PowerScheduler User Guide
    PowerSchool
    Student Information System
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Introduction
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    2
    Document Properties
    Copyright
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is the property
    of Apple Computer, Inc. and is for reference only. It is not to be reproduced or
    distributed in any way without the express written consent of Apple Computer,
    Inc. Other brands and names are the property of their respective owners.
    Owner
    Technical Communication and Documentation
    Last Updated
    8/12/2004
    Version
    4.0
    Please send comments, suggestions, or requests for this document to manuals@powerschool.com
    .
    Your feedback is appreciated.
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Introduction
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    3
    Contents
    Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................12
    Legend ..........................................................................................................................................................................................13
    Audience..............................................................................................................................................................................13
    Master Schedule Overview........................................................................................................................................14
    Parameters..................................................................................................................................................................15
    Processing...................................................................................................................................................................15
    Requesting..................................................................................................................................................................16
    Resources ....................................................................................................................................................................16
    Schedule......................................................................................................................................................................16
    Tools ..............................................................................................................................................................................16
    Checklists.............................................................................................................................................................................16
    Schedule Search and Select.......................................................................................................................................17
    How to Select a Student for Scheduling.....................................................................................................17
    How to Select a Group of Students for Scheduling ..............................................................................18
    Student Scheduling Functions Page .....................................................................................................................21
    Scheduling Functions Page........................................................................................................................................22
    Prepare to Build the Master Schedule...................................................................................................................24
    Schedule Security ....................................................................................................................................................................24
    Schedule Security Setup..............................................................................................................................................24
    How to Give Groups Access to the Schedule Area................................................................................24
    Schedule Parameters .............................................................................................................................................................27
    Buildings ..............................................................................................................................................................................27
    How to Define a Building....................................................................................................................................27
    How to Edit a Building..........................................................................................................................................28
    How to Delete a Building....................................................................................................................................28
    Days........................................................................................................................................................................................29
    How to Define Days...............................................................................................................................................29
    Departments......................................................................................................................................................................30
    How to Define a Department ...........................................................................................................................30
    How to Edit a Department .................................................................................................................................31
    How to Delete a Department ...........................................................................................................................32
    Facilities................................................................................................................................................................................32
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Introduction
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    4
    How to Define a Facility ......................................................................................................................................33
    How to Edit a Facility ............................................................................................................................................33
    How to Delete a Facility.......................................................................................................................................34
    Houses ..................................................................................................................................................................................35
    How to Define a House........................................................................................................................................36
    How to Edit a House..............................................................................................................................................36
    How to Delete a House........................................................................................................................................37
    Scheduling Periods.........................................................................................................................................................37
    How to Define Periods .........................................................................................................................................38
    Section Types ....................................................................................................................................................................38
    How to Define a Section Type..........................................................................................................................39
    How to Edit a Section Type ...............................................................................................................................39
    How to Delete a Section Type..........................................................................................................................40
    Teams....................................................................................................................................................................................41
    How to Define a Team .........................................................................................................................................41
    How to Edit a Team ...............................................................................................................................................42
    How to Delete a Team..........................................................................................................................................42
    Schedule Years and Terms..........................................................................................................................................43
    How to Define a Schedule Year and Terms...............................................................................................43
    How to Edit a Schedule Year and Terms.....................................................................................................46
    How to Delete a Schedule Term .....................................................................................................................48
    How to Delete a Schedule Year.......................................................................................................................49
    Build Scenarios Overview ....................................................................................................................................................51
    Build Scenarios..................................................................................................................................................................51
    How to Create a Build Scenario.......................................................................................................................52
    How to Edit Advanced Optimizations ..........................................................................................................55
    How to Delete a Build Scenario.......................................................................................................................58
    Auto Create and Fill Scheduling Information ...................................................................................................60
    How to Auto Create Rooms...............................................................................................................................60
    How to Auto Fill Student Information..........................................................................................................61
    How to Auto Fill Course Information............................................................................................................62
    How to Auto Fill Teacher Information..........................................................................................................67
    Automatic Schedule Setup.........................................................................................................................................68
    How to Run the Automatic Schedule Setup Function.........................................................................68
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Introduction
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    5
    Courses..........................................................................................................................................................................................71
    New Courses ......................................................................................................................................................................72
    How to Add a New Course to the Master Course List .........................................................................72
    Course Catalogs................................................................................................................................................................75
    How to Create a Course Catalog.....................................................................................................................75
    How to Edit a Course Catalog ..........................................................................................................................77
    How to Delete a Course Catalog.....................................................................................................................78
    Rooms Overview ......................................................................................................................................................................80
    Rooms ...................................................................................................................................................................................80
    How to Add a Room..............................................................................................................................................80
    How to Edit a Room...............................................................................................................................................83
    How to Delete a Room.........................................................................................................................................86
    How to View the Room Matrix.........................................................................................................................87
    Student Information.......................................................................................................................................................90
    Next Year Grade...............................................................................................................................................................90
    How to Set the Next Year Grade Field for a Student............................................................................90
    How to Set the Next Year Grade Field for an Entire Grade Level...................................................92
    Priority...................................................................................................................................................................................94
    How to Assign Priority to a Student..............................................................................................................95
    Year of Graduation..........................................................................................................................................................96
    How to Set the Year of Graduation for a Student..................................................................................96
    Schedule This Student..................................................................................................................................................98
    How to Include an Individual Student .........................................................................................................98
    How to Include All of Next Year’s Students............................................................................................ 100
    How to Exclude Graduating Students....................................................................................................... 102
    Optional Scheduling Preferences......................................................................................................................... 104
    How to Assign a Student to a Building..................................................................................................... 104
    How to Assign a Group of Students to a Building.............................................................................. 106
    How to Assign a Student to a House......................................................................................................... 109
    How to Assign a Student to a Team .......................................................................................................... 111
    Student Schedule Demographics ........................................................................................................................ 113
    How to View Student Schedule Demographics ................................................................................... 113
    Schedule Graduation Check ................................................................................................................................... 115
    How to View Schedule Graduation Check.............................................................................................. 115
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Introduction
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    6
    Student Schedule Matrix.......................................................................................................................................... 117
    How to View the Student Schedule Matrix ............................................................................................ 117
    How to Set Student Schedule Matrix Preferences .............................................................................. 119
    Student Course Requests ................................................................................................................................................. 122
    Grade-Level Requirements ...................................................................................................................................... 122
    Course Groups ............................................................................................................................................................... 123
    How to Create a Course Group..................................................................................................................... 124
    How to Delete a Course Group..................................................................................................................... 127
    Student Course Request Pages............................................................................................................................. 128
    How to Create a Request Screen in PowerScheduler........................................................................ 128
    How to Create a Request Screen in PowerSchool............................................................................... 129
    Requirements ................................................................................................................................................................. 130
    How to Enter a Single Class Requirement............................................................................................... 131
    How to Enter a Multi-Class Requirement................................................................................................. 133
    How to Enter a Core Requirement.............................................................................................................. 136
    How to Preview the Registration Request Page .................................................................................. 138
    Student Course Request Entry............................................................................................................................... 140
    How to Activate the Student Request Forms........................................................................................ 140
    How to Enter Requests in the Scheduling Area................................................................................... 141
    How to Enter Student Requests by Course ............................................................................................ 143
    How to Manually Schedule Students......................................................................................................... 145
    How to Edit Student Course Requests...................................................................................................... 147
    How to Delete Student Course Requests ................................................................................................ 149
    How to Mass Assign Student Course Requests.................................................................................... 151
    How to Mass Delete Student Course Requests .................................................................................... 153
    Course Information..............................................................................................................................................................
    155
    Course Scheduling Setup......................................................................................................................................... 155
    How to Define Scheduling Preferences.................................................................................................... 155
    How to Define Related Courses.................................................................................................................... 163
    Calculate Sections........................................................................................................................................................ 167
    How to Calculate Sections............................................................................................................................... 167
    Teacher Scheduling Information................................................................................................................................... 168
    Teacher Scheduling Setup....................................................................................................................................... 168
    How to Set Teacher Scheduling Preferences......................................................................................... 168
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Introduction
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    7
    How to View Teacher Constraints ............................................................................................................... 170
    Teacher Assignments ................................................................................................................................................. 171
    How to Assign Teachers to Courses........................................................................................................... 172
    How to Assign Courses to Teachers........................................................................................................... 173
    How to View Teacher Assignments ............................................................................................................ 175
    Teacher Schedule ......................................................................................................................................................... 176
    How to Add a Section to a Teacher Schedule....................................................................................... 177
    How to Edit a Section on a Teacher Schedule ...................................................................................... 181
    How to Delete a Section From a Teacher Schedule........................................................................... 185
    Teacher Schedule Matrix .......................................................................................................................................... 188
    How to View the Teacher Schedule Matrix ............................................................................................ 188
    How to Set Teacher Schedule Matrix Preferences .............................................................................. 189
    Scheduled Lunch.......................................................................................................................................................... 191
    Automated Study Hall ............................................................................................................................................... 192
    How to Run the Automated Study Hall Function ............................................................................... 192
    How to View the Automated Study Hall Results Log........................................................................ 195
    Build Constraints Overview.............................................................................................................................................. 198
    Build Constraints........................................................................................................................................................... 199
    How to Add a Course Optimize Constraint ............................................................................................ 199
    How to Add a Course Restriction Constraint ......................................................................................... 200
    How to Add a Course Room Constraint ................................................................................................... 202
    How to Add a Course Team Constraint.................................................................................................... 203
    How to Add a Pre-Schedule Constraint.................................................................................................... 205
    How to Add a Room Free Constraint......................................................................................................... 207
    How to Add a Schedule Break Constraint ............................................................................................... 208
    How to Add a Teacher Dovetail Constraint............................................................................................ 209
    How to Add a Teacher Free Constraint .................................................................................................... 210
    How to Add a Teacher Part-Time Constraint......................................................................................... 212
    How to Add a Teacher Team Constraint.................................................................................................. 213
    Work With Build Constraints................................................................................................................................... 214
    How to Modify Build Constraints................................................................................................................. 214
    How to Delete Build Constraints.................................................................................................................. 215
    Course Rank............................................................................................................................................................................. 216
    Build Course Rank ........................................................................................................................................................ 217
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Introduction
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    8
    How to Build Initial Course Rank.................................................................................................................. 217
    How to Edit a Course Rank ............................................................................................................................. 218
    How to Update Rank.......................................................................................................................................... 220
    Build Master Schedule Introduction ....................................................................................................................222
    Validate Build Scenarios ...........................................................................................................................................223
    How to Validate a Scenario............................................................................................................................. 223
    Build Scenario Parameters ....................................................................................................................................... 224
    How to Confirm Build Scenario Parameters........................................................................................... 224
    Load Validation.............................................................................................................................................................. 225
    How to Validate Load Data............................................................................................................................. 225
    Build Validation ............................................................................................................................................................. 226
    Build the Master Schedule Overview...................................................................................................................228
    Download and Install the Scheduling Engine ............................................................................................... 228
    How to Download the Scheduling Engine for Macintosh.............................................................. 228
    How to Download the Scheduling Engine for Windows................................................................. 229
    Build the Master Schedule....................................................................................................................................... 231
    How to Build the Master Schedule ............................................................................................................. 232
    Understand the PowerSchool Scheduler Page............................................................................................. 234
    When the System Stops the Build....................................................................................................................... 235
    Build Results Log .......................................................................................................................................................... 236
    How to View the Build Results Log............................................................................................................. 236
    Build Log........................................................................................................................................................................... 237
    How to View the Build Log............................................................................................................................. 238
    How to Interpret the Build Log..................................................................................................................... 238
    Import the Master Schedule................................................................................................................................... 239
    How to Import the Master Schedule.......................................................................................................... 239
    Review Course Rank.................................................................................................................................................... 240
    Restart the Build............................................................................................................................................................ 240
    Restart the Build From Scratch.............................................................................................................................. 241
    Unlock Previously Scheduled Courses............................................................................................................... 241
    How to Unlock an Individual Section ........................................................................................................ 241
    How to Unlock More Than One Section................................................................................................... 244
    Schedule Sections........................................................................................................................................................ 246
    How to Edit a Section on the Master Schedule.................................................................................... 246
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Introduction
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    9
    How to Delete a Section From the Master Schedule ........................................................................ 249
    Master Schedule............................................................................................................................................................ 251
    How to View the Master Schedule.............................................................................................................. 251
    How to Modify Master Schedule Preferences ....................................................................................... 253
    Analyze the Built Master Schedule...................................................................................................................... 256
    Master Schedule Checklist....................................................................................................................................... 257
    Optimize the Completed Master Schedule..................................................................................................... 257
    Duplicate the Scenario .............................................................................................................................................. 257
    How to Duplicate the Scenario..................................................................................................................... 257
    Optimize the Master Schedule.............................................................................................................................. 259
    How to Optimize the Master Schedule..................................................................................................... 259
    Finalize the Master Schedule.................................................................................................................................. 261
    Load Constraints..........................................................................................................................................................262
    Define Load Constraints............................................................................................................................................ 262
    How to Add a Balance Adjustment Constraint..................................................................................... 262
    How to Add a Student/Student Avoid Constraint .............................................................................. 263
    How to Add a Student/Teacher Avoid Constraint .............................................................................. 264
    How to Add a Student Free Constraint .................................................................................................... 265
    How to Add a Section Link Constraint...................................................................................................... 266
    How to Add a Student Preference Constraint....................................................................................... 267
    Work With Load Constraints................................................................................................................................... 269
    How to Modify Load Constraints ................................................................................................................. 269
    How to Delete Load Constraints .................................................................................................................. 270
    Load Students ..............................................................................................................................................................271
    Run a Load....................................................................................................................................................................... 271
    How to Run a Load .............................................................................................................................................
    272
    Import Student Schedules....................................................................................................................................... 273
    How to Import Student Schedules.............................................................................................................. 273
    Analyze the Results ..................................................................................................................................................... 274
    Load Results Log........................................................................................................................................................... 275
    How to View the Load Results Log............................................................................................................. 275
    Post-Load Options ....................................................................................................................................................... 277
    Lock Student Schedules............................................................................................................................................ 277
    Reload Students............................................................................................................................................................ 278
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Introduction
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    10
    How to Reload Students into the Master Schedule ........................................................................... 278
    Manually Adjust Student Schedules................................................................................................................... 280
    How to Enroll a Student in a Course.......................................................................................................... 280
    How to Drop a Student From a Course.................................................................................................... 283
    How to Filter Manual Schedule Options.................................................................................................. 285
    How to Mass Enroll a Group of Students in a Course ....................................................................... 288
    Other Scheduling Functions................................................................................................................................... 290
    How to Auto Generate Course Information ........................................................................................... 290
    How to Auto Generate Rooms...................................................................................................................... 291
    How to Auto Generate Teacher Assignments....................................................................................... 292
    How to Copy the Master Schedule ............................................................................................................. 292
    How to Delete the Master Schedule .......................................................................................................... 293
    How to Move Previous Year Data................................................................................................................ 293
    How to Set the Schedule Year ...................................................................................................................... 294
    How to Regenerate Bitmaps .......................................................................................................................... 295
    How to Reset Class Counts ............................................................................................................................. 295
    How to Reset Sections Offered ..................................................................................................................... 295
    How to Split Yearlong Classes....................................................................................................................... 296
    Update Selections ........................................................................................................................................................ 296
    How to Update Selections............................................................................................................................... 296
    Checklist to Know Your Student Schedules are Complete..................................................................... 299
    Commit the Master Schedule .................................................................................................................................301
    When to Commit the Master Schedule............................................................................................................. 301
    How to Commit the Master Schedule....................................................................................................... 301
    Print Schedules and Rosters............................................................................................................................................ 302
    Print Student Schedules............................................................................................................................................
    302
    Print Class Rosters........................................................................................................................................................ 302
    Master Schedule Reports..........................................................................................................................................303
    Prepare to Build the Master Schedule Reports ............................................................................................. 303
    How to Run the Conflict Matrix Export Report..................................................................................... 303
    How to Run the Course List Report............................................................................................................ 304
    How to Run the Course Relationships Report....................................................................................... 306
    How to Run the Course Request Tally Report....................................................................................... 307
    How to Run the Requests by Course Report ......................................................................................... 308
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Introduction
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    11
    How to Run the Requests by Student Report....................................................................................... 309
    How to Run the Room List Report .............................................................................................................. 310
    How to Run the Student List Report.......................................................................................................... 311
    How to Run the Student Request Tally Report..................................................................................... 312
    How to Run the Teacher Assignments by Course Report............................................................... 313
    How to Run the Teacher Assignments by Teacher Report............................................................. 314
    How to Run the Teacher List Report.......................................................................................................... 314
    Build the Master Schedule Reports..................................................................................................................... 315
    How to Run the Alternate Request Report............................................................................................. 315
    How to Run the Master Schedule Report................................................................................................ 317
    How to Run the Master Schedule (PDF) Report................................................................................... 318
    How to Run the Master Schedule List Report ....................................................................................... 321
    How to Run the Non-Scheduled Course Requests Report ............................................................. 323
    How to Run the Non-Scheduled Student Requests Report........................................................... 324
    How to Run the Room Schedule Report.................................................................................................. 326
    How to Run the Room Utilization Report................................................................................................ 327
    How to Run the Schedule Periods by Grade Report.......................................................................... 329
    How to Run the Schedule Course Enrollment Report....................................................................... 331
    How to Run the Schedule Results by Grade Report .......................................................................... 332
    How to Run the Student Schedule List Report..................................................................................... 334
    How to Run the Under-Scheduled Students Report.......................................................................... 335
    How to Run the Unscheduled Rooms Report ....................................................................................... 337
    How to Run the Unscheduled Students Report................................................................................... 339
    How to Run the Unscheduled Teachers Report................................................................................... 340
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Introduction
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    12
    Introduction
    Use PowerSchool Help to learn the PowerSchool Student Information System (SIS) and to serve as a
    reference for your daily work. However, before you can begin using PowerSchool, the PowerSchool
    administrator at your school must set up the system and import the data from your previous
    system. Once those steps are complete, you can start using PowerSchool. Use PowerSchool Help to
    assist you in navigating in PowerSchool.
    PowerSchool Help is updated as PowerSchool is updated. Not all versions of PowerSchool Help are
    available in a printable guide. For the most up-to-date information, click Help on any page in
    PowerSchool.
    There are user guides available that include the same information as PowerSchool Help for each
    major release of PowerSchool. These user guides include instructions for certain user roles, though
    these roles will vary depending on your school or district's circumstances. For the most recent
    version of the printable guides, visit the PowerSchool Customer Support web site at
    https://www.powerschool.com/support/documentation/userguides/
    . This URL is case-
    sensitive.
    Note: You need a username and password to view anything on the PowerSchool Customer Support
    web site. Contact your PowerSchool administrator for access.
    You are encouraged to read each section of the help that pertains to you. While the introductory
    sections build a foundation of knowledge that you will use every time you log on to PowerSchool,
    the remaining sections are independent of each other and can be read in any order. However, if
    you have never used PowerSchool before, it will be most helpful if you start with the section
    “
    Introduction to PowerSchool
    .” Whenever you read this guide, keep the following points in
    mind:
    •
    The actions you can perform in PowerSchool depend on your job responsibilities and
    subsequently on your level of access to PowerSchool. Some users only have viewing rights
    to some pages. Others can view or edit any page. Still other users can view or edit any page,
    and create new ones as well. Finally, some pages are view-only for everyone. This guide
    outlines viewing, editing, and creating options for most pages. Depending on your needs
    and your level of access, only certain options will be applicable and available to you. If you
    find that your work requires a greater level of access, contact the system administrator at
    your school.
    •
    Almost all of the activities described in this guide begin by selecting the appropriate
    student or group; thus, it is imperative that you understand how to search for and select a
    student. For detailed instructions on how to do this, refer to the section "
    Search and
    Select
    ."
    •
    The school and student records used in this guide differ from those displayed on your page
    as you work. You will work with real data based on student records at your school. The
    graphics in this guide are only examples.
    •
    In PowerSchool, different pages provide some of the same information because you view
    the same data from a different place each time. If you add, change, or delete data on one
    page, it will be added, changed, or deleted on other pages that contain the same field(s) of
    data.
