Power School archived

The Power School parent portal is up and running in SOMSD. Teachers should be encouraged to use the gradebook function now, I believe it is in the contract. This will allow you to monitor your children's performance, attendance, and assignments in real time.

This applies only to the middle and high schools.

https://powerschool.somsd.k12.nj.us/guardian/home.html

I love Power School but it would say, in the past, only about 50% of my kid's teachers used it properly.

I have lost the PowerSchool web link on this computer.
I went to the school district web site, chose the "Parent & Community" tab, selected "Helpful Links" and found Edline!
Perhaps that should be corrected.

BTW: Thanks for the handy link, Max!

Thanks Max! I'm glad to know that it will be used more consistently this year.

web person at SOM is Judy Levy jlevy@somsd.k12.nj.us

I REALLY wish they would send out the kid's school schedules through Power School (or even just an email) before school opens. It just seems so rinky-dink that our only option is to wait for the USPS to deliver them in this day and age.

I LOVE POWERSCHOOL.

My guess is that we could get to that point, kmk. It's only the beginning of the 2nd year for powerschool. Also, I think they do worry about those homes that do not have ready access to computers/printers in terms of getting schedules out to the kids.

The schools district could use both the USPS and the internet to provide the information to families at no additional cost (and perhaps with great savings.)

If done right, the school district could ask families HOW they would like to communicate with the district when they register. Those of us who hate paper could OPT OUT of all things mailed and OPT IN to all things electronic.

It really is a no-brainer in a community like ours.

Imagine if the emergency forms and all those forms that we fill out year after year could be in an electronic format on PS?

Yes, imagine.

Big deal about the Powerschool. I'm consistently underwhelmed by what this district does beyond the grade school level so far in my experience. I'm hoping and praying that middle school is just a miserable blip on the radar, and HS will be much better. Most folks I know who have kids in school in other districts in NJ and other states, can get information about anything and everything thier kids are doing in school, and should be doing at home, via the internet instantaneously and practically in real time. IF we're lucky, we get some canned comment chosen from a drop down menu, and maybe a grade on a project long after it was turned in. Big freakin' whoop.

Can you tell I'm bitter?

eliz said:

Imagine if the emergency forms and all those forms that we fill out year after year could be in an electronic format on PS?

We have all of it that way now. We get a snap code for each kid, and log in, and everything is prepopulated with last years info, and you just change it as needed. I did both kids in less than 7 minutes. Awesome.

Showoff.

haha.

You really are a "Mean Girl" aren't you? :-D

You have been DYING to say that again haven't you? :-D

I just never get enough of saying that!

eliz said:

Imagine if the emergency forms and all those forms that we fill out year after year could be in an electronic format on PS?

I wonder if they would make this change if a group of volunteers set it up?

The same volunteers should take the CHS fax number off of the web site and all literature. For some reason it is often listed ABOVE the main number and I end up calling it instead!
How often do parents need to fax info to the school anyway? It is not like the dean's office would accept a handwritten note explaining an absence via fax etc....

I would imagine there's all kinds of contractual restrictions and other reasons why it couldn't be set up by volunteers. But if it could, and you're volunteering, I'll volunteer with you. Of course I don't know a thing about computers or how to set something like that up, but I learn quick and I'm more than willing to help. I'd also volunteer to help out in the transportation department and offer advice on setting up bus routes that make actual sense in the real world, rather than just looking pretty on a computer screen.

meandtheboys said:

I'd also volunteer to help out in the transportation department and offer advice on setting up bus routes that make actual sense in the real world, rather than just looking pretty on a computer screen.

Amen sister!

I agree completely with you, meandtheboys. I know Millburn posts all school assignments, allowing parents to know what their kids are supposed to be doing. Boy would that help.

bettina said:

I agree completely with you, meandtheboys. I know Millburn posts all school assignments, allowing parents to know what their kids are supposed to be doing. Boy would that help.

Pressure your kids' teachers (middle and high school). Remind them it is our expectation as parents that they will use this system.

How do you suggest we do that. I'm asking honestly? No snark intended. It's been my experience that parents hold very little sway.

Powerschool rocks. I took a quick look and discovered my daughter already had a cut for a first period class. Now, if she really had cut, that would have been great to know. In this case it was an error, but at least it was easy to email the teacher and say "what gives?" and have it changed.

The South Mountain PTA has all PTA, directory and volunteer forms online this year--easy peasy. Check it out: http://www.formstack.com/forms/4elbows-south_mountain__sign_up or http://smsuperstars.com/ Seems like this should be pretty darn simple for the district to implement.

meandtheboys said:

How do you suggest we do that. I'm asking honestly? No snark intended. It's been my experience that parents hold very little sway.

Start checking Power School. Are the teachers posting assignments? Quiz and homework grades? If not, on BTS night ask them why and when. Politely remind them that we expect it. If they don't start then, email the principal. If that doesn't work, email Dr. Osborne and the school board. The board and administration worked hard to get this system in place in the face of strong resistance from some elements among the teachers. The administration is vested in making it work.

Here is one example of a teacher doing it right:
Due Date Category Assignment Codes Score % Grd
09/07/2011 HW HW - Syllabus 3/3 100 A+
09/07/2011 HW Student Info Sheet --/3
09/07/2011 HW HW - Parent Contact 3/3 100 A+
09/08/2011 HW HW 1.2 (1) - Properties of Exponents Chart --/3

Sorry, spacing doesn't work, but you can get the picture.

I checked my kid's powerschool and the schedule and attendance info is there. Where do you click to find assignments (or to find that there aren't any)?