Automated Walk-In Scheduling. Prior to Using Automated Walk-In Scheduling. The Scheduling Engine

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1 This course will teach you how to complete the scheduling setup for automated walk-in scheduling, define course scheduling information (including course prerequisites and relationships), format schedule constraints, enter a student s course requests, use the automated walk-in scheduler, and finalize a student s schedule. Prior to Using Automated Walk-In Scheduling In order for the automated walk-in scheduler to work correctly, it s important to have a scheduling scenario set up in PowerScheduler and course and student scheduling preferences set up in advance. If the master schedule is active, all the scheduling setup needs to be made on the live side of PowerSchool. Settings must be defined manually if you do not use PowerScheduler. Or, if you want to make changes to the settings after the initial scheduling process, you must do so manually for them to take affect during the current school year. If you have used PowerScheduler the settings will be carried over, but it is important that you review all settings to make sure they are set correctly. The Scheduling Engine The scheduling engine, PowerScheduler, must also be installed and running on your PowerSchool server before you can use automated walk-in scheduling. To install the scheduling engine on a Mac: 1. Navigate to Start Page > PowerScheduler 2. Navigate to Engine Download 3. Open the PSSchedEngineInstall.dmg file 4. Then, click Save File and OK to save the file to the desktop 5. Next, double-click the PSSchedEngineInstall.dmg file on the desktop Automated Walk-In Scheduling Quick Reference Card 6. Then, double click the PSSchedEngine.pkg file 7. The Welcome to PowerSchool Scheduling Engine Installer window opens (If this is your first time installing the engine on OS X, you will need to restart the computer after installing it), then to proceed with installation, click Continue 8. Select Macintosh HD as the installation destination 9. If you want to install the software in a different folder than the recommended PowerSchoolEngine, click Choose Folder and select the appropriate installation site; otherwise, click Continue 10. Make sure you have enough hard drive space for the software, if you want to choose a different install location, click Change Install Location; otherwise, click Install 11. Finally, click Close to complete the installation 12. Upon installation, several files are created: the engine executable file and the Loader (Mac OS X users will also see a default LocalEngine.properties file) 13. Open the PSSchedEngine folder from the Applications menu, then double click the PSSchedEngine application. 14. Upon running the engine, two more files are created: the engine.properties file collects information from LocalEngine.properties and information sent from PowerSchool to tell the engine what it should do, while the engine.log file is a log of what the engine is doing, created when the log output setting in LocalEngine.properties is set to append or overwrite 15. If you are using automated walk-in scheduling, it s a good idea to set the scheduling engine to restart automatically (that way, in the rare instance that you have to restart the server, you won t have to restart the engine manually) To install the scheduling engine on a PC: 1. Navigate to Start Page > PowerScheduler 2. Navigate to Engine Download 3. Next, click the PSSchedEngineInstall.zip file 4. Then, save the file to the desktop 5. Next, double-click the PSSchedEngineInstall.zip file on your desktop and extract the files Copyright 2009 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

2 6. Double-click the PSSchedEngineInstall.exe file on your desktop, then, click Run 7. The Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for PSSchedEngine window opens, to proceed with installation, click Next 8. If you want to install the software in a different folder than the recommended PowerSchoolEngine, then click Browse and select the appropriate installation site; otherwise, click Next 9. When the setup has finished installing PSSchedEngine, click Finish 10. Upon installation, several files are created: the engine executable file and the Loader 11. Open the PSSchedEngine program from the Program Files menu 12. Upon running the engine, two more files are created: the engine.properties file collects information from LocalEngine.properties and information sent from PowerSchool to tell the engine what it should do, while the engine.log file is a log of what the engine is doing, created when the log output setting in LocalEngine.properties is set to append or overwrite 13. If you are using automated walk-in scheduling, it s a good idea to set the scheduling engine to restart automatically (that way, in the rare instance that you have to restart the server, you won t have to restart the engine manually) Scheduling Preferences Automated walk-in scheduling preferences can be set up or edited during the current school year. To set up the automated walk-in scheduling preferences: 2. Navigate to scheduling Preferences 3. Check Use Buildings only if your school s schedule uses buildings to define the buildings on campus and associates them with particular courses, students, teachers, or rooms 4. Check Use Houses only if your school s schedule separates students into houses 5. Check Close Sections at Max Enrollment to ensure that courses close at their maximum enrollment numbers 6. If your school uses global course alternate substitutions and you want to ensure that the system inserts them automatically after student course substitutes have been tried and rejected, then check Use Global Course Alternate Substitutions 7. Check Use Student Request Alternate Substitution to ensure that the system inserts student course substitutions automatically in the order chosen 8. The default value of the Percent of schedule combinations to evaluate for each student field is 10 (change this value only if you encounter problems with the amount of time the system is using to build student schedules) 9. The default value of the Minimum number of schedule combinations to evaluate before skipping field is 10,000 (change this value only if you encounter problems with the amount of time the system is using to build student schedules) 10. Choose an option from Class Day and Period Precedence menu to determine the sort order of the enrollments' expressions on the Modify Schedule - Enrollments student page 11. Use the Modify-Schedule Enrollments page menu to set whether enrollments are listed by their expressions or course section numbers 12. Click Submit to save the scheduling preferences To create Teams: 2. Navigate to scheduling Preferences > Teams 3. Click New to add a new teaching team 4. Enter a name for the team 5. Click Submit to save the team To create Houses: 2. Navigate to scheduling Preferences > Houses 3. Click New to add a new house 4. Enter a name for the house 5. Click Submit to save the house To create Campuses/Buildings: 2