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Introduction
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    13
    •
    The reporting features described in this guide are some of the most important you will use
    in the system. A PowerSchool report is a statement of student or staff records that is
    produced for viewing or printing and can include information text in addition to the report
    listings. PowerSchool reports include report cards, lists of class schedules, lunch balance
    sheets, mailing labels, lists of current staff members, and attendance records.
    •
    Use PowerSchool to create numerous types of reports that pull selected data quickly and
    easily. Select from a list of pre-configured reports that have preset parameters or create a
    custom report to include parameters needed for a specific task. You should read the
    sections "
    Custom Reports
    " and "
    Pre-Configured Reports
    " before creating a report.
    Legend
    •
    This guide uses the > symbol to move down a menu path. Thus, if instructed to "Click File >
    New > Window", begin by clicking the File menu. Then, click New and Window. The option
    noted after the > symbol will always be on the menu that results from your previous
    selection.
    •
    It is easy to identify notes because they are indented and prefaced by the text Notes:.
    Audience
    This document is intended for school administrators, office staff, registrars, and counselors.
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Master Schedule Overview
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    14
    Master Schedule Overview
    Building a school's master schedule can be a difficult and time-consuming process. When you build
    a schedule, you must not only consider periods and classes, but also student course requests,
    teacher schedules, teacher course requests, and dozens of other factors that make the process
    difficult to handle manually.
    PowerSchool considers all schedule factors and determines the best possible schedule from
    hundreds of thousands of possibilities. The resulting master schedule satisfies the most
    requirements and minimizes the most conflicts.
    Building a school's master schedule is done in four phases:
    •
    "
    Prepare to Build the Master Schedule
    "
    •
    "
    Build Master Schedule Introduction
    "
    •
    "
    Load Students
    "
    •
    "
    Commit the Master Schedule
    "
    Much of the work necessary to create a master schedule is done before building the schedule. To
    prepare to build a master schedule, you must define scheduling parameters, such as courses and
    classrooms, and enter student course requests, teacher assignments, course information, and
    schedule constraints. The system weighs all of the parameters that you define and generates the
    best possible master schedule.
    Because there are many ways to rearrange a master schedule, you can create test scenarios using
    your data and different variables to determine the best possible results for your school. For
    example, you might have two or three different scenarios containing more or fewer constraints to
    determine how the system arranges your courses. You can save and modify these scenarios as you
    work toward the best possible master schedule.
    You must read and complete all of the steps in "
    Prepare to Build the Master Schedule
    " before
    you can proceed to "
    Build Master Schedule Introduction
    ." After building, load student
    schedules and commit the master schedule to PowerSchool. Though this series of steps applies to
    most situations, there are exceptions. For example, you can build a master schedule without
    loading student schedules (instead, you could import student schedules). However, doing so will
    not take into consideration section size maximums or load constraints. You can also load schedules
    without first building a master schedule if you copy or import schedules, or if you manually built a
    master schedule. Generally, schools follow the Build/Load/Commit process.
    See "
    Master Schedule Reports
    " for descriptions of scheduling reports that you will use during
    both the preparing and building phases of this process. There are several checklists to help you
    throughout the process. For more information, see the section "
    Checklists
    ."
    When you click PowerScheduler on the start page, the Scheduling page displays the name, date of
    the last master schedule build, last load of the student schedules into the master schedule, number
    of student requests and satisfied requests after the last load, and percentage of students without
    scheduling conflicts for each scenario.
    Note: The Students With Requests and Students Without Conflicts statistics only update after the
    build or the load finish completely.
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Master Schedule Overview
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    15
    An indicator displays the status of each scenario; you can have only one active scenario at a time.
    The PowerScheduler menu displays the main scheduling functions, which are designed and
    sequenced to help you build your master schedule. The main scheduling functions list is divided
    into the following functional areas:
    Parameters
    •
    Buildings: Define the names of buildings.
    •
    Catalogs: Create or edit a course catalog.
    •
    Days: Define the schedule layout for days.
    •
    Departments: Define the names of departments.
    •
    Facilities: Define the names of facilities.
    •
    Houses: Define the names of houses.
    •
    Periods: Define the schedule layout for periods.
    •
    Section Types: Define the section types of courses, such as special education.
    •
    Teams: Define teams.
    •
    Years & Terms: Define the schedule years and terms.
    Processing
    •
    Auto. Scheduler Setup: Set up certain defaults for build scenarios.
    •
    Scenarios: Maintain your schedule scenarios. You can select a scenario or create a new one.
    •
    Course Rank: View the system-generated course rank or change the order of the course
    rank.
    •
    Build: Build the master schedule.
    •
    Load: Load student information, such as requests, into the master schedule.
    •
    Automated Study Hall: For students that have gaps in their schedules, enroll those students
    into study hall periods.
    •
    Commit: Commit the built master schedule to PowerSchool.
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Master Schedule Overview
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    16
    Requesting
    •
    Course Groups: Create course groups in preparation for creating request forms.
    •
    Screen Setup: Create the request forms that will be used for entering student course
    requests.
    Resources
    •
    Constraints: Define constraints for the schedule, such as days that teachers are free,
    prescheduled courses, and breaks.
    •
    Courses: Define schedule information for each course in your course catalog, such as
    assignments, constraints, and relationships.
    •
    Rooms: Define classroom information, such as physical size and location.
    •
    Students: Define student information, such as constraints, requests, and preferences.
    •
    Teachers: Define teacher information, such as assignments, teams, and homerooms.
    Schedule
    •
    Master Schedule: Make changes to your master schedule once it is built but before it is
    committed. Change sections, teachers, student course requests, and schedules.
    •
    Sections: Create a new course section or edit information about an existing one.
    Tools
    •
    Checklist: Use this checklist to keep track of all the tasks needed to prepare to build a
    master schedule.
    •
    Engine Download: Download a current version of the scheduling engine. This link will be
    updated as the engine is updated.
    •
    Functions: Perform functions such as calculate sections and update selections.
    •
    Reports: Run all schedule-related reports.
    To return to the PowerScheduler menu when the main menu changes, click PowerScheduler in the
    navigation path.
    Checklists
    Refer to several checklists to help you as you prepare to build and load the master schedule. Access
    the checklists from either PowerSchool or PowerSchool Help:
    •
    Scheduling Checklist: This checklist guides you through each process when building a
    master schedule. It is especially helpful when multiple people are building the master
    schedule, since you can set the status of each step from No Status to In Progress to
    Complete. Enter comments for each step or for the overall process to share information.
    This checklist displays items for both building a master schedule and loading students'
    PowerScheduler User Guide
    Master Schedule Overview
    © 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.
    17
    schedules, or just for loading students' schedules. The appropriate checklist appears
    depending on whether the current scenario is "build and load" or load only. To access this
    checklist, choose Checklist under the Tools heading from the PowerScheduler menu.
    •
    Master Schedule Checklist: Use this checklist to ensure that the master schedule is ready to
    optimize, load, or print. See the section "
    Master Schedule Checklist
    ."
    •
    Checklist to Know Your Student Schedules are Complete: Use this checklist to determine
    that the entire process of building the master schedule is complete. See the section
    "
    Checklist to Know Your Student Schedules are Complete
    ."
    Schedule Search and Select
    Before you can do any type of schedule-related work on a student’s record or on a group’s records,
    select the individual or group. By performing a search, you make such a selection. Use criteria, such
    as first_name=john, to find all students with the first name John. For more information, see the
    section "
    Search and Select
    ."
    How to Select a Student for Scheduling
    After you select a student, his or her name appears in the main menu. Either click the student's
    name to work with that student, or go to the PowerScheduler menu to perform functions for that
    student, such as running a report.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, click Students. The Scheduling page appears.
    3. Select the student you want to work with using any of the following methods:
    •
    Click a number to select all students in a particular grade level.
    •
    Click M or F to select all males or all females in your school.
    •
    Click Go to view a list of all students and then make your selection by hand.
    •
    Enter a search command line to conduct your own search, such as for all students
    assigned to a particular team.
    Note: For more information, see the section "
    Search and Select
    ."
    4. Click Select Students By Hand if more than one student appears. If only one student
    appears, skip to Step 6.
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    5. Click the name of the student you want to work with.
    6. Do one of the following:
    •
    Click Functions. The "
    Scheduling Functions
    " page appears for the selected
    student.
    •
    Click "Select these students." The students' names appear in the students menu.
    How to Select a Group of Students for Scheduling
    After you select a group of students, the selected students' names appear in the students menu.
    Either click a student's name to work with that student, or go to the PowerScheduler menu to
    perform functions for the group of students, such as running reports.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, click Students. The Scheduling page appears.
    3. Select the students you want to work with, using any of the following methods:
    •
    Click a number to select all students in a particular grade level.
    •
    Click M or F to select all males or all females in your school.
    •
    Click Go to view a list of all students and then make your selection by hand.
    •
    Enter a search command line to conduct your own search, such as for all students
    assigned to a particular team.
    Note: For more information, see the section "
    Search and Select
    ."
    4. Do one of the following:
    •
    Click Functions to display the "
    Scheduling Functions
    " page for all selected
    students.
    •
    Click "Select these students" so that their names appear in the students menu.
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    •
    Click Select Students By Hand to narrow the group of students even further. The
    Select Students By Hand page appears. Press and hold Command (Mac) or Control
    (Windows) and click the names of the students to include in the group.
    Note: If the students are listed consecutively, click the first name on the list. Press Shift as
    you click the last name on the list. This selects the first and last names you click and every
    name in between.
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    5. Either click Functions to display the "
    Scheduling Functions
    " page for all selected
    students, or click "Select these students" so that their names appear in the students menu.
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    Student Scheduling Functions Page
    Use the student Scheduling Functions page to execute processes for the selected group of
    students. To select a group of students, see the section "
    Schedule Search and Select
    ."
    Note: Click the number of students selected at the top of the page to display the Student Selection
    page.
    The student Scheduling Functions page includes the following functions:
    •
    "
    Export Using Template
    "
    •
    "
    List Students
    "
    •
    "
    Mass Add Requests
    "
    •
    "
    Mass Delete Requests
    "
    •
    "
    Next School Indicator
    "
    •
    "
    Print Reports
    "
    •
    "
    Print Mailing Labels
    "
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    •
    "
    Quick Export
    "
    •
    "
    Reports Menu
    "
    •
    "
    Schedule Mass Enroll
    "
    •
    "
    Schedule Reports Menu
    "
    •
    "
    Work With These Students
    "
    Scheduling Functions Page
    Use the Scheduling Functions page to execute processes related to the master schedule.
    The Scheduling Functions page includes the following functions:
    •
    "
    Auto Create Rooms
    "
    •
    "
    Auto Fill Student Information
    "
    •
    "
    Auto Fill Course Information
    "
    •
    "
    Auto Fill Teacher Information
    "
    •
    "
    Auto Generate Course Information
    "
    •
    "
    Auto Generate Rooms
    "
    •
    "
    Auto Generate Teacher Assignments
    "
    •
    "
    Calculate Sections
    "
    •
    "
    Copy Master Schedule
    "
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    •
    "
    Delete Master Schedule
    "
    •
    "
    Duplicate Scenarios
    "
    •
    "
    Move Previous Year Data
    "
    •
    "
    Regenerate Bitmaps
    "
    •
    "
    Reset Class Counts
    "
    •
    "
    Reset Sections Offered
    "
    •
    "
    Set Schedule Year
    "
    •
    "
    Split Yearlong Classes
    "
    •
    Update Selections, including the processes "
    Unlock Previously Scheduled Courses
    ,"
    "
    How to Set the Next Year Grade Field for an Entire Grade Level
    ," "
    How to
    Include All of Next Year’s Students
    ," and "
    How to Assign a Group of Students to
    a Building
    ."
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    Prepare to Build the Master Schedule
    Preparing to build the master schedule is the first of several phases in creating a master schedule.
    The process of preparing to build the master schedule consists of the following 11 steps:
    •
    "
    Schedule Security
    "
    •
    "
    Schedule Parameters
    "
    •
    "
    Build Scenarios Overview
    "
    •
    "
    Courses
    "
    •
    "
    Rooms Overview
    "
    •
    "
    Student Information
    "
    •
    "
    Student Course Requests
    "
    •
    "
    Course Information
    "
    •
    "
    Teacher Scheduling Information
    "
    •
    "
    Build Constraints Overview
    "
    •
    "
    Course Rank
    "
    If you will prepare to build the schedule alone, you should follow the steps in order. If you want to
    assign specific sections to several individuals, each person can perform a step at the same or
    different times.
    Most steps can be performed in any order, within reason. For example, you cannot enter teacher
    assignments if you have not entered all of your teachers on the teacher list. You also must define
    your schedule constraints before you calculate course rank.
    Schedule Security
    Once you know which group(s) at your school will be in charge of scheduling, you need to give
    members access to the Scheduling area. See the section "
    Schedule Security Setup
    ." For more
    information on general system security, see the section "
    Security
    ."
    Schedule Security Setup
    Give groups of users access to the scheduling functions in PowerSchool.
    How to Give Groups Access to the Schedule Area
    1. On the start page, choose System from the main menu.
    2. On the System Administrator page, click Security. The Security page appears.
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    3. Click Groups. The Groups page appears.
    4. Click the name of the group that contains your staff members, such as Counselors. The Edit
    Group page appears.
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    5. Select the Master Scheduler Access checkbox.
    6. Click Submit. The Groups page appears.
    Schedule Parameters
    To build the master schedule to your school’s specifications, you need to define pieces of
    information for the system to use to schedule courses at your school. These are called parameters.
    Define the following:
    •
    Buildings
    •
    Catalogs
    •
    Days
    •
    Departments
    •
    Facilities
    •
    Houses
    •
    Scheduling Periods
    •
    Section Types
    •
    Teams
    •
    Schedule Years and Terms
    Buildings
    If your school campus contains several buildings, you can define each of them. Then, you can
    associate these buildings with students, teachers, and rooms. This way, the system knows to
    schedule courses in the appropriate building, taught by the appropriate teacher, and taken by the
    appropriate students.
    How to Define a Building
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Buildings from the PowerScheduler menu. The Buildings page
    appears.
    3. Click New. The Add/Edit Building page appears.
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    4. Enter a name for the building in the Building field.
    5. Click Submit. The Buildings page appears.
    How to Edit a Building
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Buildings from the PowerScheduler menu. The Buildings page
    appears.
    3. Click the name of the building you want to edit. The Add/Edit Building page appears.
    4. Edit the name of the building in the Building field.
    5. Click Submit. The Buildings page appears.
    How to Delete a Building
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Buildings from the PowerScheduler menu. The Buildings page
    appears.
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    3. Click the name of the building you want to delete. The Add/Edit Building page appears.
    4. Click Delete. The Selection Deleted page appears.
    Days
    To build a master schedule, the system requires periods for the master schedule. The system creates
    days when you create a scenario. Use this page to name and abbreviate the names of the days.
    How to Define Days
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Days from the PowerScheduler menu. The Edit Days page
    appears.
    3. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
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    Field
    Description
    Name
    Enter the name of the day.
    Abbreviation
    Enter an abbreviation for the day name.
    4. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    Departments
    Courses, rooms, and teachers belong to departments. When building the master schedule, the
    system attempts to schedule courses in one of the rooms belonging to the appropriate
    department.
    Use this function to set up departments. If you previously used PowerScheduler with departments,
    the departments also appear for this year.
    How to Define a Department
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Departments from the PowerScheduler menu. The Departments
    page displays the list of departments.
    3. Click New. The Add/Edit Department page appears.
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    4. Enter a name for the department in the Department field.
    5. Click Submit. The Departments page appears.
    How to Edit a Department
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Departments from the PowerScheduler menu. The Departments
    page appears.
    3. Click the name of the department you want to edit. The Add/Edit Department page
    appears.
    4. Edit the name of the department in the Department field.
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    5. Click Submit. The Departments page appears.
    How to Delete a Department
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Departments from the PowerScheduler menu. The Departments
    page appears.
    3. Click the name of the department you want to delete. The Add/Edit Department page
    appears.
    4. Click Delete. The Selection Deleted page appears.
    Facilities
    Some courses require special equipment or facilities. For example, a Chemistry course requires
    special equipment, and a Film course requires audio and video equipment. To associate courses
    that need special equipment, the system uses facilities.
    Note: You can assign multiple facilities to courses and rooms.
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    How to Define a Facility
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Facilities from the PowerScheduler menu. The Facilities page
    appears.
    3. Click New. The Add/Edit Facility page appears.
    4. Enter a name for the facility in the Facility field.
    5. Click Submit. The Facilities page appears.
    How to Edit a Facility
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Facilities from the PowerScheduler menu. The Facilities page
    appears.
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    3. Click the name of the facility you want to edit. The Add/Edit Facility page appears.
    4. Edit the name of the facility in the Facility field.
    5. Click Submit. The Facilities page appears.
    How to Delete a Facility
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Facilities from the PowerScheduler menu. The Facilities page
    appears.
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    3. Click the name of the facility you want to delete. The Add/Edit Facility page appears.
    4. Click Delete. The Selection Deleted page appears.
    Houses
    Some schools separate students into houses. For example, assume your school has House A (Grades
    9 and 10) and House B (Grades 11 and 12). Determine which rooms, teachers, and students belong
    to each house. If the "Use houses" checkbox is selected on the Edit Advanced Build Scenario page
    (see "
    How to Edit Advanced Optimizations
    "), the system references which house a room is
    assigned to before scheduling courses in that room and gives scheduling priority to the appropriate
    house.
    Also, sections will be scheduled for houses based on the house assignment of the teachers
    scheduled for those sections. Students assigned to a house will be assigned to a section either
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    without a house or with the same house, whereas students not assigned a house can be assigned
    to any section.
    How to Define a House
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Houses from the PowerScheduler menu. The Houses page
    appears.
    3. Click New. The Add/Edit House page appears.
    4. Enter a name for the house in the House field.
    5. Click Submit. The Houses page appears.
    How to Edit a House
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Houses from the PowerScheduler menu. The Houses page
    appears.
    3. Click the name of the house you want to edit. The Add/Edit House page appears.
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    4. Edit the name of the house in the House field.
    5. Click Submit. The Houses page appears.
    How to Delete a House
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Houses from the PowerScheduler menu. The Houses page
    appears.
    3. Click the name of the house you want to delete. The Add/Edit House page appears.
    4. Click Delete. The Selection Deleted page appears.
    Scheduling Periods
    To build a master schedule, the system requires periods, which it creates when you create a
    scenario. Use this page to name and abbreviate the names of the periods.
    If you are working with a copy of a previous year’s master schedule, the periods will remain the
    same as they were in that schedule.
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    How to Define Periods
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Periods from the PowerScheduler menu. The Edit Periods page
    appears.
    3. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Name
    Enter a name for this period.
    Abbreviation
    Enter an abbreviation for this period name.
    Sort
    Select a sort order for displaying this period.
    4. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    Section Types
    Section types are special sections of a course. For example, your school might offer separate
    sections of courses for bilingual students. In this case, one section of the course will be identified as
    bilingual. The teacher who instructs this section will have a bilingual section type assignment. The
    students' requests will also reflect the bilingual section type.
    Note: Not all schools use section types.
    If your school uses section types, you need to define them.
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    How to Define a Section Type
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Section Types from the PowerScheduler menu. The Section
    Types page appears.
    3. Click New. The Add/Edit Section Types page appears.
    4. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Section Type
    Enter a name for the section type. Enter a maximum of 20
    characters.
    Section Type Code
    Enter a section type code. Enter a maximum of 2 characters.
    5. Click Submit. The Section Types page appears.
    How to Edit a Section Type
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Section Types from the PowerScheduler menu. The Section
    Types page appears.
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    3. Click the name of the section type you want to edit. The Add/Edit Section Types page
    appears.
    4. Use the following table to edit information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Section Type
    Enter a name for the section type.
    Section Type Code
    Enter a section type code.
    5. Click Submit. The Section Types page appears.
    How to Delete a Section Type
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Section Types from the PowerScheduler menu. The Section
    Types page appears.
    3. Click the name of the section type you want to delete. The Add/Edit Section Types page
    appears.
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    4. Click Delete. The Selection Deleted page appears.
    Teams
    Some schools, most often middle or junior high schools, assign students and teachers to teams to
    provide the best support and monitoring system.
