Parent Portal gives moms, dads an edge
GEOFFREY M. HICKS Superintendent Sweet Home Schools
This year, Sweet Home is using the power of the Internet to better communicate with parents and students.

The school district has opened the Power- School Parent Portal, which allows parents of middle and high school students to check course information such as individual assignment scores, test scores, quarterly grades and attendance data online in real time.

Parents can log onto the system with a simple password in order to gain access to the information, and they can do it at any convenient time. Once parents have accessed the system via their favorite Web browser, they can navigate through the easy-to-use interface to quickly check the cumulative average in each course of study, or they can drill into an individual course to view detailed information on specific assignments and assessments.

The school district changed to the Web-based PowerSchool student information management system two years ago. High school and middle school teachers have been maintaining electronic gradebooks since that time, and this year we were able, with the help of software specialist Debbie Radice, to securely open a portal to the system that would deliver information dynamically, in real time.

As soon as a teacher posts a score for a particular assignment or test, it is viewable via the portal. The system allows parents to set parameters that automatically send an e-mail when grade information has been updated or changed. It also allows parents to quickly link an e-mail message to teachers as they browse the portal information.

We've started to customize the portal to include other pertinent information. The most recent addition is a button that can display data on college and scholarship applications.

High school parents received information about logging onto the Parent Portal at the open house held on Sept. 19. Since that time, the Parent Portal has been accessed more than 6,000 times, and more than 75 percent of students enrolled in the high school have had their account checked by a parent. We anticipate that the response will be just as robust when we open the middle school portal on Wednesday, Oct. 17.

The school district strongly believes that the Parent Portal will significantly improve communication between teachers and parents, resulting in enhanced student achievement. We have already experienced the benefit of having counselors, coaches and administrators use Power- School to monitor student progress and touch base with kids who fall behind.

Close monitoring of student progress, by parents and other adults in the school, is critical, and it helps to set a tone that we will do whatever it takes to make sure that children are successful at Sweet Home.