HeadMaster Communicating with Parents

HeadMaster Communicating with Parents

Copyright Copyright 2012 ACS Technologies Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part of this publication by mechanical or electronic means, including facsimile transmission and e-mail, without the express permission of ACS Technologies Group, Inc. is strictly prohibited. Version 11.2 Last Updated 4/18/2012 9:06 AM

Contents Contents Introduction to This Guide... 4 Unit 1: Setting Up the School Calendar... 5 Unit 2: Creating Announcements... 9 Unit 3: Creating Events... 11 Unit 4: Creating Correspondence... 13 Unit 5: Uploading to HeadMaster Online... 17 Unit 6: HeadMaster Online for Parents... 19 Unit 7: HeadMaster Online for School Administration... 29 3

Introduction to This Guide Ease of communication between parents and school is vital for a good working relationship. This guide shows you how to set up and use HeadMaster features specifically designed for your communication with parents. This guide includes the following concepts: Setting up the School Calendar Creating Announcements Creating Events Creating Correspondence Uploading to HeadMaster Online Using HeadMaster Online for Parents Using HeadMaster Online for School Administration 4

Unit 1: Setting Up the School Calendar The school calendar is designed and given to parents at the beginning of the school year. It lists items such as days when the school closes for holidays or for staff development. You can upload a school calendar to HeadMaster Online. This unit shows you how to: Create a calendar that lists days off and special events Print a calendar view of the school calendar Print a detail view of the school calendar To set up the school calendar 1. On the Home screen, click Tools. 2. Select School Calendar. 3. Enter the Start Date. 4. Enter the End Date. 5. Select the Type. Standard: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday A/B Day: Students have one set of classes on A days and another set of classes on B days. Days alternate in the ABAB pattern. A/B Week: Students have one set of classes in an A week and another set of classes in a B week. Weeks alternate in the ABABABABAB pattern. Figure 1: Calendar Set Up 5

6. Select the days the school meets. 7. Click OK. You can list half-days, daily events, weekly events, daily closures, and weekly closures on the school calendar. To fill in the school calendar 1. On the calendar, right-click a date. 2. Select the appropriate calendar option. Figure 2: Adding items to the Calendar To add more items to the calendar, repeat steps 1-2. 6

3. To save the calendar, click OK. HeadMaster provides two printing options for a calendar. Calendar View displays block calendars with various activity symbols. Detail View lists each month and the activities occurring in that month To print the calendar 1. On the calendar, click Print. 2. Select Calendar view or Detail view. Calendar View Figure 3: School Calendar - Calendar view 7

Detail View Figure 4: School Calendar - Detail View 8

Unit 2: Creating Announcements All levels of HeadMaster can create announcements. However, you must use HeadMaster Online for parents to view announcements online. An announcement can be: School will be closed on Friday Half day of school on Monday Fund raising money due To create a school announcement 1. On the Home screen, click Announcements. 2. Click New. 3. Enter the Title. 4. Enter the Publish Date. 5. Enter the Expiration Date. 6. Check if this Announcement is Public. When an Announcement is checked as Public, that means that it is available to be viewed outside of HeadMaster Online. You can display public announcements using the link found in Web Links when you log in to HM Online as an administrator. 7. Make the announcement viewable by all or for those in a specific class. 8. Enter a Web address if needed. 9. Enter Notes. 10. Click OK. 9

To add more announcements, repeat steps 2-9. Figure 5: Creating an Announcement 10

Unit 3: Creating Events You can create an unlimited number of events to upload to your HeadMaster Online calendar. Some examples of events are: Athletic games Concerts Field trips This unit shows you how to: Create Event categories Create Events To create an event 1. On the Home window, click Events. 2. Click New. 3. Enter the Event. 4. Select a Category or create a new one. Some examples of categories are Academic, Athletics, Baseball, and Softball. Categories filter the HeadMaster Online Calendar. 1. Enter the Date of the event. 2. Check if this event can be made Public. When an Event is checked as Public, it means that it is available to be viewed outside of HeadMaster Online. You can display public events using the link found in Web Links when you log in to HM Online as an administrator. 3. Enter the Event Description/Notes. 4. Under Primary Contact Information, select the Name. 5. Select an email address. 6. Select a phone number. 7. To save the event, click OK. See Figure 6: Creating an Event on page 12. 11