    Teams are either static or dynamic. If you define static teams, you manually assign each student to a
    particular team. For more information, see the section "
    Student Information
    ." If you create
    dynamic teams, you define the team names and assign teachers to the teams, but allow the system
    to decide which students to assign to which teams for the best possible balance.
    Note: For information about how to assign teachers to teams, see the section "
    Teacher
    Scheduling Information
    ."
    The Teams page displays the team name and number. Use the team number to change the team
    for a group of students. For more information on updating a selection of students, see the section
    "
    Update Selections
    ."
    How to Define a Team
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Teams from the PowerScheduler menu. The Teams page
    appears.
    3. Click New. The Edit Team page appears.
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    4. Enter a name for the team.
    5. Click Submit. The Teams page appears.
    How to Edit a Team
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Teams from the PowerScheduler menu. The Teams page
    appears.
    3. Click the name of the team you want to edit. The Edit Team page appears.
    4. Edit the name of the team.
    5. Click Submit. The Teams page appears.
    How to Delete a Team
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
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    2. Under Parameters, choose Teams from the PowerScheduler menu. The Teams page
    appears.
    3. Click the name of the team you want to delete. The Edit Team page appears.
    4. Click Delete. The Selection Deleted page appears.
    Schedule Years and Terms
    For scheduling purposes, you need to define the upcoming school year and its associated terms.
    Note: If you are working with a copy of a previous year’s master schedule, the terms will remain the
    same as they were in that schedule.
    It is important to enter the terms from largest to smallest. For example, create the school year first,
    and then Semesters 1 and 2, any trimesters, and any quarters.
    How to Define a Schedule Year and Terms
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Years & Terms from the PowerScheduler menu. The Schedule
    Years & Terms page appears.
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    3. Click New. The Create New Schedule School Year page appears.
    4. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Name of School Year
    Enter the name of the school year, such as 2002-2003.
    Abbreviation
    Enter an abbreviation for the school year, such as 02-03.
    First Day of School
    Enter the first day of school for this academic year in
    MM/DD/YYYY format, such as 08/29/2003.
    Last Day of School
    Enter the last day of school for this academic year in
    MM/DD/YYYY format, such as 05/24/2004.
    5. Click Submit. The Schedule Years & Terms page displays the schedule year.
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    6. Click Edit Terms in the row of the appropriate schedule year.
    7. On the Term Setup page, click New. The Edit Schedule Term page appears.
    Note: Enter the terms sequentially. That is, if your school has terms of two semesters and
    four quarters, enter them in this order: Year, Semester 1, Semester 2, and then Quarter 1,
    Quarter 2, Quarter 3, and Quarter 4.
    8. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Name of Term
    Enter the name of this term, such as Semester 1.
    Abbreviation
    Enter an abbreviation for this term, starting with a letter, such
    as S1.
    First Day of Term
    Enter the first day of this term in MM/DD/YYYY format.
    Last Day of Term
    Enter the last day of this term in MM/DD/YYYY format.
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    Field
    Description
    What portion of the
    school year does this
    term represent?
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the fraction that this term
    represents within the school year. If your school year consists of
    four terms, choose 1/2. If this term represents the whole school
    year, choose "Full year."
    Import File Term #
    Enter an import file term number so that the system can align
    terms when it imports the master schedule. For example, if your
    school uses semester and quarter classes, you might state in
    the import file that all sections of S1 are identified by the
    number S10203. Enter the same number in this field to map the
    date.
    9. Click Submit. The Term Setup page appears.
    How to Edit a Schedule Year and Terms
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Years & Terms from the PowerScheduler menu. The Schedule
    Years & Terms page appears.
    3. Click the name of the schedule year you want to edit. The Edit Schedule School Year page
    appears.
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    4. Use the following table to edit information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Name of School Year
    Enter the name of the school year, such as 2002-2003.
    Abbreviation
    Enter an abbreviation for the school year, such as 02-03.
    First Day of School
    Enter the first day of school for this academic year in
    MM/DD/YYYY format, such as 08/29/2003.
    Last Day of School
    Enter the last day of school for this academic year in
    MM/DD/YYYY format, such as 05/24/2004.
    5. Click Submit.
    6. On the Schedule Years & Terms page, click Edit Terms in the row of the appropriate
    schedule year. The Term Setup page appears.
    7. Click the name of the term you want to edit. The Edit Schedule Term page appears.
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    8. Use the following table to edit information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Name of Term
    Enter the name of this term.
    Abbreviation
    Enter an abbreviation for this term, starting with a letter, such
    as S1. Enter no more than six characters.
    First Day of Term
    Enter the first day of this term.
    Last Day of Term
    Enter the last day of this term.
    What portion of the
    school year does this
    term represent?
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the fraction that this term
    represents within the school year. If this term represents the
    whole school year, choose "Full year."
    Import File Term #
    Enter an import file term number so that the system can align
    terms when it imports the master schedule. For example, if your
    school uses semester and quarter classes, you might state in
    the import file that all sections of S1 are identified by the
    number S10203. Enter the same number in this field to map the
    date.
    9. Click Submit. The Term Setup page appears.
    How to Delete a Schedule Term
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Years & Terms from the PowerScheduler menu. The Schedule
    Years & Terms page appears.
    3. Click Edit Terms in the row of the appropriate schedule year. The Term Setup page appears.
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    4. Click the name of the schedule term you want to delete. The Edit Schedule Term page
    appears.
    5. Click Delete. The Selection Deleted page appears.
    How to Delete a Schedule Year
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Years & Terms from the PowerScheduler menu. The Schedule
    Years & Terms page appears.
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    3. Click Edit Terms in the row of the appropriate schedule year. The Term Setup page appears.
    4. Click the name of the schedule year you want to delete. The Edit Schedule Term page
    appears.
    5. Click Delete. The Selection Deleted page appears.
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    Build Scenarios Overview
    A build scenario is a schedule you might want to use next year. Use scenarios to work with different
    combinations of criteria before committing a master schedule. After completing a successful build
    for a scenario, you can duplicate it and try various modifications to the original scenario.
    Though you can create multiple build scenarios, it is suggested that you start with just one. Multiple
    scenarios may be useful when, for example, your school wants to hire an additional computer
    science teacher to meet student course request demands. In this case, create two build scenarios:
    one that includes the additional computer science teacher and one that does not. Present both
    scenarios to the school committee to make a final decision on which scenario would work best.
    The following information or data is exclusive to a build scenario:
    •
    Master schedule
    •
    Student schedules
    •
    Constraints
    •
    Course rank
    •
    Teacher assignments
    •
    Course relationships
    For example, if you define the constraint that Mrs. Smith must be free first period for the Schedule 1
    scenario, the Schedule 2 scenario does not adhere to that constraint.
    The following information is shared by all build scenarios that you create for a given build year:
    •
    Students
    •
    Student course requests
    •
    Student course request pages
    •
    Teachers
    •
    Rooms
    •
    All parameters (such as terms)
    •
    Course groups
    For example, if you enter a student course request, the system tries to schedule that request in all
    scenarios.
    Build Scenarios
    Before creating build scenarios, define the basic build information, such as the number of terms,
    days, and periods in your master schedule. Then, define optimization parameters, which determine
    how long the system spends scheduling each course, section, and student.
    When building the master schedule, PowerSchool evaluates every possible schedule combination
    before it adds a course to that schedule. Depending on your school’s courses, constraints, and other
    schedule parameters, there could be millions of ways to schedule a single multi-section course.
    Evaluating all of these schedule combinations would take many hours.
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    You might not want to wait for such a thorough evaluation. If this is the case, define build and load
    optimizations to determine how many combinations the system should review when building your
    schedule.
    When you enter optimization parameters, you define the minimum and maximum number of
    possibilities the system should evaluate while doing the following:
    •
    Building the master schedule
    •
    Loading student schedules with courses
    You can also define best schedule weights to determine how the system handles conflicts when
    building your master schedule. For example, if you give more weight to section balance than to
    student conflicts, the system tries to create similar-size course sections before it tries to
    accommodate student course requests.
    How to Create a Build Scenario
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose Scenarios from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scenarios page
    appears.
    3. Click New. The Edit Build Scenario page appears.
    4. Use the following table to enter information in the Build Information fields:
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    Field
    Description
    [Scenario type]
    Select an option:
    •
    Build and Load: Select this option if you want to build a
    schedule and then load students into that schedule.
    •
    Load Only: Select this option if you already have a
    schedule, such as through importing or copying, and
    only want to load students.
    Build Name
    Enter a name for this build scenario. If you are creating several
    scenarios, use descriptive names so that you can easily
    distinguish among them.
    Active Build
    If you are creating only one build scenario, select this checkbox.
    If you are creating more than one build scenario, select the
    checkbox for the one you want the system to use to build your
    master schedule.
    Note: You will only be able to edit the course catalog that is
    associated with the active build.
    Build Description
    Enter a description of this scenario.
    Terms
    Click Associate to select the number of schedule terms you
    want this scenario to include. The Schedule Term Setup page
    appears.
    a. Select the checkbox(es) in the row(s) that represent the
    number of schedule terms you want this scenario to
    include. For example, if you plan to build a two-
    semester master schedule, select the checkbox in the
    row of Semester 1 and Semester 2.
    b. Click Submit.
    Periods
    Choose the number of periods per day for this build scenario
    from the pop-up menu. For example, if you are building a block
    schedule, you might choose 4. If you are building a regular
    schedule, you might choose 7.
    Days
    Choose the number of days in this build scenario from the pop-
    up menu. If the appropriate number of days does not appear,
    contact PowerSchool Technical Support.
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    Field
    Description
    Course Catalog
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the course catalog you want
    the system to use to build this schedule. If this is your first time
    creating a master schedule, do not select this checkbox. The
    system will automatically generate a course catalog, which you
    can modify. For more information, see the section "
    Course
    Catalogs
    ."
    5. Use the following table to enter information in the Build Optimizations and Load
    Optimizations fields:
    Field
    Description
    Percent of schedule
    combinations to
    evaluate for each course
    The default value of this field is 10. Change this value only if
    you encounter problems with the amount of time the system is
    using to build the master schedule.
    For example, if you enter
    25
    , the system evaluates one-quarter
    of the possible schedule combinations for each course. If you
    enter
    75
    , the system evaluates three-quarters of the possible
    schedule combinations for each course.
    Minimum number of
    schedule combinations
    to evaluate for each
    course
    The default value of this field is 10,000. Change this value only if
    you encounter problems with the amount of time the system is
    using to build the master schedule.
    For courses with few possible combinations to begin with,
    leaving this number high prevents the system from attempting
    too few schedule combinations and not being able to fit the
    course into the schedule.
    Percent of schedule
    combinations to
    evaluate for each
    student
    The default value of this field is 10. Change this value only if
    you encounter problems with the amount of time the system is
    using to build the master schedule.
    For example, if you enter
    25
    , the system evaluates one-quarter
    of the possible schedule combinations for each student. If you
    enter
    75
    , the system evaluates three-quarters of the possible
    schedule combinations for each student.
    Minimum number of
    schedule combinations
    to evaluate before
    skipping
    The default value of this field is 10,000. Change this value only if
    you encounter problems with the amount of time the system is
    using to build the master schedule.
    Entering a high number forces the system to sample a
    minimum number of student schedule course possibilities.
    Note: You can also set build optimizations for a particular course by adding a Course
    Optimize constraint. This type of constraint takes precedence over the build optimizations
    you set here. For more information, see the section "
    Build Constraints
    ."
    6. Use the following table to enter information in the Best Schedule Weights fields:
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    Field
    Description
    Student conflicts
    The default value of this field is 50. To have the system give
    more weight to student conflicts than section balance when
    confronted with a conflict while building the master schedule,
    enter a larger number in this field than the Section balance
    field.
    Note: The numbers in both of these fields must add up to 100.
    Section balance
    The default value of this field is 50. To have the system give
    more weight to section balance than student conflicts when
    confronted with a conflict while building the master schedule,
    enter a larger number in this field than the Student conflicts
    field.
    Note: The numbers in both of these fields must add up to 100.
    Total
    The total of the weighting values appears. This number must be
    100.
    7. Click Submit. The Scenarios page appears.
    How to Edit Advanced Optimizations
    In addition to the build and load optimization fields on the Edit Build Scenario page, there are a
    number of more advanced optimizations. Edit these fields only if you encounter problems while
    building your master schedule or loading student schedules.
    Note: If you are able to run a successful build and load students into schedules satisfactorily, do not
    edit the Advanced Optimization fields.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose Scenarios from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scenarios page
    appears.
    3. Click Edit in the Advanced column of the appropriate build scenario. The Edit Advanced
    Build Scenario page appears.
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    4. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Use dynamic student
    load on all combinations
    until (n) sections
    The default value of this field is 4, meaning that if a course has
    up to four sections, the system will score those sections
    precisely when loading students.
    If you enter a 5 or greater in this field, the system will score
    courses with five or more sections less precisely but faster.
    Random number seed
    value
    The default value of this field is 123. Change this value only if
    you want to make sure the randomization feature is working.
    Use buildings
    Select this checkbox if this scenario uses buildings.
    Use houses
    Select this checkbox if this scenario uses houses.
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    Field
    Description
    Swap rooms after
    building each course
    The default value of this field is True.
    Sometimes it is not possible to schedule a teacher in his or her
    preferred room. Select this checkbox so that the system will try
    to swap rooms as soon as a conflict arises.
    If you deselect this checkbox, the system will not try to swap
    rooms during the scheduling process. After the schedule has
    been built, you could then make manual adjustments.
    Use swap rooms on
    master in sections
    The default value of this field is False.
    For example, assume you reviewed the master schedule that is
    being built and made some room changes. Then if you
    restarted the build, you would not want to allow the system to
    swap rooms, possibly eliminating these changes.
    Calculate future
    assignments for better
    combinations
    The default value of this field is True.
    This ensures that the system will take the time to make sure
    course assignment decisions made now are smart ones.
    Note: Because this process can be extremely time-consuming,
    you have the option of adjusting the amount of time the
    system spends on future assignments.
    Percent of future
    assignments to calculate
    after teacher is
    scheduled
    Use this field to fine-tune the amount of time the system
    spends scheduling each teacher.
    Enter a number that represents what percent of time a teacher
    will already be scheduled before the system starts calculating
    future assignments for him or her.
    Note: The higher the number you enter, the faster the system
    will move and the greater the chance that this teacher will
    encounter scheduling difficulties.
    Maximum time to spend
    on future assignments
    The default value of this field is .1 second.
    If you find in the log that the computer runs out of time when
    calculating future assignments, you may need to increase this
    value.
    Maximum memory
    allowed for teacher
    assignment optimization
    The default value of this field is 2 MB. If your computer has a
    great deal of memory, you could increase this value, which
    could in turn make the system run faster.
    Maximum time to spend
    on teacher assignments
    sort optimization
    The default value of this field is .25 seconds.
    The order in which the system selects teachers to schedule is
    very useful; however, leaving the default value ensures that the
    system is never going to spend an excessive amount of time
    determining this order.
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    Field
    Description
    Maximum repeat count
    for validation error
    messages
    The default value of this field is 25.
    This setting minimizes the number of repeated error messages
    from the system. For example, if you forget to enable an entire
    grade of students for scheduling, this setting limits the number
    of invalid request messages that are returned.
    Section type handling
    Choose Strict from the pop-up menu. By choosing Strict, the
    system will not schedule a student into a bilingual section of a
    course if he or she had not requested that section type.
    5. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    How to Delete a Build Scenario
    Deleting a build scenario also deletes the following items associated with this build: master
    schedule, student schedules, teacher assignments, constraints, and course relationships.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose Scenarios from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scenarios page
    appears.
    3. Click the name of the build scenario you want to delete. The Edit Build Scenario page
    appears.
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    4. Click Delete. The Delete Scenario page appears.
    5. Select the checkbox if you are sure you want to delete this build scenario.
    6. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
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    Auto Create and Fill Scheduling Information
    When preparing to build a master schedule, you need to enter information related to rooms,
    students, courses, and teachers. Access these functions from the Scheduling Functions page.
    How to Auto Create Rooms
    Though you can still build rooms individually, you may also create them all at once. For example,
    enter for each department the room start number, increment number, number of rooms,
    department, facilities, and room maximum. The system generates the list of rooms.
    Note: As usual, the Auto Generate Rooms function creates rooms from an existing master schedule.
    Once the list is created, you can go back to each room and modify names and other information.
    1. On the start page, click PowerScheduler. The PowerScheduler menu displays in the main
    menu.
    2. Click Functions. The Scheduling Functions page displays.
    3. Click AutoCreate Rooms. The Auto Create Rooms page displays.
    4. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
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    Field
    Description
    Start Number
    Enter the starting number for the room numbers.
    Increment Number
    Enter the value by which the room numbers increase from the
    starting number.
    Number of Rooms
    Enter the number of rooms that should be created.
    Room Prefix
    Enter a prefix for the room numbers (optional). This value can
    be alpha or numeric and will concatenate with room start
    number. For example, entering the prefix MA creates the room
    number MA23 for the math room 23.
    Department
    Click Associate to select the department for these rooms.
    Associating a room to a department does not limit the room to
    that department. To do so, see the field Department Use Only.
    Building
    Click Associate to select the building for these rooms (optional).
    House
    Click Associate to select the house for these rooms (optional).
    Use for Scheduling
    Select either Yes or No from the pop-up menu to indicate if
    these rooms should be used for scheduling purposes.
    Room is Always Free
    Select either Yes or No from the pop-up menu to indicate if
    these rooms are always free.
    Department Use Only
    Select either Yes or No from the pop-up menu to indicate if
    these rooms are to be used only by the associated department.
    Facility Use Only
    Select either Yes or No from the pop-up menu to indicate if
    these rooms are used for certain facilities, such as lab rooms.
    Room Facilities
    If you selected Yes for the Facility Use Only field, click Associate
    to select the facility or facilities for this room.
    Room Maximum
    Enter the maximum number of seats for this room.
    5. Click Submit. The Rooms page displays.
    How to Auto Fill Student Information
    Use this function to fill in student information simultaneously for selected students. Student
    information that can be automatically filled includes next year grade, priority, and year of
    graduation.
    You can set the next school indicator for all students before using this function, and you must set
    the next year indicator for returning twelfth graders before using this function. For more
    information, see the section “
    Next School Indicator
    .”
    1. On the start page, click PowerScheduler. The PowerScheduler menu displays in the main
    menu.
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    2. Click Functions. The Scheduling Functions page displays.
    3. Click Auto Fill Student Information. The Auto Fill Student Information page displays.
    4. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Next Year Grade
    For each column, enter the next year grade to indicate which
    students' information to change. For example, enter 12 for
    eleventh graders who will be in the twelfth grade next year,
    and enter 12 in the next column for any returning twelfth
    graders.
    Priority
    Enter the scheduling priority for the students. For example,
    enter 1 for returning twelfth graders who need to be scheduled
    first, and enter a higher number for incoming ninth graders.
    Schedule This Student
    Select either Yes or No to indicate if the students in each
    column should be scheduled or not.
    Year of Graduation
    Enter the year of graduation to indicate in which school year
    the student will graduate. For example, enter 2004 for twelfth
    graders graduating at the end of the 2003-2004 school year.
    5. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page displays.
    How to Auto Fill Course Information
    Use this function to fill in course information simultaneously for selected courses. To automatically
    update course information, select courses (for example, by department) using the Update
    Selections function. For more information, see the section “
    Update Selections
    .”
    When entering course information, use the pop-up menus to select No Change, Yes, or No for
    certain fields. All pop-up menus will have No Change as the default option. For entry fields, leave a
    field blank to not update existing course information. To clear any values in field, either enter 0 or
    select the Clear Value checkbox.
    You can edit each course to enter individual information, such as facilities. When you edit a course,
    you cannot edit the Terms Per Year field unless you change the valid terms on the course page. If
    you use USM to change the terms, this recalculation does not automatically occur; you must also
    use USM to change the terms per year, in that case.
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    1. On the start page, click PowerScheduler. The PowerScheduler menu displays in the main
    menu.
    2. Click Functions. The Scheduling Functions page displays.
    3. Click Auto Fill Course Information. The Auto Fill Course Information page displays.
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    4. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Apply To
    Choose whether you want to apply the changes to all courses
    or to the selected courses only.
    Schedule This Course
    Use the pop-up menu to indicate if these courses should be
    scheduled.
