SOMERS PUBLIC SCHOOLS

PowerSchool Parent Portal gives parents and students access to real-time information including attendance, grades and detailed assignment descriptions. Everyone stays connected: Students stay on top of assignments, parents are able to participate more fully in their student's progress, and teachers can use their gradebook to make decisions on what information they want to share with parents and students.

You will receive directions to set up your user account as well as directions to access grades, attendance and other important information. It is important that you do not share your login information with others!

Below are some reminders as you visit the Powerschool Parent Portal:
* Powerschool is one way to enhance the communication between teachers, parents, and students. An important
goal is to provide the information necessary to promote student responsibility for their learning, and ultimately, student success in their academics.
* Teachers are expected to enter grades in a timely manner. Many try to update the online grade book at least once
a week. Please wait five class days after an assignment is due before contacting the teacher.
* When students take a lengthy test, hand in large projects, or finish research papers, teachers may need additional time for grading. For example, an English teacher grading essays for 20-30 students per class with 5 different
classes needs time to carefully grade your child’s work.
* Remember that at the beginning of a quarter, one assignment can have a large impact on the “in progress” grade.
* Before contacting the teacher, talk with your child about his/her grade in a class.
* Students with the assistance of their parents can check grades and assignments through Powerschool. This is an excellent way to know what assignments are missing and to keep track of grades. If an assignment is missing that
has been turned in, don’t panic--check with the teacher.
* Teaching requires flexibility. If students take longer to master a particular topic, a teacher may change the due
date for a test to provide more time for instruction. School-wide events sometimes interrupt teachers’ lesson plans and assignment due dates may change as a result.
* Teachers may approach their grade books differently. Some may enter assignments and due dates as they are
given. Other teachers may choose to enter all of their assignments (or groups of assignments) at once, then add due dates later so that students and parents can anticipate what topics will be coming.
* At the elementary level, students do not see specialists (art, music, physical education, media, Spanish) on a daily basis. Because of this and the nature of their subject areas, projects and/or skill development often require students several weeks to complete. Therefore, students' grades will be updated as deemed appropriate.

The Parent Portal will be open to parents of grades 4-12 students. For confidentiality reasons once usernames and passwords are given out, changes to the usernames and/or passwords will only be done in person in the school
office – positive identification will be required. This information will not be given out over the phone or via email.