To enter more events, repeat steps 2-10. Figure 6: Creating an Event 12

Unit 4: Creating Correspondence With Correspondence, you can create form letters that include information directly from the HeadMaster database. Correspondence can be saved and edited for continued use from year to year. This unit shows you how to:: Generate correspondence for multiple individuals Print correspondence Mass email correspondence To create correspondence 1. On the Home screen, click Correspondence. 2. Click New. 3. Enter the Name. 4. Enter the Description (not required). 5. Select the Document Type. When you set up Correspondence, a letter generates for all people in the selected kind of document. You can also select specific individuals or apply a search to generate a letter for a certain group. If you want to create a letter for all individuals in one selected kind of document type, go to step 1 on page 13. To select specific individuals or to apply a search 1. Click the Filter/Search tab. 2. Select Print only these individuals in the list. 3. To choose specific individuals, click Select. To apply a previously created search, click Search. 4. Click Create. Figure 7: Correspondence Filter/Search Tab 13

To create a form letter using merged fields: Clicking Edit lets you select Font, Font Size, Bold, Italics, Underline, Justifications, and Bullets. You can also copy and paste a document created in Microsoft Word and insert the necessary merged fields. The chosen kind of document determines the available merge fields. 1. To create a form letter using merged fields 2. Select Font and Font Size. 3. Double-click the merge field you want to add. 4. When finished with the letter creation, click OK. Merge fields display the location of your cursor. 14

Figure 8: Creating a letter using merge fields To preview and to print or to send email correspondence 1. To preview the correspondence, click Preview. 2. Click Close when finished. 3. Click Print or E-mail. 4. If you want to save this correspondence to the individuals communication log, click Save Log. Figure 9: Preview, Print of Email Correspondence 15

To mass email, you must set up SMTP settings. Only a user with Administrator rights can do this. To set up SMTP settings, go to the Home screen and click Options. Then, click SMTP Settings. After saving correspondence, you can edit and reuse it as often as necessary. 16

Unit 5: Uploading to HeadMaster Online Uploading information from HeadMaster software to HeadMaster Online is simple. You can upload to Headmaster Online as often as necessary. This unit shows you how to upload to HeadMaster Online. To select items to upload 1. On the Home screen, click Options. 2. Click HM Online. 3. Under Financial Upload, select HeadMaster Billing, ACS Accounts Receivable, or None. 4. Enter a Billing Contact Email if needed. 5. Under Upload Options, select those items you want to upload. 6. When it is time for re-enrollment, check the box for Use Online Re-enrollment. 7. Enter a date range for the re-enrollment button to display on HM Online. 8. Enter the New School Year. 9. Under Active Period, select the grading periods you want to upload. 10. Click Close. Figure 10: HM Online Upload Options 17

To upload to HeadMaster Online 1. On the Home screen, click File. 2. Select HM Online. 3. Click Next. 4. Click Upload. 5. Click OK. 6. Click Close. Figure 11: Upload to HM Online Your first upload of information to HeadMaster Online takes a few minutes. This upload populates the space provided for you on the Internet. 18

Unit 6: HeadMaster Online for Parents Parents can access HeadMaster Online to view homework, assignments, attendance, grades, billing (HM Billing or ACS Accounts Receivables), schedules, and school calendars. Parents can see information only for their own children. Parents can go directly to the HeadMaster Online Web site or they can click a link on your current school Web site. But before parents can access HeadMaster Online, you must provide them with a username and a password. When parents are entered in HeadMaster, a HeadMaster Online username and a password is randomly generated for them. This unit shows you how to: Give usernames and passwords to each parent Show parents how to log in to and navigate Headmaster Online To assign usernames and passwords to parents 1. On the Home screen, click Correspondence. 2. Click New. 3. Enter a Name. 4. Under Document Type, select Parent. 5. Enter a Description. This is not required. 6. Enter any Notes. This is not required. 7. Click Create. 8. Type the letter to the parents. Correspondence should contain login instructions for HeadMaster Online. 9. Add Online Username and Online Password merge fields to the letter. See Figure 12: Correspondence Parent HM Online letter on page 20. 19