    Department
    Click Associate to select the department for these courses.
    Select the Clear Value checkbox if you want to remove
    department information for the selected courses.
    Build Type
    Build types define the shape of a course. Use the pop-up menu
    to select either No Change or one of the following options:
    •
    Standard: This course meets for the same number of
    periods every time it meets. For example, a course that
    meets everyday for one period is standard.
    A course that meets for one period every other day is
    also standard.
    •
    Lab: This is a standard course that meets for the same
    number of consecutive extra period(s) on certain days
    in the cycle. For example, a standard Chemistry course
    meets everyday in a six-day cycle (Days A-F). Two days
    in the cycle, the class meets for two consecutive periods
    to complete an involved laboratory assignment.
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    Field
    Description
    •
    LabFloat: This is a standard course that meets extra
    period(s) some days in the cycle, but the extra period is
    not consecutive to the course. For example, a
    Humanities course meets everyday in a six-day cycle.
    One day during the cycle, the students attend a two-
    period lab in which they complete a community service
    assignment. The community service assignment does
    not have to occur directly before or after the
    Humanities course.
    Maximum Enrollment
    Enter the maximum number of students that can be enrolled in
    these courses.
    Sections Offered
    Enter the number of sections to offer for each course.
    Frequency
    Enter the number of times each course will meet per cycle.
    Periods Per Meeting
    Enter the number of periods each course will meet per day.
    Lab Frequency
    Enter the number of times each lab will meet per cycle.
    Lab Periods Per Meeting
    Enter the number of periods each lab will meet per day.
    Repeats in Same Term
    Use this pop-up menu to indicate if these courses are offered
    more than once in the same term.
    Note: This setting does not affect the Repeats in Different
    Terms setting.
    Repeats in Different
    Terms
    Use this pop-up menu to indicate if these courses can be
    offered more than once in different terms.
    Note: This setting does not affect the Repeats in Same Terms
    setting.
    Balance Terms
    If the Repeats in Different Terms option is selected, use this
    pop-up menu to indicate if these courses should be offered
    evenly across all terms. For example, if a course is offered for
    three trimesters and you do not indicate that the terms should
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    Field
    Description
    be balanced, the course could be offered twice in the first
    trimester, once in the second trimester, and not at all in the
    third.
    Valid Start Periods
    Select the checkbox(es) for the period(s) in which these courses
    can be offered. For example, a marching band course may
    always meet during the last period of the day.
    Select the Clear Value checkbox if you want to remove valid
    start period information for the selected courses.
    Valid Terms
    Click Associate to select in which terms these courses are
    offered.
    Select the Clear Value checkbox if you want to remove valid
    term information for the selected courses.
    Facilities
    Click Associate to select which facilities these courses use.
    Select the Clear Value checkbox if you want to remove facility
    information for the selected courses.
    Load Priority
    Enter a load priority for these courses. The lower the number,
    the higher the priority during the load process.
    Load Type
    Use the pop-up menu to select the type of course for these
    courses:
    •
    Academic
    •
    Elective
    Balance Priority
    Use the pop-up menu to select the type of priority that should
    be used when loading these courses.
    •
    Section
    •
    Gender
    •
    Grade
    •
    Ethnic Code
    •
    House
    Use Teams
    Use the pop-up menu to indicate if these courses should be
    scheduled by associated teams.
    Close at Max
    Use the pop-up menu to indicate if these courses should close
    when enrollment reaches the maximum number of students
    specified in the Maximum Enrollment field.
    Use Section Types
    Use the pop-up menu to indicate if these courses should be
    scheduled by associated section types.
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    Field
    Description
    Don't Allow Substitutions Use the pop-up menu to indicate if students should be
    scheduled in alternate courses.
    5. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page displays.
    How to Auto Fill Teacher Information
    Use this function to fill in teacher information simultaneously for selected teachers. To automatically
    update teacher information, select teachers using the Update Selections function. For more
    information on this function, see the section “
    USM
    .”
    When entering teacher information, use the pop-up menus to select No Change, Yes, or No for
    certain fields. All pop-up menus will have No Change as the default option. For entry fields, leave a
    field blank to not update existing teacher information. To clear any values in field, either enter 0 or
    select the Clear Value or Clear Room checkbox.
    1. On the start page, click PowerScheduler. The PowerScheduler menu displays in the main
    menu.
    2. Click Functions. The Scheduling Functions page displays.
    3. Click Auto Fill Teacher Information. The Auto Fill Teacher Information page displays.
    4. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
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    Field
    Description
    Apply To
    Choose whether you want to apply the changes to all teachers
    who are ready to schedule or to the selected teachers only.
    Department
    Click Associate to select the department for these teachers.
    Select the "Clear Value" checkbox to remove any existing values
    in this field.
    Preferred Room
    Click Associate to select the room these teachers prefer. Select
    the "Clear Room" checkbox to remove any existing values in
    this field.
    Maximum Consecutive
    Periods
    Enter the maximum number of periods these teachers can
    teach in a row.
    Schedule for Lunch
    Select this checkbox if you want these teachers to be scheduled
    for a lunch period. For more information, see the section
    “
    Scheduled Lunch
    .”
    Schedule This Teacher
    Select either Yes or No to indicate if these teachers should be
    scheduled or not.
    Is Always Free?
    Select either Yes or No to indicate if these teachers are always
    free.
    5. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page displays.
    Automatic Schedule Setup
    The Automatic Schedule Setup function is intended to give you a head start when creating
    scenarios. After you enter basic information related to days, periods, and terms on the Automatic
    Schedule Setup page, PowerScheduler populates those fields for a scenario. That way, you do not
    need to set up days, periods, and terms on their respective setup pages; instead, those field defaults
    can be set using Automatic Schedule Setup.
    You will be guided through several pages when using the Automatic Schedule Setup function. It is
    important to note that no information is saved to PowerScheduler until you click Submit. Use the
    "Continue" button to navigate through the setup screens.
    How to Run the Automatic Schedule Setup Function
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose Auto. Scheduler Setup from the PowerScheduler menu. The
    Automatic Schedule Setup page appears.
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    3. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Lowest term level
    division
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the smallest fraction of terms
    that your school uses. For example, if your school uses quarters
    and semesters, select Quarters from the pop-up menu.
    Number of periods
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the number of periods that
    your school uses. For example, if your school has seven periods,
    select 7.
    Number of days
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the number of days that your
    school uses. For example, if your school has A and B days, select
    2.
    4. Click Continue. The Automatic Schedule Setup - Schedule Term Selection page appears.
    5. Select the checkbox next to the full year term and the term level that you use for
    scheduling. For example, if you offer semester courses, select the checkboxes next to "Full
    Year" and "Semester - Semester."
    Note: You must select the Full Year checkbox.
    6. Click Continue. The Automatic Schedule Setup - Define Term Dates page appears.
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    7. Enter the first and last days of each term, using the format mm/dd/yyyy or mm-dd-yyyy.
    8. Click Continue. The Edit Build Scenario page appears.
    9. Edit and submit the build scenario. For more information, see the section "
    Build
    Scenarios
    ."
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    Courses
    To work with the courses that will be part of next year’s schedule, you must first add any new
    courses you plan to offer and associate them with your school. See the section "
    New Courses
    ."
    Then, create a course catalog to make course selections available for student course requests. After
    creating a course catalog, you can edit or delete that catalog, depending on your needs. See the
    section "
    Course Catalogs
    ."
    Note: It is possible for students to request a course that is not part of your course catalog if that
    course has been associated with your school.
    Course relationships have consequences for how you manage new and modified courses. First, it is
    important to understand the ways to view courses and how those views are connected:
    1. Master Course List (Start page School Setup Courses View Master Course List). This page lists
    all courses on the server and is used to create a new course. Selecting and deselecting the
    checkboxes next to the courses make them active or inactive for the current school.
    2. PowerSchool School Course List (Start Page School Setup Courses). Courses listed on this
    left-side menu are those with selected checkboxes on the Master Course List.
    3. PowerScheduler Course Catalog (Start Page PowerScheduler Course Catalog Edit Course
    Catalog). This list matches what is listed on the PowerSchool School Course List. However,
    as in the Master Course List, select the checkbox next to each course to indicate which
    courses are active for scheduling. When you submit this information, a new record is
    created for the course in a different table in PowerSchool's database. At that point, changes
    to courses listed in PowerSchool do not affect courses listed in PowerScheduler.
    4. PowerScheduler School Course List (Start Page PowerScheduler Courses). This list includes
    the selected courses from the Scheduling Course Catalog. Selecting courses to be scheduled
    does not affect this list of courses.
    In summary, view 4 is based on the selected courses of view 3, which, like View 2, is based on the
    selected courses of view 1. This means that to add a course to PowerScheduler, you must first add a
    course to the Master Course List (view 1). Then, in the Scheduling Course Catalog, select the
    checkbox next to the course and submit.
    To change a course name but use same course number, there are two options. The first takes more
    thought but is easiest, whereas the second requires someone with the highest level of access to the
    database to make changes for you. Regardless of the option you choose, the current courses should
    not be modified at all if any of them are in use this school year by any school on the server. It is
    necessary to store grades using the courses' current names. Do not modify course names until you
    complete all necessary processes at the end of the school year. Also, changes made in
    PowerScheduler are void when you complete your master schedule and are ready to commit
    student schedules because the master schedule references courses in PowerSchool.
    Option 1: Leave everything as is and schedule using the old course name. After the end of the
    school year, change the course's name. This takes more thought because you must remember that
    you need to change the name at the end of the school year. Since you must change the course
    name regardless of which option you choose, no extra work is required.
    Option 2: Use USM to search the SchedCourseCatalogs table for the course number. Be sure to
    search only within records belonging to your school, and make a backup of your data file before
    proceeding. Then, change the course name. This affects the course name in PowerScheduler.
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    New Courses
    How to Add a New Course to the Master Course List
    Associating courses with your school makes them available for both student course requests and
    inclusion in your course catalog.
    You must first log in to the district office before performing this procedure.
    Note: You cannot add a new course to your master course list in PowerSchool’s Scheduling area.
    1. On the start page, choose District from the main menu.
    2. On the District Setup page, click Courses. The Courses page appears.
    3. Choose View Master Course List from the courses menu. The Master Course List page
    appears.
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    4. Click New. The New Course page appears
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Name
    Enter the name of the course.
    Course Number
    Enter the number that will be used to identify this course.
    Alternate Course
    Number
    Enter an alternate course number if your school uses this field
    for state reporting or district purposes.
    Credit Hours
    Enter the number of credits a student receives for taking this
    course.
    CIP Code
    In some states, schools use CIP codes to identify courses as part
    of a state-managed vocational program. Enter this code, if
    applicable.
    Vocational Class
    Select this checkbox if this is a vocational course.
    Credit Type
    Enter the type of credit a student receives for passing this
    course, such as MATH, ENG, or FINE. You can then apply this
    credit to a graduation type.
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    Field
    Description
    Default Maximum
    Enrollment
    Enter the maximum number of students that can be enrolled in
    this course.
    Gradescale
    Choose the grade scale from the pop-up menu. For more
    information, see the section "
    How to Assign Grade Scales
    to Courses
    ."
    Prerequisite Courses
    Enter the course(s) that students must complete with a passing
    grade before they can take this course. Separate multiple
    courses with commas.
    PowerLink (English)
    Enter course-related text that PowerLink will read when parents
    and guardians access student information and select the
    English option.
    PowerLink (Español)
    Enter course-related text that PowerLink will read when parents
    and guardians access student information and select the
    Spanish option.
    6. Click Submit. The course you just created appears on the Master Course List page.
    Note: To associate this course with your school, log in to your school. On the Master Course
    List page, select the checkbox next to the course name, and then click Submit. Doing so
    makes this course available for both the course catalog and student course requests.
    Course Catalogs
    Create the list of courses that your school will offer next school year. PowerSchool refers to this list
    as the course catalog.
    Courses in the course catalog are copied from the district level. Not all courses on the district course
    list are available for the catalog; only courses that are associated with the school using the school's
    master course list can be included.
    You can edit information in the course catalog without affecting the courses on the school's master
    course list. For example, you may want to change the credit hours for a course for scheduling
    purposes, but revert to the course's real credit hours when committing schedules for the next
    school year. Once a master schedule is committed, the course information, including credit hours, is
    retrieved from the district level.
    Note: You can have more than one course catalog. Course catalogs are associated with builds, and
    a catalog is only active when it is associated with the active build scenario. This also means that you
    can only edit courses in the catalog that is active. For more information, see the section "
    Build
    Scenarios
    ."
    How to Create a Course Catalog
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
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    2. Under Parameters, choose Catalogs from the PowerScheduler menu. The Catalogs page
    appears.
    3. Click New. The New Course Catalog page appears.
    4. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Name
    Enter a name for this catalog. For example, if you are creating
    the course catalog for a specific school year, you might call it
    2002-2003.
    Description
    Enter a description of the catalog. Enter no more than 80
    characters in this field.
    5. Click Submit. The catalog appears on the Catalogs page.
    6. Click Edit Course Catalog in the row of the catalog you created. The Course Catalog page
    appears.
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    Note: If "Not active catalog" appears instead of Edit Course Catalog, you must first make the
    new catalog the active catalog. Edit the current build scenario so that the new catalog is the
    active catalog. For more information, see the section "
    Build Scenarios
    ."
    7. Deselect the checkbox next to each course you want to remove from this course catalog. By
    default, the checkboxes next to all of the courses available for scheduling at your school are
    selected. To sort the list, click Course Name, Course Number, or Active Status, which sorts
    the active (selected) courses first and the inactive (deselected) courses last.
    Note: Deselecting a course means that you will not be able to schedule that course for the
    upcoming schedule year, even if you have student course requests associated with it. Any
    student course requests will be automatically dropped from the scheduling process.
    8. Click Submit. The Catalogs page appears.
    Note: You can edit the scheduling information for any of the courses within your active
    course catalog by clicking Edit in the Courses row. For more information, see the section
    "
    Build Scenarios
    ."
    How to Edit a Course Catalog
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Parameters, choose Catalogs from the PowerScheduler menu. The Catalogs page
    appears.
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    3. Click Edit Course Catalog in the row of the catalog you want to edit. The Course Catalog
    page appears.
    4. Select the checkbox next to a course name to include it in this course catalog, or deselect
    the checkbox next to a course name to remove it from this catalog. To sort the list, click
    Course Name, Course Number, or Active Status, which sorts the active (selected) courses
    first and the inactive (deselected) courses last.
    5. Click Submit. The Catalogs page appears.
    How to Delete a Course Catalog
    Deleting a course catalog deletes the following items related to that catalog: courses, teacher
    assignments, constraints, and course relationships. You cannot delete the active catalog. To
    inactivate a catalog so that it can be deleted, see the section "
    Build Scenarios
    ."
    Note: This function does not delete courses from the master course list.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
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    2. Under Parameters, choose Catalogs from the PowerScheduler menu. The Catalogs page
    appears.
    3. Click the name of the catalog you want to delete. The Edit Course Catalog page appears.
    4. Click Delete. The Delete Catalog page appears.
    5. Select the checkbox if you are sure you want to delete this course catalog.
    6. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
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    Rooms Overview
    Your school's layout and classrooms are an essential part of the scheduling process. Entering all of
    the necessary room information allows the system to consider the most efficient use of available
    space when building the master schedule.
    In the section "
    Schedule Parameters
    ," you defined the departments and facilities within your
    school. Now it is time to enter the rooms. To each room, you can associate specific departments
    and facilities so that the system schedules courses in the appropriate location.
    Note: Only enter classrooms needed for next year’s schedule. For example, if you know you are not
    going to hold classes in a particular room, do not enter its information in the system. If a room is in
    the system that you will not be using next year, you can leave it there as long as you make it
    unavailable for scheduling. For more information, see the section "
    How to Edit a Room
    ."
    To ensure that there is a place for each section of a course to meet, you must schedule them into
    classrooms. The system assigns courses to rooms based on the following priorities (in order):
    •
    The assigned teacher's preferred classroom
    •
    Any classroom associated with the same department as the course being scheduled
    •
    Any classroom associated with the same department as the assigned teacher
    •
    Any classroom with an adequate number of seats
    Note: If the course requires a special facility, the system considers rooms that provide the necessary
    facility only. If no facility is available, then the system cannot schedule the course.
    Rooms
    Define locations for courses so that the system best utilizes available space when building a master
    schedule.
    How to Add a Room
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Rooms from the PowerScheduler menu. The Rooms page appears.
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    3. Click New. The Add/Edit Room page appears.
    4. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Room Number
    Enter the room number.
    Room Description
    Enter a description of this room.
    Department
    Click Associate to select the department for this room.
    If you associate this room with a specific department, such as
    Math, the system will do its best to schedule math courses in
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    Field
    Description
    this room. To ensure that this room will only hold Math courses,
    you must also select the Department Use Only checkbox.
    Note: Click Department to create or edit departments at your
    school.
    Building
    Click Associate to select this room's building.
    Note: Click Building to create or edit buildings at your school.
    House
    Click Associate to select this room's house.
    Note: Click House to create or edit houses at your school.
    Use for Scheduling
    Select this checkbox if you want the system to consider this
    classroom when it assigns courses to rooms. Otherwise,
    deselect the checkbox.
    For example, some rooms (such as the cafeteria) are not used
    for scheduling. Deselect this checkbox to indicate this fact.
    Note: If you have a room that you want to leave in the system
    but will not be using for scheduling next year, deselect this
    checkbox.
    Room is Always Free
    If you select this checkbox, the system can schedule multiple
    courses in this room at the same time.
    This feature is often used with gymnasiums. However,
    sometimes the Room Maximum field can cause problems, and
    it would make more sense to break the class into Gym 1 and
    Gym 2 if you know that the maximum number of courses
    taught in the gym is two.
    If you deselect this checkbox, only one course can be scheduled
    in this room per period.
    Department Use Only
    Select this checkbox if you want the system to schedule only
    courses that belong to this room's department in this room.
    If you deselect this checkbox, the system schedules mostly
    courses with the same department as the room. But it is
    possible for the system to schedule a course that belongs to
    another department into this room. This would happen if some
    departments need more space than others.
    Note: If you select this checkbox, do not select the Facility Use
    Only checkbox.
    Facility Use Only
    Select this checkbox to specify that the system can schedule
    only courses requiring the facilities you enter in the Room
    Facilities field in this room.
    Note: If there are not many courses that require the facilities in
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    Field
    Description
    this room and you select this checkbox, the system does not
    fully schedule the room; the room remains free rather than
    holding another course.
    If you deselect this checkbox, the system considers the facilities
    you enter in the Room Facilities field as suggestions. For
    example, assume the system needs to schedule the computer
    course Algorithms and Data Structure. Even though the course
    does not require a computer lab facility, the system can
    schedule the course in the room with the computer lab if it is
    free.
    Note: If you select this checkbox, do not select the Department
    Use Only checkbox.
    Room Facilities
    Click Associate to select the facilities of this room, if it has any.
    Facilities are any special characteristics of a room that courses
    require. For example, a room might have a kitchen, computer
    lab, stage, or wood shop. Most classrooms do not have a
    facility.
    There is a limit of 50 characters that can be entered in this field.
    Note: Click Facilities to create or edit facilities at your school.
    Room Maximum
    Enter a number to determine the maximum number of
    students that this room can accommodate.
    The capacity of the room limits the courses that the system can
    schedule there. For example, if you enter 25, the system cannot
    schedule a course section with a maximum of 35 students into
    this room.
    5. Click Submit. The Rooms page appears.
    Note: Be sure to create an entry for each classroom within your school that will be used for
    scheduling. This could include offices and libraries.
    You might want to assign a course to a particular room. For example, maybe your school
    has several biology labs, and Biology 1 needs to be held in the classroom closest to the
    teacher's preferred room. To force a course to schedule in a particular room, define a Course
    Room constraint. For more information, see the section "
    Build Constraints
    ."
    How to Edit a Room
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Rooms from the PowerScheduler menu. The Rooms page appears.
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    3. Click the number of the room you want to modify. The Add/Edit Room page appears.
    4. Use the following table to edit information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Room Number
    Enter the room number.
    Room Description
    Enter a description of this room.
    Department
    Click Associate to select the department for this room.
    If you associate this room with a specific department, such as
    Math, the system will do its best to schedule math courses in
    this room. To ensure that this room will only hold math courses,
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    Field
    Description
    you must also select the Department Use Only checkbox.