3 2. Navigate to scheduling Preferences > Buildings 3. Click New to add a new campus/building 4. Enter a name for the campus/building 5. Click Submit to save the campus/building To create Section Types: 2. Navigate to scheduling Preferences > Section Types 3. Click New to add a new section type 4. Enter a name for the section type, such as Honors, Bilingual, or Special Education 5. Click Submit to save the section type Course Information You can also set up course scheduling information and course relationships during the school year. If you need to create new courses or edit existing ones during the current year, you can do so using the Edit Courses page. Start Page > School > Courses > Course name The Edit Course Page is divided into five functional areas: District, Fees, Prerequisites, Relationships, and Scheduling. To edit course district information: 1. The Edit Course page defaults to District 2. Enter the Credit Hours a student will earn by passing the course 3. If the course is used for continuation education, select a Special Program 4. Enter the Credit Type, such as ELEC, MAT, ENG, or SOC 5. Enter the Default Maximum Enrollment number 6. Associate the course with a specific department, such as Math or Science 7. Enter Course Notes, if applicable 8. Select to Use the Course for Lunch, otherwise, leave it blank 9. Select to Exclude on Report Cards/Transcripts a. Otherwise, leave it blank b. Typically, courses are included on report cards and transcripts c. The exception would be a course that does not issue a grade, such as Study Hall or Special Education 10. Define whether it is an Advanced Placement Course 11. Click Submit to save the course district information 12. Refer to the Help Menu for instructions on how to complete additional fields on the Edit Course page To edit or create course enrollment fee information: 1. Navigate to Fees to create a new course fee 3. Define the Fee Type (must have been set up as a course fee category in advance) 4. Associate the fee to a department 5. Enter the amount of the fee that will be assessed to students 6. Enter the date the fee becomes applicable 7. Enter a description, explaining the fee 8. If you want the fee to be pro-rated, then check Pro Ratable 9. Click Submit to save the new course enrollment fee To edit or create course prerequisite rules: 1. Navigate to Prerequisites 2. Enter a Prerequisite Note from your district s course catalog that describes the criteria a student must meet before he/she can request the course 3. Add Prerequisite Rules to match the criteria described in the Prerequisite Note, such as a Letter Grade or Teacher Recommendation rule 4. Click Save To edit course relationship information: 1. Navigate to Relationships to create a new course relationship 3. Select the course you want to relate to the primary course by clicking Associate and choosing the related course 4. Define the Relationship Type a. A Prerequisite relationship between two courses ensures that the student will be scheduled into the specified course so that the course is completed prior to the beginning of the second course 3

4 b. If two courses have a Corequisite relationship, the student will be scheduled into both courses concurrently c. A Postrequisite relationship between two courses ensures that the student will be scheduled into the specified course after the student has completed the first course in the relationship 5. Click Submit to save the course relationship To edit or create course scheduling information: 1. Navigate to Scheduling 2. If you want the system to be able to schedule a student in more than one section of this course in the same term, then check Allow Student Repeat in Same Term. 3. If you want the system to be able to schedule a student in more than one section of this course in different terms, then check Allow Student Repeat in Different Term 4. Enter a value in the Load Priority field to determine the order in which this course is scheduled when a conflict between two of a student s course requests arises, such as 10 for academic courses and 20 for elective courses 5. Then, use the Load Type menu to define what kind of course this is: academic, elective, or alternate 6. Associate up to three Global Substitutions (For example, if you assign three and the primary course is not available, then the engine will schedule the student into Global Substitution 1. If the first substitute course is not available, the scheduling engine will schedule the student into Global Substitution 2. If the second substitute course is not available, the student will be scheduled into Global Substitution 3.) 7. Click Submit to save the course scheduling information Section Information When the scheduling engine searches for a section to enroll a student into, it considers whether the student has been assigned to a team or house and whether the request for the course has been assigned to a section type. It also considers whether a section has been set to close at max enrollment. To apply scheduling preferences to a course section: 2. Navigate to Sections > Section Name 3. Click the section number of the section you want to edit 4. Using the menu, assign a Section Type, such as Honors, Bilingual, or Special Education 5. Assign the section to a House, if applicable 6. Assign the section to a Team, if applicable 7. Select whether to close the section at max enrollment 8. Click Submit to save the section scheduling preferences Student Information When the scheduling engine searches for a section to enroll a student into it considers whether the student has been assigned to a team, house, or building. Based on this information, it looks for a section that meets these criteria. To set scheduling preferences for a student: 2. Navigate to Modify Info 3. Assign the student to a team by using the Current Team menu, if applicable 4. Assign the student to a house by using the Current House menu, if applicable 5. Assign the student to a team by using the Current Campus/ Building menu, if applicable 6. Click Submit to save the student scheduling preferences Scheduling Load Constraints Load constraints restrict the way the system loads students into courses that have already been scheduled. The more constraints you define, the less flexibility the system has to load students into courses and the less optimal the resulting schedule will be. It s always best to use the fewest number of constraints required to accomplish your scheduling goals. The five types of load constraints include Student Avoid, Teacher Avoid, Student Free, Section Link, and Student Preference. 4