Figure 12: Correspondence - Parent HM Online letter 10. When your letter is complete, click OK. 11. To preview the letter, click Preview. Parent login procedure for HeadMaster Online: Parents can go directly to the HeadMaster Online Web site or click a link on the current school Web site. If you give the parents the direct link to HeadMaster online, include the school's six-digit ACS site number. https://secure.headmasteronline.com To log in to HeadMaster Online as a parent 1. Enter Username. 2. Enter Password. 3. Click Login. 20

To view a PowerPoint presentation for parent training, go to: www.headmasteracademy.com/parentportal Overview of Views Available to Parents All class activity for each student, along with current average for that grading period Announcements and Events Billing Attendance and Behavior Figure 13: HM Online Overview page 21

Parents can update their primary family information in My Profile. Homework Figure 14: HM Online - Parent Profile Figure 15: Student Homework 22

Assignments and Grades Figure 16: Student Academics - Assignments with Grades Attendance for both school and class Behavior Figure 17: Student Attendance Figure 18: Student Behavior 23

Student Schedule Figure 19: Student Schedule Calendar Figure 20: HM Online Calendar 24

Billing Figure 21: Family Billing Report Report Cards Figure 22: HM Online - Student Report Card 25

Progress Reports Figure 23: HM Online - Student Progress Report Skills Report Figure 24: HM Online - Student Skills Report 26

Student Directory Your school s administration can choose whether or not to display this. Figure 25: HM Online - Student Directory Staff Directory Your school s administration can choose whether or not to display this. Figure 26: HM Online - Staff Directory 27

Lunch Calendar Order Lunch: these items can be displayed or not displayed Figure 27: HM Online - Lunch Menu Lunch Calendar Preorders Figure 28: HM Online - Lunch Preorders 28

Unit 7: HeadMaster Online for School Administration School administrators can log in to HeadMaster online to view the system log and to upload logs. Administrators can also change the look of HeadMaster Online to match colors on their school website. This lesson shows you how to: View the System Log to see when individuals log in and out and if their logins are successful. View the Upload Log to see dates and times of all uploads to HeadMaster Online. Locate a student quickly to view individual assignments, grades, and attendance. Change Setup Themes to adjust the color scheme of HeadMaster Online to match your school colors and to add your school logo. Display Student and Staff Directories. Customize the email that parents receive when a new student registration is submitted. To successfully upload your logo, it must be in either.jpg or.gif format. Your logo s size and dimensions are also important. Use a logo no larger than 300 kilobytes. Width must be no more than 960 pixels. You can use a logo of any height, but it is best limited to 100 pixels. Administrators can go directly to the HeadMaster Online site or click a link on the current school website. You must have administrator rights in HeadMaster to use the administrative features of HeadMaster Online. The generic username and password: HMadmin/school does not work to access HM Online as an administrator. To log in as an administrator in HeadMaster Online 1. Enter Username. 2. Enter Password. 3. Click Login. 29

Administrator Overview Figure 29: HM Online - Administrator Overview page System Log Figure 30: HM Online - System Log Upload Log Figure 31: HM Online - Upload Log 30

Locate Student Figure 32: HM Online - Locate Student Setup Theme Part 1 Figure 33: HM Online Themes part 1 31

Setup Theme Part 2 This displays when you select Customize. Figure 34: HM Online Themes part 2 Student and Staff Directory Options Figure 35: HM Online - Student/Staff Directory Options 32

Report Options you can choose whether or not to display these reports New Student Application Email Figure 36: HM Online - Admin Report Options 33