    Note: Click Department to create or edit departments at your
    school.
    Building
    Click Associate to select this room's building.
    Note: Click Building to create or edit buildings at your school.
    House
    Click Associate to select this room's house.
    Note: Click House to create or edit houses at your school.
    Use for Scheduling
    Select this checkbox if you want the system to consider this
    classroom when it assigns courses to rooms. Otherwise,
    deselect the checkbox.
    For example, some rooms (such as the cafeteria) are not used
    for scheduling. Deselect the checkbox to indicate this fact.
    Note: If you have a room that you want to leave in the system
    but will not be using for scheduling next year, deselect this
    checkbox.
    Room is Always Free
    If you select this checkbox, the system can schedule multiple
    courses in this room at the same time.
    This feature is often used with gymnasiums. However,
    sometimes the Room Maximum field can cause problems, and
    it would make more sense to break the class into Gym 1 and
    Gym 2 if you know that the maximum number of courses
    taught in the gym is two.
    If you deselect this checkbox, only one course can be scheduled
    in this room per period.
    Department Use Only
    Select this checkbox if you want the system to schedule only
    courses that belong to this room's department in this room.
    If you deselect this checkbox, the system schedules mostly
    courses with the same department as the room. But it is
    possible for the system to schedule a course that belongs to
    another department into this room. This would happen if some
    departments need more space than others.
    Note: If you select this checkbox, do not select the Facility Use
    Only checkbox.
    Facility Use Only
    Select this checkbox to specify that the system can schedule
    only courses requiring the facilities you enter in the Room
    Facilities field in this room.
    Note: If there are not many courses that require the facilities in
    this room and you select this checkbox, the system does not
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    Field
    Description
    fully schedule the room; the room remains free rather than
    holding another course.
    If you deselect this checkbox, the system considers the facilities
    you enter in the Room Facilities field as suggestions. For
    example, assume the system needs to schedule the computer
    course Algorithms and Data Structure. Even though the course
    does not require a computer lab facility, the system can
    schedule the course in the room with the computer lab if it is
    free.
    Note: If you select this checkbox, do not select the Department
    Use Only checkbox.
    Room Facilities
    Click Associate to select the facilities of this room, if it has any.
    Facilities are any special characteristics of a room that courses
    require. For example, a room might have a kitchen, computer
    lab, stage, or wood shop. Most classrooms do not have a
    facility.
    There is a limit of 50 characters that can be entered in this field.
    Note: Click Facilities to create or edit facilities at your school.
    Room Maximum
    Enter a number to determine the maximum number of
    students that this room can accommodate.
    The capacity of the room limits the courses that the system can
    schedule there. For example, if you enter 25, the system cannot
    schedule a course section with a maximum of 35 students into
    this room.
    5. Click Submit. The Rooms page appears.
    How to Delete a Room
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Rooms from the PowerScheduler menu. The Rooms page appears.
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    3. Click the number of the room you want to delete. The Add/Edit Room page appears.
    4. Click Delete. The Selection Deleted page appears.
    How to View the Room Matrix
    The room matrix function creates a visual, graphical representation of a room's schedule. This
    schedule can be printed, though not for more than one room at a time.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Rooms from the PowerScheduler menu. The Rooms page appears.
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    3. Click View next to the room for which you want to view the room matrix. The Room [room
    number] matrix page appears.
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    The Room Matrix displays a room's schedule for each period and day in each term. Identical colors
    on the schedule indicate the same section. A blank block means that nothing is scheduled for that
    block in that term. If all matrix preferences are selected, each block includes the following
    information:
    •
    Name of the course
    •
    Name of the teacher for this section
    •
    Course number
    •
    Section number
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    •
    Expression, which is the combination of period(s) and day(s)
    •
    Term
    •
    Number of students scheduled for this section, the maximum enrollment of this section,
    and the difference between the actual number of students and the maximum number
    of students in this section
    Student Information
    As part of the process of preparing to build your master schedule, you need to confirm that the
    appropriate students are available in your database for scheduling. Before the system can build the
    schedule, you must enter detailed scheduling information for each student.
    Update the following fields for all students who will attend your school next year:
    •
    Next School Indicator
    •
    Next Year Grade
    •
    Priority
    •
    Year of Graduation
    •
    Schedule This Student
    Update the following fields for students who will not attend your school next year:
    •
    Schedule This Student
    •
    Next School Indicator
    In addition to the required settings, there are a number of optional settings you can use to assign
    students to houses, buildings, and teams.
    It is easy to mass update many of the required scheduling preferences fields, such as Next Year
    Grade and Schedule This Student. In certain circumstances, you may need to change or update a
    field for an individual student.
    Warning: If you use the Update Selections tool to mass update a field value, that change is
    irreversible; the new value appears in the field for all of the selected students. To remove the new
    value, you need to either manually change the value for each student’s record or perform another
    Update Selections function to reverse your change.
    Next Year Grade
    Set the Next Year Grade field for all of the students who will attend your school next year. You do
    not need to set this field for students who are graduating from your school.
    How to Set the Next Year Grade Field for a Student
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
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    3. Enter the name of the student.
    4. Click the Search icon. The Selected Students page appears.
    5. Select the name of the appropriate student. The student’s name appears.
    6. Choose Preferences from the pop-up menu.
    7. Choose the student's name from the students menu. The Edit Scheduling Preferences page
    appears.
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    8. Enter a grade level number in the Next Year Grade field.
    9. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    How to Set the Next Year Grade Field for an Entire Grade Level
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Functions
    page appears.
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    3. Click Update Selections. The Update Selections page appears.
    4. Choose Grade_Level from the pop-up menu below Search Students.
    5. Enter the number that represents the appropriate grade level, such as
    9
    , in the next field.
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    6. Click "Search all [number] records in this school." The Update Selections page displays the
    new number of records.
    7. Click Modify Records. The Modify Records page appears.
    8. Choose Sched_NextYearGrade from the pop-up menu.
    9. Enter the grade level number you want to assign to these students, such as 10, in the next
    field.
    10. Click Modify Selected Records. The Update Selections page appears.
    11. Repeat Steps 7-10 for each of the remaining fields that need to be mass updated for this
    grade level: Priority (Sched_Priority) and Year of Graduation (Sched_YearOfGraduation).
    Continue to the next grade level.
    Priority
    You can assign scheduling priorities to students for the system to follow when loading student
    schedules. Students can share the same priority.
    For example, if there are more requests than available spots, you might want the system to
    schedule graduating students first because it is their last chance to take the courses they request. If
    this is the case, assign all twelfth graders a priority of 10, all eleventh graders a priority of 20, all
    tenth graders a priority of 30, and all ninth graders a priority of 40.
    Note: Priority numbers can range from 1 to 999. The lower the number, the higher the priority.
    Some schools set priorities in increments of 10 to accommodate future modifications.
    To assign a priority to an entire grade level, see the section "
    How to Set the Next Year Grade
    Field for an Entire Grade Level
    ."
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    How to Assign Priority to a Student
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
    3. Enter the name of the student to whom you want to assign a scheduling priority.
    4. Click the Search icon. The Selected Students page appears.
    5. Select the name of the appropriate student. The student’s name appears.
    6. Choose Preferences from the pop-up menu in the students menu.
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    7. Click the student’s name. The Edit Scheduling Preferences page appears.
    8. Enter a number in the Priority field.
    9. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    Year of Graduation
    Set the "Year of Graduation" field for all of the students who will attend your school next year. You
    do not need to set this field for graduating students.
    How to Set the Year of Graduation for a Student
    To set the year of graduation for an entire grade level, see the section "
    How to Set the Next
    Year Grade Field for an Entire Grade Level
    ."
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    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
    3. Enter the name of the student.
    4. Click the Search icon. The Selected Students page appears.
    5. Select the name of the appropriate student. The student’s name appears.
    6. Choose Preferences from the pop-up menu.
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    7. Choose the student's name from the students menu. The Edit Scheduling Preferences page
    appears.
    8. Enter a number in the "Year of Graduation" field, such as
    2005
    .
    9. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    Schedule This Student
    Let the system know which of your students you want to include in the scheduling process. Do this
    by selecting the Schedule This Student checkbox. If you forget to select this checkbox for a student
    who has made course requests, the system will be unable to schedule that student.
    Not only do you have to select to include the appropriate students, but also you must exclude
    graduating students by deselecting the Schedule This Student checkbox.
    How to Include an Individual Student
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
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    3. Enter the name of the student.
    4. Click the Search icon. The Selected Students page appears.
    5. Select the name of the appropriate student. The student’s name appears.
    6. Choose Preferences from the pop-up menu.
    7. Choose the student's name from the students menu. The Edit Scheduling Preferences page
    appears.
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    8. Select the Schedule This Student checkbox.
    9. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    How to Include All of Next Year’s Students
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Functions
    page appears.
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    3. Click Update Selections. The Update Selections page appears.
    4. Choose Grade_Level from the pop-up menu in the first field under Search Students.
    5. Choose < from the pop-up menu in the second field.
    6. Enter the number that represents the highest grade level at your school, such as 12, in the
    last field.
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    7. Click "Search all [number] records in this school." The Update Selections page displays the
    new number of records.
    8. Click Modify Records. The Modify Records page appears.
    9. Choose Sched_Scheduled from the pop-up menu.
    10. Enter True in the next field to indicate that you want these students to be included in the
    scheduling process.
    11. Click Modify Selected Records. The Update Selections page appears.
    How to Exclude Graduating Students
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Functions
    page appears.
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    3. Click Update Selections. The Update Selections page appears.
    4. Choose Grade_Level from the pop-up menu in the first field under Search Students.
    5. Choose = from the pop-up menu in the second field.
    6. Enter the number that represents your graduating students, such as 12, in the last field.
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    7. Click "Search all [number] records in this school." The Update Selections page displays the
    new number of records.
    8. Click Modify Records. The Modify Records page appears.
    9. Choose Sched_Scheduled from the pop-up menu.
    10. Enter False in the next field to indicate that you do not want these students to be included
    in the scheduling process.
    11. Click Modify Selected Records. The Update Selections page appears.
    Optional Scheduling Preferences
    The following fields on the Edit Scheduling Preferences page are optional: Buildings, Houses, and
    Teams. It is possible that your school uses none, some, or all of these fields.
    How to Assign a Student to a Building
    If your school uses buildings, you should have created them in the section "
    Schedule
    Parameters
    ." Now you can assign students to those buildings.
    Note: To complete this task, you must know exactly what these buildings are named in the system.
    Find this information by choosing Buildings under the Parameters heading from the
    PowerScheduler menu.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
    3. Enter the name of the student.
    4. Click the Search icon. The Selected Students page appears.
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    5. Select the name of the appropriate student. The student’s name appears.
    6. Choose Preferences from the pop-up menu.
    7. Choose the student's name from the students menu. The Edit Scheduling Preferences page
    appears.
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    8. Click Associate to select the name of the appropriate building in the Next Year
    Campus/Building field.
    9. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    How to Assign a Group of Students to a Building
    You can use this procedure to assign a group of students to a building, house, or team.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Functions
    page appears.
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    3. Click Update Selections. The Update Selections page appears.
    4. Click "Select Records by Hand." The Select Records By Hand: Students page appears.
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    5. Press and hold Command (Mac) or Control (Windows) and click the names of the students
    you want to assign to a particular building.
    6. Click Submit. The Update Selections page appears.
    7. Click Modify Records. The Modify Records page appears.
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    8. Choose Sched_NextYearBuilding from the pop-up menu. If assigning students to a house,
    choose Sched_NextYearHouse. If assigning students to a team, choose
    Sched_NextYearTeam.
    9. Enter the name of the building, house, or team into which you want to assign these
    students in the next field. Enter the name exactly as it appears in the system.
    10. Click Modify Selected Records. The Update Selections page appears.
    How to Assign a Student to a House
    If your school uses houses, you should have created them in the section "
    Schedule Parameters
    ."
    Now you can assign students to those houses.
    Note: To complete this task, you must know exactly what these houses are named in the system.
    Find this information by choosing Houses under the Parameters heading from the PowerScheduler
    menu.
    To assign a group of students to a house, see the section "
    How to Assign a Group of Students
    to a Building
    ."
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
    3. Enter the name of the student.
    4. Click the Search icon. The Selected Students page appears.
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    5. Select the name of the appropriate student. The student’s name appears.
    6. Choose Preferences from the pop-up menu.
    7. Choose the student's name from the students menu. The Edit Scheduling Preferences page
    appears.
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    8. Click Associate to select the name of the appropriate house in the Next Year House field.
    9. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    How to Assign a Student to a Team
    If your school uses teams, you should have created them in the section "
    Schedule Parameters
    ."
    Teams are either static or dynamic. If you are using static teams, you must assign each student to a
    particular team, either individually or in groups.
    To assign a group of students to a team, see the section "
    Update Selections
    ." To complete this
    task, you must know exactly what these teams are numbered in the system. Find this information
    by choosing Team under the Parameters heading from the PowerScheduler menu. For more
    information, see the section "
    Teams
    ."
    To assign a student to a team, you need to know the name of the team to which you want to
    assign the student, but you do not need to know the number of the team. The team number
    appears next to the Next Year Team field after you complete the following procedure.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
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    3. Enter the name of the student.
    4. Click the Search icon. The Selected Students page appears.
    5. Select the name of the appropriate student. The student’s name appears.
    6. Choose Preferences from the pop-up menu.
    7. Choose the student's name from the students menu. The Edit Scheduling Preferences page
    appears.
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    8. Choose the appropriate team in the Next Year Team field from the pop-up menu.
    Note: If there is a number to the right of the blank Next Year Team pop-up menu, the
    student was previously associated with a team at a different school. You must clear the Next
    Year Team field using the "
    Update Selections
    " function.
    9. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    Student Schedule Demographics
    Use the Demographics page to view student information in the schedule area. To edit the student's
    demographic information, see the section "
    Demographics (M)
    ."
    How to View Student Schedule Demographics
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
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    3. Enter the name of the student.
    4. Click the Search icon. The Selected Students page appears.
    5. Select the name of the appropriate student. The student’s name appears.
    6. Choose Demographics from the pop-up menu.
    7. Choose the student's name from the students menu. The Demographics page appears.
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    Schedule Graduation Check
    Use the Graduation Progress page in the schedule area to view information about a student's
    progress toward graduation. View the required classes and class categories, required credit hours,
    number of credit hours completed and currently in progress, and number of credit hours needed to
    meet graduation requirements.
    How to View Schedule Graduation Check
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
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    3. Enter the name of the student.
    4. Click the Search icon. The Selected Students page appears.
    5. Select the name of the appropriate student. The student’s name appears.
    6. Choose Grad Progress from the pop-up menu.
    7. Choose the student's name from the students menu. The Graduation Progress page
    appears.
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    Student Schedule Matrix
    The student matrix function creates a visual, graphical representation of a student's schedule. The
    matrix displays 100% Scheduled when the schedule is complete. This schedule can be printed,
    though not for more than one student at a time.
    You can also use the matrix to manually enroll students in courses based on their course requests.
    For more information, see the section "
    How to Manually Schedule Students
    ."
    How to View the Student Schedule Matrix
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
    3. Enter the name of the student.
    4. Click the Search icon. The Selected Students page appears.
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    5. Select the name of the appropriate student. The student’s name appears.
    6. Choose Matrix from the pop-up menu.
    7. Choose the student's name from the students menu. The Schedule Matrix page appears.
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    The schedule matrix displays the student's schedule for each period and day in each term.
    Identical colors on the schedule indicate the same section. A blank block means that
    nothing is scheduled for that block in that term. Each block includes the following
    information:
    •
    Course name
    •
    Course number
    •
    Section number
    •
    Teacher name
    •
    Room number
    •
    Expression, which is the combination of period(s) and day(s)
    •
    Year term
    How to Set Student Schedule Matrix Preferences
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
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    3. Enter the name of the student.
    4. Click the Search icon. The Selected Students page appears.
    5. Select the name of the appropriate student. The student’s name appears.
    6. Choose Matrix from the pop-up menu.
    7. Choose the student's name from the students menu. The Schedule Matrix page appears.
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    8. Click Matrix Preferences. The Student Schedule Matrix Preferences page appears.
    9. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Name
    Select this checkbox to display the course name.
    Course Number.Section
    Number
    Select this checkbox to display the course and section numbers.
    Teacher Name
    Select this checkbox to display the teacher name.
    Room
    Select this checkbox to display the room number.
    Expression Term
    Select this checkbox to display the expression, which is the
    period and day combination.
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    10. Click Submit. The Schedule Matrix page displays the items selected on the Student
    Schedule Matrix Preferences page.
    Student Course Requests
    When you use PowerSchool to build your master schedule or load student course requests, your
    goal is to satisfy as many student course requests and have the most balanced schedule possible.
    The student course request process involves the following steps:
    •
    Collect appropriate grade-level information.
    •
    Create course groups.
    •
    Create student course request pages.
    •
    Enter student course requests.
    Note: Before you set up student course request pages, make sure that any new courses offered at
    your school next year have been created and linked to the course catalog you are using for the
    build. For more information, see the section "
    Course Catalogs
    ."
    Before you can create student course request pages, you must do some preparation. This involves
    collecting the appropriate grade-level requirement information and creating course groups. For
    more information on what information to gather, see the section "
    Grade-Level Requirements
    ."
    Grade-Level Requirements
    Determine the individual course requirements at your school, such as the names of required
    courses and number of credits students must take. Having all of this information in front of you will
    make it much easier to create the student course request pages.
    Collect the following information for each grade level:
    •
    Required courses
    •
    Number of credits that must be taken
    •
    Possible semester elective courses
    •
    Possible yearlong elective courses
    •
    Possible no-credit courses
    •
    Number of terms for each request
    •
    Before- or after-school courses
    •
    Possible lunch periods
    The following is an example of what you might collect for a ninth-grade request page:
    Information to Collect
    Example
    Required courses
    •
    One semester of each of the following: Software
    Applications 1, Software Applications 2, General Science
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    Information to Collect
    Example
    1, General Science 2, Health, Word Processing
    •
    Two semesters of English: English 9, English 9 Honors,
    or English 9 Basic Skills
    •
    Two semesters of math: Consumer Math, Pre-Algebra,
    Algebra I, Algebra II, or Geometry
    Number of credits that
    must be taken
    Ninth graders must take 7 full credits (14 semester classes).
    Possible semester
    electives
    Woods I, Woods II, Beginning Pottery, Art I, Art II, Beginning
    Foods, Fitness for Life (PE), any other Physical Education class,
    any computer class
    Possible year-long
    electives
    Band, Chorus, Audition Choir, any first-year Foreign Language,
    Agriculture I, Horticulture I
    Possible no-credit
    courses
    Only students with special permission can take no-credit
    periods: Study Hall, Work Experience, released time for religious
    or other academic classes, Independent Study
    Number of terms for
    each request
    Each request will represent one semester of course material.
    Before- or after-school
    courses
    No class will be offered to ninth graders before or after school.
    Possible lunch periods
    Lunch is not part of the student schedule.
    Course Groups
    To make it easier for students or staff members to enter requests, you have the option of creating
    course groups. Course groups represent the courses that are available to a student for a specific
    request.
    For example, when eighth-grade students select a ninth-grade elective course for the next school
    year, they are presented with a list of valid ninth-grade elective course options, such as French I or
    Beginning Photography. Students must make their selection from the list of courses that you have
    determined valid.
    Note: Course groups can only contain courses that require the same number of student course
    requests. For example, you cannot create a course group combining semester electives with
    yearlong electives. In addition, you cannot combine single semester courses (such as Word
    Processing) with yearlong courses (such as English).
    Create the lists by making a course group for all predetermined areas. Using the previous example
    of ninth-grade students, you would need to create six course groups (three for core courses, one for
    semester electives, one for yearlong electives, and one for no-credit electives):
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    Course Group
    Example
    Core courses
    •
    Software Application I and II, General Science 1 and 2,
    Health, Word Processing
    •
    English 9: English 9, Honors, Basic Skills
    •
    Mathematics 9: Consumer Math, Pre-Algebra, Algebra I,
    Algebra II, Geometry
    Semester electives
    Woods I, Woods II, Beginning Pottery, Art I, Art II, Beginning
    Foods, Fitness for Life (PE), any other Physical Education class,
    any computer class
    Year-long electives
    Band, Chorus, Audition Choir, any first-year Foreign Language,
    Agriculture I, Horticulture I
    No credit electives
    Study Hall, Work Experience, Released Time, Independent Study
    How to Create a Course Group
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Requesting, choose Course Groups from the PowerScheduler menu. The Course
    Groups page appears.
