Add Instructional Periods

Before scheduling students in the new year, you must first create the new instructional period. An instructional period is equivalent to a school year.

Instructional periods consist of begin/end dates, attendance model, TSDS reporting dates, holidays, and attendance tracks.

About attendance tracks

Attendance tracks define instructional days. Although an attendance track can be used on more than one campus, it is strongly recommended that each campus have its own attendance track. Campus specific attendance tracks are encouraged due to the potential for campus closures related to weather or other conditions that do not affect all campuses. Up to 100 attendance tracks — numbered 00-99 — can be created for your district.

You'll also use this window to add attendance tracks for ADSY (Additional Days School Year) and Summer School.

Process to add & configure an instructional period

1. Add the instructional period.

2. If your calendar is available, you can add attendance tracks and finish configuring the instructional period,
   OR you can begin working on the master schedule.

If you choose to begin working on the master schedule before configuring the instructional period, you MUST return and finish configuring the instructional period before scheduling students.

Warning

Do not lock the instructional period before you run the pre-enrollment task.

Do not run the pre-enrollment task until after you've created the master schedule. The master schedule doesn't have to be complete, but it should have the Periods tab completed and the calendar defined.

Add an instructional period

Complete at least steps 1-6 before beginning work on the master schedule.

1. Select Admin from the Module pull-down list on the top of the screen.

2. Select Instr. Period from the District menu, and the Instructional Periods list window opens.

3. Click Add Instructional Period, and the New Instructional Period window opens.

4. Enter the Begin Date and End Date. These dates default to the dates in the previous instructional period incremented by one year, if one exists. Otherwise enter either 7/1/yyyy and 6/30/yyyy OR 8/1/yyyy and 7/31/yyyy. Note: These dates must not overlap another instructional period, and student enrollment must fall between these dates.

5. Click Create, and the Edit window opens. The Attendance Model defaults to Semester - 6 Weeks and cannot be edited.

Once you've completed this section, you can either Add attendance tracks and Finish configuring the instructional period or you can begin working on the master schedule.

Add attendance tracks

You don't have to completely configure the attendance tracks before working on the master schedule, but your start and end dates for each term should be accurate.

This section MUST be completed before running the enrollment task.

1. Click on the Attendance Tracks tab. See information above about attendance tracks.

2. Click Add Track, and the Edit Attendance Tracks window opens.

3. Complete the fields as described.

• Name: Enter a description such as Elem, PK, MS, or HS.

• Instr Pgm Type: Select from the pull-down list of codes from the PEIMS code table C215.

• Default Minutes: Designate the typical hours and minutes of instruction per day.

• Cycles 1-6: Confirm the begin and end dates for each attendance reporting period.

4. Click Save, and you're returned to the Attendance Tracks tab.

At this point, you can either Finish configuring the instructional period or you can Link the campus(es) to the attendance tracks. Just remember: If you don't finish configuring the instruction period, you must return and complete it before you enroll students.

Finish configuring the instructional period

This section MUST be completed before running the enrollment task.

1. Click on the TSDS tab to review the PEIMS dates. The dates should be as follows:

• School Start Window: Last Friday in September.

• Fall Snapshot: Last Friday in October.

• Fall As Of Date: Last Friday in September.

• Winter As Of Date: Last Friday in February.

2. If needed, click Edit TSDS, edit the dates, and click Save.

3. Click on the Holidays tab. Note: Holidays are closure dates for the entire organization. Only use this tab for dates when no students will be in attendance at any campus for any attendance track.

4. Click Add Holiday, and the Edit Holidays window opens.

5. Complete the fields as described.

• Description: Enter text such as Labor Day.

• Starting Date: Enter the date in mm/dd/yyyy format, or click the icon, and select the date.

• Ending Date: Leave blank for a single day holiday, or enter the last closure date for a holiday such as spring break.

6. Click Save, and you're returned to the Edit Holidays window.

7. Repeat steps 4-6 until you've finished entering holidays.

8. Click on the Attendance Tracks tab. Note: You must now update early closing days and add non-instructional days that are not district-wide.

9. Click the icon for the attendance track you want to modify, and the Calendar Dates window opens. Set up the various types of calendar dates you need as described.

• Early closing days: Edit the Op Minutes field for early closing days if applicable. The Total Minutes field updates as you edit the hours/minutes. Example

• Holidays: Enter only holidays that are not district-wide. Select 00-Non-Reportable from the Event Code list, and the icon becomes visible in the Description field. Click the icon, enter the name of the holiday in the popup, and click OK. Example

• Student instructional day with waiver minutes: Select 99-Other Waiver Day (Y) from the Waiver Type list, and the icon becomes visible in the Description field. Click the icon, enter the name in the popup, and click OK. Edit the Op Minutes and Waiver Minutes fields. Example

• Full waiver day for staff development: Select 02-Waiver Day from the Event Code list and 01-Staff Development from the Waiver Type list. The icon becomes visible in the Description field. Click the icon, enter the name in the popup, and click OK. Edit the Waiver Minutes field. Example

• Full waiver day for low attendance: Select 02-Waiver Day from the Event Code list and 04-Low Attendance from the Waiver Type list. The icon becomes visible in the Description field. Click the icon, enter the name in the popup, and click OK. Edit the Waiver Minutes field. Example

10. When finished making changes, click Return to Track Editor.

11. Repeat steps 9-10 to edit calendar dates for the additional attendance tracks.

Return to Scheduling Overview

Return to WebSmart Overview