5 Start Page > School > Constraints To keep two students from being scheduled together: 1. Navigate to Student Avoid 3. Click Associate and select Student 1 4. Click Associate and select Student 2 5. Click Submit to save the Student/Student Avoid To keep two students from being scheduled together: 1. Navigate to Student Avoid 3. Click Associate and select Student 1 4. Click Associate and select Student 2 5. Click Submit to save the Student/Student Avoid constraint To keep an individual student and teacher from being scheduled together: 1. Navigate to Teacher Avoid 3. Click Associate and select the Student 4. Click Associate and select the Teacher 5. Click Submit to save the Student/Teacher Avoid constraint To schedule a free period for a student: 1. Navigate Student Free 3. Click Associate and select the Student 4. Select the Term 5. Select the periods that the student needs free 6. Click Submit to save the Student Free constraint To link the sections of two courses with the same students: 1. Navigate Section Link 3. Click Associate and select Course Number 1 4. Enter the first Section Number to be linked 5. Click Associate and select Course Number 2 6. Enter the second Section Number to be linked 7. Click Submit to save the Section Link constraint To force a student to be scheduled into a specific teacher s section: 1. Navigate Student Preference 3. Click Associate and select the Student 4. Click Associate and select the Course Number 5. Select the Term (optional) 6. Enter the Section Number (optional) 7. Click Associate and select the Teacher (optional) 8. Click Submit to save the Student Preference constraint The Walk-in: New Student Use automated walk-in scheduling to generate individual student schedules after your school has already completed the initial scheduling process. To enter course requests for a new student: 2. Navigate to Modify Schedule > Requests 3. Click New 4. To begin selecting course requests, click Associate 5. Select the courses (hold Command/Control key) and click Submit 6. Click Submit to enter the schedule requests 7. If desired, modify the requests by identifying which ones are grouped by a course code (such as E for elective) and assigning alternate requests and assigning priorities within the group 8. If desired, Associate one alternate course for each primary course request and delete requests if necessary 9. If desired, modify the requests by identifying which ones are alternate requests and assigning priorities. 10. Submit any changes to the course requests To run automated walk-in scheduling: 1. Perform a search for the student on the Start Page to access his/her student pages 2. Navigate to Modify Schedule > Enrollments 3. Enter the Effective Enrollment Date 5

6 4. Provided course requests have been entered, click Automated Schedule to run automated walk-in scheduling 5. Accept the proposed schedule, if satisfactory 6. If unacceptable, click Discard, modify the course requests, and click Automated Schedule again 7. To keep a few classes on the proposed schedule, lock the courses by clicking the blue lock(s) next to the course name(s), then click Automated Schedule again, and click Accept to accept the newly proposed schedule The Walk-in: Existing Student In a typical scenario for a school during the first week of a new school year, many students need to revise their previously created schedule. Use automated walk-in scheduling to generate individual student schedules after your school has already completed the initial scheduling process. To modify course requests for an existing student: 2. Navigate to Modify Schedule > Requests 3. Click New 4. To begin selecting course requests, click Associate 5. Select the courses (hold Command/Control key) and click Submit 6. Click Submit to enter the schedule requests 7. Delete old or undesired course requests by clicking Yes next to the course name 8. If desired, modify the requests by identifying which ones are grouped by a course code (such as E for elective) and assigning alternate requests and assigning priorities within the group 9. If desired, Associate one alternate course for each primary course request and delete requests if necessary 10. If desired, modify the requests by identifying which ones are alternate requests and assigning priorities. 11. Submit any changes to the course requests To run automated walk-in scheduling: 1. Perform a search for the student on the Start Page to access his/her student pages 2. Navigate to Modify Schedule > Enrollments 3. Enter the Effective Enrollment Date 4. Provided course requests have been entered, click Automated Schedule to run automated walk-in scheduling 5. Accept the proposed schedule, if satisfactory 6. If unacceptable, click Discard, modify the course requests, and click Automated Schedule again 7. To keep a few classes on the proposed schedule, lock the courses by clicking the blue lock(s) next to the course name(s), then click Automated Schedule again, and click Accept to accept the newly proposed schedule Manually Schedule Students Using Add/Drop You can use the Modify Schedule page to manually add or drop classes to finalize a student s schedule. To add a class: 2. Click Modify Schedule 3. Search for Available Classes 4. Use the search filters to narrow the results 5. Enter the Enroll date (this is the first day the student will attend class) 6. Click the course name to be added If you know the exact course.section number, then use Quick Enroll. To drop a class: 2. Click Modify Schedule 3. Select check box next to class to be dropped 4. Enter the Exit Date (this is the day after the student attended the class) 5. Click Drop Classes 6