    3. Choose in which order you want courses to be listed on student course request
    pages—either by course name or course number—from the pop-up menu.
    4. Click New in the courses menu. The Edit Course Group page appears.
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Name
    Enter a name for the course group.
    Note: If there are multiple high schools on your server, you may
    want to create a system for naming your course groups so that
    they sort in a certain way. For example, you might call Apple
    Grove High School’s course group containing ninth-grade core
    courses AGHS-9-Core Courses. If you followed this system, all of
    your high schools would sort together, as would the grade
    levels within them.
    Type
    Choose the type of course group from the pop-up menu:
    •
    Both: Course group is for both scheduling and
    graduation requirement purposes. Existing groups are
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    Field
    Description
    set to Both by default.
    •
    Scheduling Only: Course group is used for scheduling
    purposes only.
    •
    Graduation Set Only: Course group is used for
    graduation requirement purposes only.
    Applies to
    Set course groups to apply to all schools or to the current
    school only. Existing groups are set to all schools by default.
    6. Select the checkbox next to the name of each course that should belong to this group.
    7. Click Submit. The course group you just created appears in the courses menu. This group is
    now available to use in setting up request pages. Repeat this process for all course groups
    needed for each grade level at your school.
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    How to Delete a Course Group
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Requesting, choose Course Groups from the PowerScheduler menu. The Course
    Groups page appears.
    3. Choose the course group to be edited from the courses menu. The Edit Course Group page
    appears.
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    4. Click Delete. The Selection Deleted page appears.
    Student Course Request Pages
    You need to create course requirements and student course request pages for each grade level in
    your school. The course request pages contain courses you define from which students can make
    their selections.
    Note: For more information on grade-specific requirements, see the section “
    Requirements
    .”
    The request pages require students to select only courses and electives that have been approved
    for their grade level. If you need to make an exception, you can do so manually.
    Course request screens apply to both PowerScheduler (future) and PowerSchool (current and
    future). However, navigating to the Requesting Setup page from PowerSchool shows setup screens
    for the current year, whereas navigating to the Requesting Setup page from PowerScheduler shows
    setup screens for future requests. For more information on request screen setup in PowerSchool,
    see the section "
    How to Create a Request Screen in PowerSchool
    ."
    Though course requests made in PowerSchool can apply to either the current or future schedule
    year, all course requests made in PowerScheduler will apply to the selected schedule year. For
    example, if the current school year is 2003-2004 and the schedule year is set to 2004-2005, students
    who are in tenth grade during 2003-2004 will use the Grade 11 request screen. For more
    information, see the section "
    How to Set the Schedule Year
    ."
    How to Create a Request Screen in PowerScheduler
    Because course requirements vary for each grade, you can create new or edit existing course
    request pages for each grade level in your school. Request screens must be re-created for each
    scheduling year.
    The Next School Indicator field points to the school students will attend next year. For example,
    your school district consists of two high schools and three junior high schools. An eighth grader
    entering student course requests will view the request page for the high school set as his or her
    next school. Other eighth graders, whose next school is set to the other high school, would view a
    different request page.
    Note: It is important to set all students’ next school indicator, even if they will be staying at the
    same school next year. For more information, see the section "
    Student Information
    ."
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Requesting, choose Screen Setup from the PowerScheduler menu. The Future
    Requests menu displays all of the grade levels at your school.
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    3. Click the appropriate grade level. The [grade level] Request Screen Setup Future page
    appears.
    4. Enter a minimum and maximum number of credits needed to complete the registration
    process. For example, you could enter 5 for Minimum and 7 for Maximum, thus ensuring
    that no student takes less than five or more than seven courses.
    Note: Leaving the Minimum and Maximum fields blank makes it possible for students to
    request too many or too few credit hours.
    5. Click Submit. The [grade level] Request Screen Setup Future page appears.
    How to Create a Request Screen in PowerSchool
    Because course requirements vary for each grade, you can create new or edit existing course
    request pages for each grade level in your school. Request screens must be re-created for each
    scheduling year.
    The Next School Indicator field points to the school students will attend next year. For example,
    your school district consists of two high schools and three junior high schools. An eighth grader
    entering student course requests will view the request page for the high school set as his or her
    next school. Other eighth graders, whose next school is set to the other high school, would view a
    different request page.
    Note: It is important to set all students’ next school indicator, even if they will be staying at the
    same school next year. For more information, see the section "
    Next School Indicator
    ."
    1. On the start page, choose School from the main menu.
    2. Choose Request Setup from the PowerScheduler menu. The Current Requests menu
    displays all of the grade levels at your school.
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    3. Click the appropriate grade level. The [grade level] Request Screen Setup Current page
    appears.
    4. Enter a minimum and maximum number of credits needed to complete the registration
    process. For example, you could enter 5 for Minimum and 7 for Maximum, thus ensuring
    that no student takes less than five or more than seven courses.
    Note: Leaving the Minimum and Maximum fields blank makes it possible for students to
    request too many or too few credit hours.
    5. Click Submit. The [grade level] Request Screen Setup Current page appears.
    Requirements
    You must create requirement entries for each student course request. Requirement entries make up
    the body of the request page, informing students which courses they must take and giving them
    selections from valid course groups.
    There are three types of requirement entries:
    •
    Single Class Requirement: Students make single selections from a course group. For
    example, if all eleventh graders need to take one computer course next year, create a
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    Computer course group that includes all of the computer courses. Students select one of
    the courses from the list to fulfill their Computer requirement.
    •
    Multi-Class Requirement: Students make multiple selections from a course group. For
    example, if all eleventh graders need to take two business courses next year, create a
    Business course group that includes all business courses. Students select two or more of the
    courses from the list to fulfill their Business requirement.
    •
    Core Requirement: Students view a set of requests that are predefined, such as a core set of
    classes for all ninth graders. There are no options from which students can make selections.
    Set up requirements for a future scheduling year in PowerScheduler and for the current year in
    PowerSchool. The following procedures show future requirements, though you can perform the
    same procedures for the current year by choosing from the start page School > Request Setup and
    then proceeding with Step 3 in each procedure below. For more information, see the section
    "
    Student Course Request Pages
    ."
    How to Enter a Single Class Requirement
    A single class requirement appears on the request page as a pop-up menu. Students choose a
    single course from the list (course group) you create.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Requesting, choose Screen Setup from the PowerScheduler menu. The grades menu
    displays the available grade levels.
    3. Click the grade level for which you want to enter a single class requirement.
    4. On the [grade level] Request Screen Setup Future page, click New Single Class Requirement.
    The Grade-Specific Requirement for Course Requests [grade level]: Future page appears.
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Name of this
    requirement
    Enter a name for the requirement, such as 9th Grade Math.
    Description/ Instructions
    Enter a description or instructions for students to read on the
    screen so they understand exactly what they need to do to
    meet this requirement.
    For example, enter: You are required to enroll in one Math
    course. Use the pop-up menu to make your selection from the
    list of available courses.
    Dimensions of the entry
    box
    Enter the height and width of the box into which students will
    enter course numbers. Enter the width using the number of
    characters (such as 20) and the height using the number of
    lines of text (such as 4).
    List of courses to present
    to the student in the
    pop-up menu
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the course group you want
    students to make their selection from, such as Math 9.
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    Field
    Description
    pop-up menu
    First item in popup
    (optional)
    Enter what you want the first item of the pop-up menu to read.
    If you want the first item to be blank, enter an asterisk (*).
    For example, enter Choose one of the following: as the first line
    of the pop-up menu.
    Must the student select a
    course from the pop-up,
    or may they leave it
    blank?
    Choose either "Must select one" or "Can leave blank" from the
    pop-up menu.
    Message to display if the
    student is required to
    select a course, but they
    leave it blank instead
    If you chose "Must select one" in the previous field, you can
    enter an alert message students will receive if they do not
    select one of the courses in the group.
    For example, enter: You forgot to select one Math course.
    If you do not enter a specific message for this requirement, the
    system displays a generic one.
    Request type
    Use the pop-up menu to choose one of the following to
    determine the type of request:
    •
    Elective: Not a requirement
    •
    Alternate: Used if an elective request is not met. If you
    select Alternate, the system uses this request if it cannot
    schedule the student in a requested elective.
    •
    Required: Required course for this grade level
    Note: An alternate request will never replace a required
    request.
    Number of requests to
    generate
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the number of requests that
    should be generated when this requirement is selected. For
    example, if Math is a yearlong course but sections operate on
    semesters, choose 2 for two requests. Semester electives may
    only need one request.
    Item sort order
    Enter a number between 0 and 100 that indicates the order in
    which you want this requirement to appear on the request
    page you are creating.
    6. Click Submit. The requirement appears on the grade level’s request page.
    How to Enter a Multi-Class Requirement
    A multiple class requirement appears on the request page as a pop-up menu. Students choose
    multiple courses from the list (course group) you create.
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    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Requesting, choose Screen Setup from the PowerScheduler menu. The grades menu
    displays the available grade levels.
    3. Click the grade level for which you want to enter a single class requirement.
    4. On the [grade level] Request Screen Setup Future page, click New Multi-Class Requirement.
    The Grade-Specific Requirement for Course Requests [grade level]: Future page appears.
    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Name of this
    requirement
    Enter a name for the requirement, such as 9th Grade Math.
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    Field
    Description
    requirement
    Description/ Instructions
    Enter a description or instructions for students to read on the
    screen so they understand exactly what they need to do to
    meet this requirement.
    For example, enter: You are required to enroll in one Math
    course. Use the pop-up menu to make your selection from the
    list of available courses.
    Dimensions of the entry
    box
    Enter the height and width of the box into which students will
    enter course numbers. Enter the width using the number of
    characters (such as 20) and the height using the number of
    lines of text (such as 4).
    List of courses to present
    to the student in the
    pop-up menu
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the course group you want
    students to make their selection from, such as Math 9.
    How to present the list of
    courses
    Select one of the following options to determine how you want
    the system to display the list of courses in the course group:
    •
    As a scrolling list: If you select this option, enter the
    number of lines you want the system to display before
    the student must scroll to see the other courses in the
    list.
    •
    As plain text: This is the most common selection for this
    field.
    •
    Don’t display the list
    Number of courses
    student must select to
    meet this requirement
    Enter the minimum and maximum number of courses a student
    must select from the list to fulfill this requirement. For example,
    enter 2 and 2 to require that no more and no less than two
    courses from the list are selected.
    Message to display if the
    student is required to
    select a course, but they
    leave it blank instead
    If you chose "Must select one" in the previous field, you can
    enter an alert message students will receive if they do not
    select one of the courses in the group.
    For example, enter: You forgot to select one Math course.
    If you do not enter a specific message for this requirement, the
    system displays a generic one.
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    Field
    Description
    Request type
    Use the pop-up menu to choose one of the following to
    determine the type of request:
    •
    Elective: Not a requirement
    •
    Alternate: Used if an elective request is not met. If you
    select Alternate, the system uses this request if it cannot
    schedule the student in a requested elective.
    •
    Required: Required course for this grade level
    Note: An alternate request will never replace a required
    request.
    Number of requests to
    generate
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the number of requests that
    should be generated when this requirement is selected. For
    example, if Math is a yearlong course but sections operate on
    semesters, choose 2 for two requests. Semester electives may
    only need one request.
    Item sort order
    Enter a number between 0 and 100 that indicates the order in
    which you want this requirement to appear on the request
    page you are creating.
    6. Click Submit. The requirement appears on the grade level’s request page.
    How to Enter a Core Requirement
    A core requirement is a set of classes that members of an entire grade level must request. There is
    no selection for students to make; you make the selection now so that students view an unalterable
    list of these required courses on their request pages.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Requesting, choose Screen Setup from the PowerScheduler menu. The grades menu
    displays the available grade levels.
    3. Click the grade level for which you want to enter a single class requirement.
    4. On the [grade level] Request Screen Setup Future page, click New Core Requirement. The
    Grade-Specific Requirement for Course Requests: [grade level] Future page appears.
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Requirement Name
    Enter a name for the requirement.
    For example, assume you are creating a requirement for ninth
    graders that consists of the core classes in which they must
    enroll. You could name the requirement 9th Grade Core
    Required Courses.
    Description/ Instructions
    Enter a description or instructions. Since students will
    automatically receive the course requests you specify on this
    page, you could enter All freshmen must take the following
    courses:.
    List of valid courses for
    this item
    Use the pop-up menu to choose a course group, such as 9th
    Core Courses.
    How to present the list of
    required courses
    Select one of the following options to determine how you want
    the system to display the list of courses in the course group:
    •
    As a scrolling list: If you select this option, enter the
    number of lines you want the system to display before
    the student must scroll to see the other courses in the
    list.
    •
    As plain text: This is the most common selection for this
    field.
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    Field
    Description
    •
    Don’t display the list
    Number of requests to
    generate per course
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the number of requests that
    need to be generated for this requirement. For example, if
    these are semester-long courses, you would need to generate
    one request per course. Therefore, you would choose 1 from
    the pop-up menu.
    Item sort order
    Enter a number between 0 and 100 that indicates the order in
    which you want this requirement to appear on the request
    page you are creating.
    6. Click Submit. The requirement appears on the grade level’s request page.
    How to Preview the Registration Request Page
    After you enter all of the requirements you want to include on the request page, you have an
    opportunity to review how it looks and verify its accuracy.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Requesting, choose Screen Setup from the PowerScheduler menu. The grades menu
    displays the available grade levels.
    3. Click the grade level for which you created a request page. The [grade level] Request Screen
    Setup Future page appears.
    4. Enter any message you want to appear on the request page in the "Message to display on
    registration screens for students in this grade" field.
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    Note: The checkbox "This grade may register for classes" should not be selected until the
    request screens are completely set up and you are ready for PowerScheduler to accept
    course requests.
    5. Click Submit.
    6. At the top of the [grade level] Request Screen Setup page, click Preview Student
    Registration Screen to review the actual output of the page. The Request Form Future page
    appears.
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    7. Click Close to return to the [grade level] Request Screen Setup Future page if you need to
    make corrections to any of the individual requirements.
    8. Click Submit. The [grade level] Request Screen Setup page appears.
    Student Course Request Entry
    Once you complete and activate student course request pages for each grade level in your school,
    students and parents or guardians can use Parent Access to enter requests. For more information
    on entering requests using Parent Access, see the section "
    How to Register for Classes
    ."
    You can also enter students' course requests in PowerScheduler. To enter student course requests
    one at a time, see either "
    How to Enter Requests in the Scheduling Area
    " or "
    How to Enter
    Student Requests by Course
    " depending on whether you are working with a student or a
    course. To enter requests for more than one student at a time, see the section "
    How to Mass
    Assign Student Course Requests
    ."
    Course requests entered in PowerScheduler appear on the requesting student's Requests Modify
    Future and Requests View Future pages in PowerSchool. In addition, administrative staff members
    can use PowerSchool to enter or delete requests for one or more students. To edit requests, see the
    section "
    How to Edit Student Course Requests
    ."
    After the initial requests are made in PowerSchool or in PowerScheduler, future course requests can
    be modified or deleted in PowerScheduler
    You may also want to manually schedule a student once his or her course requests are made. For
    more information, see the section "
    How to Manually Schedule Students
    ."
    For alternate course requests, PowerScheduler prioritizes scheduling alternates in the following
    order: associated Alternate course for a request, individual course requests with the Alternate
    checkbox selected, and global course substitutions made on the Course Information page. Any
    request with an Alternate Group Code of "E" (the only acceptable group code) can be replaced with
    any requests selected as "Alternate" according to PowerScheduler's priority for scheduling
    alternates.
    How to Activate the Student Request Forms
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Requesting, choose Screen Setup from the PowerScheduler menu. The grades menu
    displays the available grade levels.
    3. Click the name of a grade level at your school. The [grade level] Request Screen Setup page
    appears.
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    Note: The selected grade level is the grade level for the future year. For example, to activate
    the course request page for students who will be in 10th grade next year, select Grade 10.
    4. Select the "This grade may register for classes" checkbox.
    5. Click Submit. The [grade level] Request Screen Setup page appears.
    How to Enter Requests in the Scheduling Area
    In addition to the Requests Modify Future page in PowerSchool, you can use PowerScheduler to
    enter student course requests for a future school year. That school year is determined by the setting
    on the Set Schedule Year page. For more information on setting the schedule year, see the section
    "
    How to Set the Schedule Year
    ."
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
    3. Select the students you want to work with, using any of the following methods:
    •
    Click a number to select all students in a particular grade level.
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    •
    Click M or F to select all males or all females in your school.
    •
    Click the Search icon to view a list of all students and then make your selection by
    hand.
    •
    Enter a search command line to conduct your own search, such as for all students
    assigned to a particular team.
    Note: For more information, see the section "
    Schedule Search and Select
    ."
    4. Click "Select these students" so that their names appear in the students menu.
    5. Choose Requests from the pop-up menu.
    6. Click a student’s name to view his or her Requests page.
    7. Click New. The Edit Course Request [student name] page appears.
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    8. Click Associate to select the name of the course. Press and hold Command (Mac) or Control
    (Windows) to make multiple selections.
    9. Click Submit. The Requests page appears.
    10. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Number
    The number of the requested course appears.
    Course Name
    The name of the requested course appears.
    Alt
    Select this checkbox to indicate whether this is an alternate
    course request.
    Priority
    If you selected the Alternate checkbox, enter a priority number
    so the system will know which alternate to load first when a
    student does not receive the elective that he or she wants.
    Section Type
    Choose the course’s section type, if applicable, from the pop-up
    menu. For example, a student may request a bilingual section
    of a course.
    Alternate 1
    Click Associate to select the name of the first alternate for this
    course.
    Delete
    Select this checkbox to remove the course request.
    11. Click Submit. The Requests page appears.
    How to Enter Student Requests by Course
    If you are working with a course and want to enter student requests for that course, use the
    Requests function for the course.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Courses from the PowerScheduler menu. The courses menu
    appears.
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    3. Choose Requests from the pop-up menu.
    4. Click the name of the course for which you want to define course requests. The [Course
    Name] Requests page appears.
    5. Click New. The Edit Course Request: [Course Name] page appears.
    6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Student
    Click Associate to select the student for which you are making
    this request
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    Field
    Description
    this request.
    Section Type
    Choose the course’s section type, if applicable, from the pop-up
    menu. For example, a student may request a bilingual section
    of a course.
    Alternate
    Select this checkbox to indicate whether this is an alternate
    course request.
    Alternate Group Code
    If this course request cannot be met but can be replaced with
    any course request selected as "Alternate," enter
    E
    in this field.
    Alternate Priority
    This field is reserved for future functionality.
    Alternate Course 1
    Click Associate to select the name of an alternate course for this
    request.
    Alternate Course 2
    This field is reserved for future functionality.
    7. Click Submit. The [Course Name] Requests page appears.
    How to Manually Schedule Students
    Use the student's Request page to quickly and efficiently schedule a student.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
    3. Select the students you want to work with, using any of the following methods:
    •
    Click a number to select all students in a particular grade level.
    •
    Click M or F to select all males or all females in your school.
    •
    Click the Search icon to view a list of all students and then make your selection by
    hand.
    •
    Enter a search command line to conduct your own search, such as for all students
    assigned to a particular team.
    Note: For more information, see the section "
    Schedule Search and Select
    ."
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    4. Click "Select these students" so that their names appear in the students menu.
    5. Choose Requests from the pop-up menu.
    6. Click a student’s name to view his or her Requests page.
    7. Click Manually Schedule Student. The Manually Schedule Student page appears.
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    8. Select the checkboxes next to the course, term, and expression in which you want to enroll
    the student. Deselect the checkboxes next to the course, term, and expression from which
    you want to drop the student.
    Note: The student's currently scheduled classes appear in gray, available classes appear in
    green, and full classes appear in red. If an expression is gray and has a selected checkbox,
    the student is in the class. An asterisk (*) notation means that the class is full, regardless of
    color. If enrolling the student in a full class, enter the password to override the maximum
    enrollment in the field at the bottom of the page.
