parents & students! This feature will allow parents and/or students to attach files to eMessages! The feature includes a File Manager, which they access by clicking 'File Manager' at the bottom of their homepage. This section will allow them to upload files, delete files, and designate public or private use.
    • SMS Text Notification:
      • This optional feature will provide all staff with the option to send a SMS Text Notification when sending an eMessage. Parents must follow an activation process in order to receive text notifications as they will incure the contracted text message fee from their cell phone provider.
      • The text message will include the first 99 characters of the eMessage and will strip any HTML code used. Information sent via text messaging is not secure. Do not include any sensitive material. FCC regulations apply. Messages retrieved from the school portal are protected by USER passwords and Secure Socket Layer, to help ensure the privacy and integrity of information transmitted over the internet.
    • Administration Management through Settings (Administrators can turn on both features in the Settings section):
      • File Upload - You can activate this feature either for parents or students or both. To do so you'll, go to Settings and click on FDmail in the left hand navigation menu. Check mark the option to Allow Parent File Upload and click 'Save Changes'. To allow students, repeat these steps and check mark the option for Allow Student File Upload.
      • SMS Text Notification - You can activate this feature by going to Settings and click on FDmail in the left hand navigation menu. Check mark the option to Enable SMS Text Notifcations and click 'Save Changes'.
    • LEARN HOW TO USE THESE NEW FEATURES!:
      • File Upload - Click on your FAQ Icon (the blue question mark), click on the "Look in: All categories" drop-down menu, select File Upload/File Attachment, and click "View FAQ."
      • SMS Text Notification - Click on your FAQ Icon (the blue question mark), click on the "Look in: All categories" drop-down menu, select File Upload/File Attachment, and click "View FAQ."
    • Helping your parents with these new tools:
      • To help teach you parents and/or students how to set up SMS text notification, we've created an informational document which can be attached to eMessages for parents. You can download this document in the FAQ section under 'Office/Admin'.
      • To help teach you parents and/or students how to use the file upload tool, you can point them to the FAQ section under the heading of 'File Upload/File Attachment'.

  • Trimester Schedules

    • Opening up teacher input for 3rd Mid-Trimester Report will require:
      • Confirming the mid-trimester dates in 'Grades' then 'Report Card Input Controls'
      • Changing input for mid-trimester from 'Not Yet' to 'Allow Input' in 'Report Card Input Controls'
      • Having teachers go through the mid-trimester report card input process
      • Closing the input process by changing 'Allow Input' to 'Input Complete'

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