    9. Click Submit. The Manually Schedule Student page appears.
    Note: To refresh the page to display the last saved selections, click Reset.
    10. Click Continue. The student's Schedule page appears.
    How to Edit Student Course Requests
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
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    3. Select the students you want to work with, using any of the following methods:
    •
    Click a number to select all students in a particular grade level.
    •
    Click M or F to select all males or all females in your school.
    •
    Click the Search icon to view a list of all students and then make your selection by
    hand.
    •
    Enter a search command line to conduct your own search, such as for all students
    assigned to a particular team.
    Note: For more information, see the section "
    Schedule Search and Select
    ."
    4. Click "Select these students" so that their names appear in the students menu.
    5. Choose Requests from the pop-up menu.
    6. Click a student’s name to view his or her Requests page.
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    7. Use the following table to edit information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Number
    The number of the requested course appears.
    Course Name
    The name of the requested course appears.
    Alt
    Select this checkbox to indicate whether this is an alternate
    course request.
    Priority
    If you selected the Alternate checkbox, enter a priority number
    so the system will know which alternate to load first when a
    student does not receive the elective he or she wants.
    Section Type
    Choose the course’s section type, if applicable, from the pop-up
    menu. For example, a student may request a bilingual section
    of a course.
    Alternate 1
    Click Associate to select the name of the first alternate for this
    course.
    Delete
    Select this checkbox to remove the course request.
    8. Click Submit. The Requests page appears.
    How to Delete Student Course Requests
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
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    3. Select the students you want to work with, using any of the following methods:
    •
    Click a number to select all students in a particular grade level.
    •
    Click M or F to select all males or all females in your school.
    •
    Click the Search icon to view a list of all students and then make your selection by
    hand.
    •
    Enter a search command line to conduct your own search, such as for all students
    assigned to a particular team.
    Note: For more information, see the section "
    Schedule Search and Select
    ."
    4. Click "Select these students" so that their names appear in the students menu.
    5. Choose Requests from the pop-up menu.
    6. Click a student’s name to view his or her Requests page.
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    7. Select the Delete checkbox in the row of each course request you want to delete.
    8. Click Delete Requests. The Requests page appears.
    How to Mass Assign Student Course Requests
    It is possible that an entire grade level or group of students will need to request the same course or
    courses. If this is the case, you have the option of mass assigning course requests to these students.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
    3. Select the students you want to work with, using any of the following methods:
    •
    Click a number to select all students in a particular grade level.
    •
    Click M or F to select all males or all females in your school.
    •
    Click the Search icon to view a list of all students and then make your selection by
    hand.
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    •
    Enter a search command line to conduct your own search, such as for all students
    assigned to a particular team.
    Note: For more information, see the section "
    Schedule Search and Select
    ."
    4. On the Selected Students page, click Functions. The Scheduling Functions page appears.
    5. Click Mass Add Requests. The Mass Add Requests page appears.
    6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number
    Click Associate to select the number of the course you want to
    assign to the group of students you selected.
    Section Type
    Choose the course’s section type, if applicable, from the pop-up
    menu. For example, these students may request a bilingual
    section of a course.
    Request Type
    Choose the type of request from the pop-up menu:
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    Field
    Description
    •
    Required
    •
    Elective
    •
    Alternate
    Priority
    If you selected Alternate in the Request Type field, enter a
    priority for the request. The lower the number, the higher the
    priority and the more likely these students will be scheduled
    into this alternate class.
    7. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    How to Mass Delete Student Course Requests
    After student course requests have been entered, you may find that due to a data entry error, an
    entire group of students was assigned to the wrong course. Alternatively, perhaps there is not
    enough money in the budget to hold a particular course next year. In these and other similar
    situations, you have the option of mass deleting student course requests.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
    3. Select the students you want to work with, using any of the following methods:
    •
    Click a number to select all students in a particular grade level.
    •
    Click M or F to select all males or all females in your school.
    •
    Click the Search icon to view a list of all students and then make your selection by
    hand.
    •
    Enter a search command line to conduct your own search, such as for all students
    assigned to a particular team.
    Note: For more information, see the section "
    Schedule Search and Select
    ."
    4. On the Selected Students page, click Functions. The Scheduling Functions page appears.
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    5. Click Mass Delete Requests. The Mass Delete Requests page appears.
    6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number
    Click Associate to select the number of the course you want to
    delete from the group of students you selected.
    Section Type
    Click Associate to select the section type, if appropriate. This
    ensures that only requests of the selected course that have this
    section type will be deleted.
    Alternate
    Select this checkbox to delete only requests for this course that
    are selected as "Alternate."
    What to Delete
    Choose whether you want to apply the changes to the first
    occurrence or all occurrences of students' course requests.
    Deleting only the first occurrence of a request is useful for
    removing duplicate student course requests.
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    7. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    Course Information
    You need to define scheduling preferences for each course in your course catalog. These
    preferences control how PowerSchool builds your master schedule. See the section "
    Course
    Scheduling Setup
    ."
    The process the system uses to schedule students in courses is similar to building walls. The master
    schedule is the wheelbarrow of available bricks. Each brick used to build the walls are the course
    sections in your course catalog. A good master schedule will have enough bricks with appropriate
    shapes and sizes to build solid walls for every student.
    Building walls without gaps requires that the bricks all fit together. If your bricks come in different
    shapes, this can be a challenge. For example, a course that meets every day, all year long, will have
    a very different shape from another course that meets every other day for a semester. Building a
    wall with all types of bricks requires that the wheelbarrow (master schedule) contain the right
    variety of bricks (course sections) from which to choose.
    Course Scheduling Setup
    For each course, define its shape, or build type. You must also define sections, room requirements,
    load options, and substitute information.
    How to Define Scheduling Preferences
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Courses from the PowerScheduler menu. The courses menu
    appears.
    3. Choose Preferences from the pop-up menu.
    4. Click the name of the course for which you want to define course information. The Course
    Information page appears.
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    5. Note the General Information and Scheduling Preferences sections.
    6. Use the following table to enter information in the General Information and Scheduling
    Preferences fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number
    The number that will be used to identify this course.
    Course Name
    The name of the course.
    Credit Hours
    Enter the number of credits a student receives for taking this
    course.
    Credit Type
    The type of credit a student receives for passing this course,
    such as MATH, ENG, or FINE.
    Alternate Course
    Number
    The alternate course number, if your school uses this field for
    state reporting or district purposes.
    Grade Scale
    The grade scale associated with this course.
    CIP Code
    In some states, schools use CIP codes to identify courses as part
    of a state-managed vocational program.
    Vocational Class
    Indicates if this is a vocational course.
    Schedule This Course
    If you select this checkbox, the system schedules this course in
    the master schedule. If you deselect this checkbox, the system
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    Field
    Description
    does not include the course in the master schedule.
    Use The Course For
    Lunch
    Select this checkbox if you want this course to be scheduled for
    a lunch period. For more information, see the section
    “Scheduled Lunch.”
    Exclude on Report
    Cards/Transcripts
    Select this checkbox if you do not want this course to appear
    on report cards and transcripts. For example, you may not want
    courses designated for lunch to appear on students' reports.
    Department
    Click Associate to select the department to which this course
    belongs. Click Department to create a new department or edit
    an existing one.
    Build Type
    Build types define the shape of a course. Choose one of the
    following options from the pop-up menu:
    •
    Standard: This course meets for the same number of
    periods every time it meets. For example, a course that
    meets everyday for one period is standard.
    A course that meets for one period every other day is also
    standard.
    •
    Lab: This is a standard course that meets for the same
    number of consecutive extra period(s) on certain days
    in the cycle. For example, a standard Chemistry course
    meets everyday in a six-day cycle (Days A-F). Two days
    in the cycle, the class meets for two consecutive periods
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    Field
    Description
    to complete an involved laboratory assignment.
    •
    LabFloat: This is a standard course that meets extra
    period(s) some days in the cycle, but the extra period is
    not consecutive to the course. For example, a
    Humanities course meets everyday in a six-day cycle.
    One day during the cycle, the students attend a two-
    period lab in which they complete a community service
    assignment. The community service assignment does
    not have to occur directly before or after the
    Humanities course.
    Full Catalog Description
    Enter a detailed course description that will appear in the
    printed version of the course catalog.
    Maximum Enrollment
    Enter the maximum number of students you want the system
    to schedule in sections of this course.
    7. Note the Sections Defined section.
    8. Use the following table to enter information in the Sections Defined fields:
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    Field
    Description
    Sections Offered
    Enter the number of sections to schedule for this course.
    Periods Per Cycle
    The number of periods this course meets in the cycle appears.
    This number could be greater than or less than the number of
    days in the cycle. For example, a course could have a value of 4
    in the Periods Per Cycle field for a school with a two-days-per-
    cycle schedule. This course meets for two periods during each
    day in the cycle. Another way to express periods per cycle is:
    Periods per meeting * Frequency + Lab Periods per meeting *
    Lab frequency = Periods per cycle.
    Periods Per Meeting
    Enter the number of periods this course section meets each
    time it convenes. Most courses meet for a single period. Some
    courses have an intensive curriculum and may convene for two
    or more periods per meeting.
    Frequency
    The number of days this course meets during a cycle appears.
    For example, Senior Gym is held A day and B day. Therefore, the
    frequency is 2. It is important to understand that the frequency
    of a course is not related to the number of periods it meets
    within a given cycle. The following is the schedule for Industrial
    Technology.
    The total number of periods this course meets within the cycle
    (Periods Per Cycle) is 4. The frequency of this course is 2 (meets
    A day and B day).
    Terms per Year
    The number of terms per year this course meets appears. This
    value is automatically calculated. For example, Introduction to
    Art has a Terms Per Year value of 1. This means that a section of
    this course only meets for a single term. However, Freshman
    English has a Terms Per Year value of 4, which means this
    course meets all four terms in the year.
    Terms Per Year is related to the number of terms you set in the
    build scenario. Remember that the Terms Per Year value equals
    the lowest common denominator (LCD) of all scheduling terms.
    For example, if a school has trimesters, semesters and quarters,
    the LCD is 12. For a semester course, the Terms Per Year value
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    Field
    Description
    would be 6, or half of the schedule terms; a trimester course
    would have a Terms Per Year value of 4, and a quarterly course
    would have a Terms Per Year value of 3.
    Allow Student Repeats in
    Same Term
    Select this checkbox to allow the system to schedule a student
    in more than one section of this course in the same term. For
    example, occasionally students need to double-up on a course
    within the same term. This is usually done for elective courses,
    such as Work Release.
    Allow Student Repeats in
    Different Terms
    Select this checkbox to allow the system to schedule a student
    in more than one section of this course in different terms. Use
    this option for either academic or elective courses.
    Balance Terms
    For courses with more than one section, select this checkbox if
    you want the system to attempt to place an equal number of
    sections in each valid term. For example, a course consisting of
    13 sections is only offered during Term 1 and Term 3 in a four-
    term year. Therefore, the system schedules seven sections in
    one term and six sections in the other.
    Valid Start Periods
    Select the checkbox next to the appropriate period(s) to
    determine in which period(s) the course is valid to start. For
    example, if you want a course that has two periods per meeting
    to start any period except 6 or 7 in a seven-period day, select
    the checkboxes next to Period 1, Period 2, Period 3, Period 4,
    and Period 5.
    Valid Terms
    Click Associate to select the terms this course can meet. For
    example, assume you want the system to schedule a half-year
    course in the fall of a four-term school year. Select S1 (first
    semester) as the only valid term for this course.
    Valid Day Combinations
    Enter the valid days that this course can meet. For example, if a
    teacher is available to teach a course only on the B day of an AB
    schedule, enter B. Click Day to add or edit a day. Enclose
    multiple entries in parentheses and separate multiple entries
    with commas, such as (A,B). Use dashes to in day combinations,
    such as (A-C).
    9. Note the lab section.
    10. Use the following table to enter information in the lab fields:
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    Field
    Description
    Is This Course A Lab
    Select this checkbox if this course is a lab.
    Lab Frequency
    Enter the number of days this lab meets during a cycle.
    Lab Periods Per Meeting
    Enter the number of periods this lab meets each time it meets.
    Valid Lab Day
    Combinations
    Click Associate to select the valid days that this lab can meet.
    Click Day to add or edit a day. Enclose multiple entries in
    parentheses and separate multiple entries with commas, such
    as (A,B).
    11. Note the facilities section.
    12. Use the following table to enter information in the facilities fields:
    Field
    Description
    Facilities
    Click Associate to select the special facilities this course
    requires, if any. For example, a facility could be a piano, biology
    lab, or wood shop. If you define a facility here, the system
    schedules this course in a room that contains that facility. Click
    Facilities to add or edit a facility.
    13. Note the Load Options section.
    14. Use the following table to enter information in the Load Options fields:
    Field
    Description
    Load Priority
    Enter a numerical value of 1 to 99 (1 being the highest priority)
    to prioritize in which course the system should schedule a
    student when a conflict between two of the student’s requests
    arises.
    You can enter the same load priority number for several
    courses. For example, enter a load priority of 10 for all academic
    courses to ensure that students are loaded into these courses
    first, 20 for academic electives, and 30 for non-academic
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    Field
    Description
    electives.
    Note: If this course has a Section Link constraint associated with
    it, you may want to give it the highest load priority to prevent
    the section link from being broken.
    Load Type
    Use the pop-up menu to choose whether this is an academic,
    elective, or alternate course. The system uses this classification
    to balance the types of courses in which the student is
    scheduled during a schedule term.
    For example, if your school’s scheduling terms are semesters,
    the system does not schedule the student in all elective courses
    the first semester and all academic courses the second
    semester.
    Balance Priority
    Use this pop-up menu to set a secondary priority for the course
    when loading student schedules. The primary priority is
    determined by the load priority field.
    The following settings create an additional priority. For
    example, if you choose Grade from the pop-up menu, the
    system not only attempts to keep an equal number of students
    in each section, but also an equal number from all grade levels.
    The default setting for loading students into the master
    schedule is Section. Use the pop-up menu to choose one of the
    following options to ensure a balance of students in each
    section (optional):
    •
    Section: When loading students into sections, the
    system always attempts to keep an even number of
    students among sections.
    •
    Gender: Balanced number of males and females in each
    section
    •
    Grade: Balanced number of students from each grade
    level within each section
    •
    EthnicCode: Balanced number of students with different
    ethnic codes within each section
    •
    House: Balanced number of members from each house
    within each section
    Use Pre-Established
    Teams
    Select this checkbox if you want the system to reference teams
    when scheduling students into this course.
    Close Section After Max
    Select this checkbox if you want the system to stop scheduling
    students in a section of this course after the enrollment reaches
    the number you defined in the Maximum Enrollment field.
    Use Section Types
    Select this checkbox if you want the system to schedule courses
    according to section types For more information on section
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    Field
    Description
    according to section types. For more information on section
    types, see the section "
    Section Types
    ."
    15. Note the global substitution section.
    16. Use the following table to enter information in the global substitution fields:
    Field
    Description
    Don't Allow Course
    Student Substitutions
    Select this checkbox if you want the system to attempt to
    schedule a student in alternate courses if this course is full.
    Global Substitution 1
    Click Associate to select the first course substitution you want
    the system to schedule for every student who cannot be
    scheduled in this course.
    Global Substitution 2
    Click Associate to select the second course substitution you
    want the system to schedule for every student who cannot be
    scheduled in this course. The system will use this substitution if
    Global Substitution 1 is no longer available.
    Global Substitution 3
    Click Associate to select the third course substitution you want
    the system to schedule for every student who cannot be
    scheduled in this course. The system will use this substitution if
    Global Substitution 2 is no longer available.
    17. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    How to Define Related Courses
    For each course, you can define related courses. The system uses these course relationships when
    building the schedule. Relate courses to alert the system that it must consider other courses when
    determining the best place for a course in the master schedule.
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    For example, if a teacher can instruct multiple special education courses at one time in the same
    room, you can relate the courses so that the system knows it is possible to do so.
    If you define a relationship for a course with another course, you do not have to define the
    relationship for both courses. But, you can define the relationship for both courses so that it is easy
    to identify this relationship regardless of which course you are viewing.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Courses from the PowerScheduler menu. The courses menu
    appears.
    3. Choose Relationships from the pop-up menu.
    4. Click the name of the course for which you want to define a relationship.
    5. On the Course Relationships page, click New. The Edit Course Relationship page appears.
    6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number
    Click Associate to select the number of the course for which
    you want to define a relationship.
    Relationship Type
    Use the pop-up menu to choose one of the following options:
    •
    Block: Courses that must be related to one another in
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    Field
    Description
    the schedule. For example, you may want pottery to be
    scheduled before or after ceramics so that they can
    share a hot kiln. Alternatively, a medieval literature class
    may follow a medieval history class.
    •
    Concurrent: Courses that can meet at the same time, in
    the same place, and be taught by the same teacher. For
    example, a special education teacher might have a class
    of ten students, three of whom are taking remedial
    reading and the remainder of whom study remedial
    vocabulary and spelling.
    Note: When two courses are blocked simultaneously and share
    the same teacher(s), there is no need to add a concurrent
    relationship between the two courses. Also, the
    PowerScheduler engine propagates concurrent relationships
    amongst courses that share a concurrent relationship. For
    example, if Course A has a concurrent relationship with Course
    B and Course B has a concurrent relationship with Course C,
    there is no need to add a concurrent relationship between
    Course A and Course C.
    •
    Coreq: Two courses that are scheduled during the same
    term of a student’s schedule.
    •
    Postreq: A course that must be in a student’s schedule
    in a term after the related course. The course you
    associate using the Course Number field must be
    scheduled before the currently selected course. For
    example, Course B is a postrequisite of Course A. When
    the system schedules a student for these courses, it
    ensures that Course B is scheduled into a term after the
    student is scheduled for Course A.
    •
    Prereq: A course that must be in a student’s schedule in
    a term before the related course. The course you
    associate using the Course Number field must be
    scheduled after the currently selected course. For
    example, Course A is a prerequisite of Course B. When
    the system schedules a student for these courses, it
    ensures that Course A is scheduled into a term before a
    student is scheduled for Course B.
    Note: Coreq, Postreq, and Prereq only relate to the
    current scheduling year. The system does not check
    historical data for previous courses.
    Relationship Code
    If you selected a relationship type of Block, you must define a
    relationship code. Use the pop-up menu to choose one of the
    following options:
    •
    Simultaneous: The blocked course must be scheduled at
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    Field
    Description
    the same time as the current course. If the same teacher
    instructs both courses, they must also be concurrent.
    Simultaneously blocked courses can have different
    attributes, such as numbers of sections, different
    frequencies, and different teachers. The courses can be
    scheduled at the same time with different teachers in
    different rooms.
    Note: The PowerScheduler engine propagates
    simultaneous relationships amongst courses that share
    a simultaneous relationship and have the same number
    of sections. For example, if Course A is blocked
    simultaneously with Course B, Course B is blocked
    simultaneously with Course C, and courses A, B, and C
    have the same number of sections, there is no need to
    add a simultaneous block relationship between Course
    A and Course C.
    •
    BeforeAfter: The blocked course must be scheduled
    either before or after the current course.
    •
    Before: The selected course must be scheduled before
    the course you associate using the Course Number field.
    The blocked course selected in the Course Number field
    must be scheduled after the current course.
    •
    After: The selected course must be scheduled after the
    course you associate using the Course Number field.
    The blocked course selected in the Course Number field
    must be scheduled before the current course.
    •
    Term: Two courses occur on the same days and periods,
    but in different terms.
    •
    Combine: Combine courses that have different student
    requests but have the same teacher and the same
    attributes, such as frequency, periods per meeting, valid
    start periods, and number of sections. Since the
    PowerScheduler engine processes combined courses as
    a single course, select an "anchor" course in the Course
    Number field from which you can combine additional
    courses. For example, a combined block relationship is
    applied to English I, English II, English III, which are all
    are taught by the same teacher but were requested by
    different students. Those three courses will be
    scheduled at the same time with the same teacher in
    the same room. When editing course relationships for
    English II and English III, associated English I as the
    anchor course for each combined relationship.
    •
    Opposite Days: Two courses occur during the
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    Field
    Description
    same period and term, but on alternate days.
    •
    Section: The blocked course must have the
    same students in each section as the current
    course. For example, all students in section 1 of
    the blocked course must be in section 1 of the
    current course.
    7. Click Submit. The Course Relationships page appears.
    Calculate Sections
    Use the Calculate Sections page if you want the system to calculate the number of sections of a
    course. When calculating the number of sections needed for each course, PowerScheduler divides
    the total number of requests for that course by the maximum enrollment per section. Any
    remainders in this calculation are rounded up to provide the necessary number of sections for the
    number of requests. For example, if 215 students request a Biology course and the maximum
    number of students in each section is 25, the system calculates a need for 9 sections of Biology.
    Before you continue, you must enter a value in the Maximum Enrollment field on the Course
    Information page. For more information, see the section "
    How to Define Scheduling
    Preferences
    ."
    How to Calculate Sections
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Functions page, click Calculate Sections. The Calculate Sections page
    appears.
    4. Select the checkbox to verify this command.
    5. Click Submit.
    Note: The Calculate Sections function calculates the number of course sections needed for
    all of the courses in your active course catalog. Be sure to enter scheduling preferences for
    all of your courses before using this function.
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    Teacher Scheduling Information
    You must enter and define scheduling setup information for every teacher who instructs at least
    one course at your school. In addition, you can assign teachers to the courses they will be teaching.
    See the sections "
    Teacher Scheduling Setup
    " and "
    Teacher Assignments
    ."
    Teacher Scheduling Setup
    To set up teachers for scheduling, set teacher scheduling preferences and view teacher constraints
    to determine if the constraints need to be modified.
    How to Set Teacher Scheduling Preferences
    When you set teacher scheduling preferences, there are a few fields that lend themselves to mass
    updating, such as "Use for Scheduling." However, because the majority of the information needs to
    be set individually, it does not make sense to use the Update Selections tool in this area in most
    cases.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. The teachers menu
    displays the names of all of the teachers at your school.
    3. Choose Preferences from the pop-up menu.
    4. Click the name of the teacher whose scheduling preferences you want to set. That teacher’s
    Scheduling Preferences page appears.
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Department
    Click Associate to select this teacher’s department.
    Preferred Room
    Click Associate to select this teacher’s classroom.
    The system always attempts to schedule courses assigned to
    this teacher in his or her preferred classroom first.
    Maximum Consecutive
    Periods
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the maximum number of
    periods this teacher can teach in a row (according to his or her
    contract).
    Schedule This Teacher
    Select this checkbox if you want the system to include this
    teacher when scheduling.
    Note: If you deselect this checkbox, the system will not include
    this teacher in the schedule build process.
    Is Always Free?
    Select this checkbox to allow this teacher to be scheduled for
    an unlimited number of courses during the same period. For
    example, some special education teachers teach different
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    Field
    Description
    subjects to different students in the same room during the
    same period.
    Schedule For Lunch
    Select this checkbox if you want this teacher to be scheduled
    for a lunch period. For more information, see the section
    “
    Scheduled Lunch
    .”
    Building Code (optional)
    Click Associate to select this teacher’s building.
    House Code (optional)
    Click Associate to select this teacher’s house.
    Team Code (optional)
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the team to which you want
    this teacher to belong.
    Note: If there is a number to the right of the blank Team Code
    pop-up menu, the teacher was previously associated with a
    team at a different school. You must clear the Team Code field
    using the
    Update Selections
    function.
    6. Click Submit. The Teacher Scheduling Preferences page displays the information you
    entered.
    7. Repeat Steps 4-6 for every teacher at your school who will be instructing at least one course
    next schedule year.
    How to View Teacher Constraints
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. The teachers menu
    appears.
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    3. Choose Constraints from the pop-up menu.
    4. Click the name of the teacher whose constraints you want to view. The Teacher Constraints
    page appears.
    Note: For information about how to add, modify, or delete a teacher’s constraints, see the
    section "
    Build Constraints
    ."
    Teacher Assignments
    Creating teacher assignments is a very important part of the scheduling process. Teacher
    assignments define which courses and how many sections of each course a teacher will instruct.
    To enter teacher assignments, use one of the following methods:
    •
    Select a teacher, enter all of his or her assignments, and go to the next teacher.
    •
    Select a course, enter the teacher(s) who will be teaching it, and go to the next course.
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    If you enter or edit an assignment for a teacher or course, the system automatically updates the
    information in both places.
    How to Assign Teachers to Courses
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. The teachers menu
    appears.
    3. Choose Assignments from the pop-up menu.
    4. Click the name of the teacher to whom you want to assign courses.
    5. Click New. That teacher’s Edit Teacher Assignment page appears.
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    6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number
    Click Associate to select a course from the active course catalog.
    Section Type
    If appropriate for the course you selected, use the pop-up
    menu to choose the section type (such as Spanish or SPED) you
    want to assign to this teacher.
    If you use section types, you must indicate which teachers
    teach what section types. For example, if Teacher A teaches the
    Spanish section (section type) of course 100, choose Spanish
    and enter 1 in the "Number of Sections" field.
    If Teacher B teaches two sections of course 100, with only one
    of them being a Spanish section type, you need to create two
    teacher assignments. For one, choose Spanish and enter 1 in
    the "Number of Sections" field; for the other, leave the Section
    Type field blank and enter 1 in the "Number of Sections" field.
    Number of Sections
    Enter the number of sections of the course this teacher will
    instruct.
    Schedule Term Code
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the schedule term in which
    this course is taught.
    Note: This field only applies to courses that are not full-year
    courses.
    For example, assume one teacher is instructing three sections
    of a single semester course. If you want two sections to meet
    Semester 1 and one section to meet Semester 2, enter two
    teacher assignments for the course. For one assignment,
    choose S1 in this field and enter 2 in the "Number of Sections"
    field. For the other, choose S2 in this field and enter 1 in the
    "Number of Sections" field.
    If you do not choose a term, the system decides in which term
    to schedule the course.
    7. Click Submit. The teacher’s Teacher Assignments page appears.
    How to Assign Courses to Teachers
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Courses from the PowerScheduler menu. The courses menu
    appears.
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    3. Choose Assignments from the pop-up menu.
    4. Click the name of the course you want to assign to a particular teacher. Any teacher
    assignments previously entered for this course appear.
    5. Click New. The Edit Course Assignment [course name] page appears.
    6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
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    Field
    Description
    Teacher
    Click Associate to select the name of the teacher to whom you
    want to assign this course.
    Section Type
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the section type (such as
    Spanish or SPED) you want to assign to this teacher, if
    applicable.
    If you use section types, you must indicate which teachers
    teach which section types. For example, if Teacher A teaches
    the Spanish section (section type) of course 100, choose
    Spanish and enter 1 in the "Number of Sections" field.
    If Teacher B teaches two sections of course 100, with only one
    of them being a Spanish section type, you need to create two
    teacher assignments. For one, choose Spanish and enter 1 in
    the "Number of Sections" field; for the other, leave the Section
    Type field blank and enter 1 in the "Number of Sections" field.
    Number of Sections
    Enter the number of sections of the course this teacher will
    instruct.
    Schedule Term Code
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the appropriate schedule term
    in which the course is taught.
    Note: This field only applies to courses that are not full-year
    courses.
    For example, assume one teacher is instructing three sections
    of a single semester course. If you want two sections to meet
    Semester 1 and one section to meet Semester 2, enter two
    teacher assignments for the course. For one assignment,
    choose Semester 1 in this field and enter 2 in the "Number of
    Sections" field. For the other, choose Semester 2 in this field
    and enter 1 in the "Number of Sections" field.
    If you do not select a term, the system decides in which term to
    schedule the course.
    7. Click Submit. The [course name] page appears.
    How to View Teacher Assignments
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. The teachers menu
    appears.
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    3. Choose Assignments from the pop-up menu.
    4. Click the name of the teacher whose assignments you want to view. The Teacher
    Assignments page appears.
    Note: To edit or delete a teacher assignment, click the course number on the Teacher
    Assignments page or the teacher name on the [course name] page. Edit the assignment
    and click Submit, or click Delete to remove the assignment.
    Teacher Schedule
    View a teacher's schedule, including courses, sections, and enrollment per section. You can add or
    delete sections from a teacher's schedule. In addition, you can modify a section, such as locking it
    to prevent the section from being changed when the system rebuilds the master schedule.
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    How to Add a Section to a Teacher Schedule
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. The teachers menu
    appears.
    3. Choose Schedule from the pop-up menu.
    4. Click the name of the teacher to whom you want to assign sections. The teacher's schedule
    page appears.
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    5. Click New. That teacher’s Edit Section page appears.
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    6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
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    Field
    Description
    Teacher name
    The name of the selected teacher appears.
    Course Number
    Click Associate to select a course from the active course catalog.
    Term
    Choose the term for the course from the pop-up menu.
    Schedule
    Select the checkbox(es) for the expressions for the appropriate
    days on which the staff member teaches this section.
    Note: The schedule expression is the combination of period(s)
    and day(s).
    Room
    Click Associate to select a room in which the staff member
    teaches this section.
    Section number
    Enter a unique section number for this section. Select the
    Locked Section checkbox if the section should not be
    rescheduled during the next build.
    Grade Level
    Enter the grade level of this section.
    Current enrollment
    The current enrollment of students in this section appears.
    Maximum enrollment
    Enter the maximum number of students that can enroll in this
    section.
    Team
    Choose the team associated with this section from the pop-up
    menu.
    House
    Click Associate to select a team to which this section belongs.
    Where Taught
    Enter the school ID if the section is taught at a different school.
    Block Class
    If this section is a block class, enter the periods that this section
    spans. Separate period numbers with commas.
    Dependent sections
    Enter any dependent sections for this section. Separate multiple
    sections with commas.
    Exclude From
    Attendance
    Select this checkbox if you do not want to include this section
    in the student ADM/ADA counts.
    Grade Scale
    Choose the grade scale from the pop-up menu.
    Exclude from GPA?
    Select the option to either include or exclude the grade from
    the GPA calculation.
    Exclude from class rank?
    Select the option to either include or exclude the grade from
    the class rank calculation.
    Exclude from honor roll?
    Select the option to either include or exclude the grade from
    the honor roll calculation
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    Field
    Description
    the honor roll calculation.
    7. Click Submit. The teacher’s Schedule page displays the new section.
    How to Edit a Section on a Teacher Schedule
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. The teachers menu
    appears.
    3. Choose Schedule from the pop-up menu.
    4. Click the name of the teacher whose schedule you want to edit. The teacher's schedule
    page appears.
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    Note: Click the number in the Size column to view the class roster for the section.
    5. Click the number in the Section # column for the section you want to edit. That teacher’s
    Edit Section page appears.
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    6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
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    Field
    Description
    Teacher name
    The name of the selected teacher appears.
    Course Number
    Click Associate to select a course from the active course catalog.
    Term
    Choose the term for the course from the pop-up menu.
    Schedule
    Select the checkbox(es) for the expressions for the appropriate
    days on which the staff member teaches this section.
    Note: The schedule expression is the combination of period(s)
    and day(s).
    Room
    Click Associate to select a room in which the staff member
    teaches this section.
    Section number
    Enter a unique section number for this section. Select the
    Locked Section checkbox if the section should not be
    rescheduled during the next build.
    Grade Level
    Enter the grade level of this section.
    Current enrollment
    The current enrollment of students in this section appears.
    Maximum enrollment
    Enter the maximum number of students that can enroll in this
    section.
    Team
    Choose the team associated with this section from the pop-up
    menu.
    House
    Click Associate to select a team to which this section belongs.
    Where Taught
    Enter the school ID if the section is taught at a different school.
    Block Class
    If this section is a block class, enter the periods that this section
    spans. Separate period numbers with commas.
    Dependent sections
    Enter any dependent sections for this section. Separate multiple
    sections with commas.
    Exclude From
    Attendance
    Select this checkbox if you do not want to include this section
    in the student ADM/ADA counts.
    Grade Scale
    Choose the grade scale from the pop-up menu.
    Exclude from GPA?
    Select the option to either include or exclude the grade from
    the GPA calculation.
    Exclude from class rank?
    Select the option to either include or exclude the grade from
    the class rank calculation.
    Exclude from honor roll?
    Select the option to either include or exclude the grade from
    the honor roll calculation
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    Field
    Description
    the honor roll calculation.
    7. Click Submit. The teacher’s Schedule page displays the edited section.
    How to Delete a Section From a Teacher Schedule
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. The teachers menu
    appears.
    3. Choose Schedule from the pop-up menu.
    4. Click the name of the teacher whose schedule you want to edit. The teacher's schedule
    page appears.
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    Note: Click the number in the Size column to view the class roster for the section.
    5. Click the number in the Section # column for the section you want to delete. That teacher’s
    Edit Section page appears.
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    6. Click Delete. The Selection Deleted page appears.
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    Teacher Schedule Matrix
    The teacher matrix function creates a visual, graphical representation of a teacher's schedule. This
    schedule can be printed, though not for more than one teacher at a time.
    How to View the Teacher Schedule Matrix
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. The teachers menu
    displays the names of all of the teachers at your school.
    3. Choose Matrix from the pop-up menu.
    4. Choose the teacher's name from the main menu. The Teacher Schedule Matrix page
    appears.
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    The Teacher Schedule Matrix displays the teacher's schedule for each period and day in each term.
    Identical colors on the schedule indicate the same section. A blank block means that nothing is
    scheduled for that block in that term. If all matrix preferences are selected, each block includes the
    following information:
    •
    Name of the course
    •
    Course number
    •
    Section number
    •
    Room number
    •
    Expression, which is the combination of period(s) and day(s)
    •
    Year term
    •
    Number of students scheduled for this section and the maximum enrollment of this
    section
    To change the matrix preferences, see the section "
    How to Set Teacher Schedule
    Matrix Preferences
    ."
    How to Set Teacher Schedule Matrix Preferences
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. The teachers menu
    displays the names of all of the teachers at your school.
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    3. Choose Matrix from the pop-up menu.
    4. Choose the teacher's name from the teachers menu. The Teacher Schedule Matrix page
    appears.
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    5. Click Matrix Preferences. The Teacher Schedule Matrix Preferences page appears.
    6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Name
    Select this checkbox to display the course name.
    Course Number.Section
    Number
    Select this checkbox to display the course and section numbers.
    Room
    Select this checkbox to display the room number.
    Expression Term
    Select this checkbox to display the expression, which is the
    period and day combination.
    Enrollment
    Select this checkbox to display enrollment information, which is
    the number of students enrolled and the maximum enrollment.
    7. Click Submit. The Teacher Schedule Matrix page displays the items selected on the Teacher
    Schedule Matrix Preferences page.
    Scheduled Lunch
    To schedule time for lunch or teacher-supervised breaks in your school's master schedule, create
    lunch sections. Lunch sections are sections of a course that has been designated for lunch periods.
    To schedule students for lunch, a lunch course request must exist for each student before loading
    student schedules.
    Start by creating a lunch course in PowerScheduler, indicating that it will be used exclusively for
    scheduled lunches. Then, create sections for that course. Select the period(s) that each section of
    the lunch course will span and the day(s) on which it occurs. For more information on specifying
    that a course is used for scheduling lunch, see the section "
    Course Scheduling Setup
    ."
    For each section of a lunch course, PowerScheduler can assign a teacher to supervise during
    lunchtime. If supervision is not necessary, scheduling teachers for lunch ensures that the teachers
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    will have time set aside for their own lunch break. Teachers can be assigned to only one lunch
    section per day, though that section can span several periods. Teachers are scheduled for one
    section of the lunch course for each day combination and term specified by the lunch course.
    For example, a five-day, quarterly schedule where lunch can be periods 3, 5, or 7, set up the lunch
    course with a frequency of five, valid terms for each quarter, and valid start periods selected for 3, 5
    and 7. Each teacher can be scheduled for one of 20 lunch sections (one for each day and term) that
    will start in either period 3, 5, or 7 in the respective day and term combination. For more
    information on scheduling a teacher for lunch, see the section "
    Teacher Scheduling Setup
    ."
    Students can also request lunch courses. Each student must request the lunch course for each day
    combination and term. Students will be loaded into lunch sections that have no assigned teacher.
    Using the earlier example, students also have 60 sections in which they can be scheduled (three per
    day per term).
    Though PowerScheduler schedules lunch courses in the same manner as other courses, you can
    filter lunch courses for certain reports and functions. When defining course scheduling preferences,
    specify that the course is excluded from report cards and transcripts. The course will not appear on
    those object reports. Also, lunch courses are not included in functions such as splitting year-long
    courses and exporting information to PowerGrade.
    If you use the lunch functionality for any other teacher scheduling purpose, remember that you can
    only have one lunch course and that it must follow the same rules as scheduled lunch. That is, there
    should be only one period of time each day of the year in which teachers are assigned to this
    activity.
    Automated Study Hall
    The Automated Study Hall function provides study hall periods to students with incomplete
    schedules. Automated Study Hall creates a study hall course and sections, into which students,
    teachers, and rooms are scheduled.
    How to Run the Automated Study Hall Function
    Perform this function only after you build and load a master schedule. Also, set up a Study Hall
    course before creating study hall sections. For more information, see the section "
    New Courses
    ."
    To set up study hall for a selected group of students, first select the group of students. For more
    information, see the section "
    Schedule Search and Select
    ."
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose Automated Study Hall from the PowerScheduler menu. The
    Automated Study Hall Parameters page appears.
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    3. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Run For
    Choose whether you want to set up study hall sections for all
    students or only for the selected students.
    Terms
    Click Associate to select the terms in which you want to set up
    study hall sections. The terms available include only those
    terms in the active scenario.
    Course
    Click Associate to select a course from which you will create
    study hall sections. The courses available include only those
    courses in the active catalog.
    Rooms Allowed
    Click Associate to select the room(s) that can be used for study
    hall sections. The rooms available include only those that are
    selected to be scheduled and are associated with the selected
    school.
    Select the "Allow Multiple Sections Per Room" checkbox if there
    can be more than one section in a particular room at the same
    time.
    Teachers Allowed
    Click Associate to select the teacher(s) that can be scheduled
    for study hall sections The teachers available include only those
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    Field
    Description
    for study hall sections. The teachers available include only those
    that are selected to be scheduled and are associated with the
    selected school.
    Select the "Allow Exceed Max-in-a-Row for Teachers" checkbox
    if you want to override the maximum number of periods in a
    row on a teacher's schedule.
    Max Number of Students
    per Section
    Enter the maximum number of students that can be scheduled
    into a study hall section.
    Periods Allowed
    Click Associate to select the period(s) in which study hall
    sections can be scheduled. The periods available include only
    those in the active scenario.
    Day Pattern List
    Click Add and select a day pattern on which study hall sections
    can be scheduled. That way, PowerScheduler can be more
    efficient by setting up study hall sections that span multiple
    days, if possible.
    For example, a five-day schedule could include the day patterns
    MWF, TR, and MTF. PowerScheduler would first find the
    students that have free periods that fit a given day pattern.
    Then, for each period in the master schedule, it creates the
    appropriate number of study hall sections that occur on each
    day in the day pattern. Assuming the maximum number of
    students per section is 25, the day pattern MWF would produce
    the following study hall sections:
    Click Add for each day pattern you want to identify. Click
    Modify or Delete to edit or remove a day pattern. If you do not
    add any day patterns, PowerScheduler will create a unique
    study hall section for each day and period in the schedule.
    4. Click Create. The Automated Study Hall Parameters page appears.
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    How to View the Automated Study Hall Results Log
    After setting up study hall parameters, you can view the results of the study hall setup.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose Automated Study Hall from the PowerScheduler menu. The
    Automated Study Hall Parameters page appears.
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    3. Click "View last results log." The Automated Study Hall - Results Log page displays the date
    and time the of the last study hall run and the parameters and values set for that run.
    Note: For descriptions of these parameters, see the section "
    How to Run the Automated
    Study Hall Function
    ."
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    The following information appears in the Results section of the Automated Study Hall -
    Results Log page:
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    Field
    Description
    Total students fully
    scheduled
    The number of students who had all unscheduled time filled
    with study hall sections as a result of the last run of Automated
    Study Hall.
    Total students with
    unscheduled time
    The number of students who did not have all unscheduled time
    filled with study hall sections as a result of the last run of
    Automated Study Hall.
    [Study Hall Sections]
    For each study hall section created, the following information
    appears:
    •
    Section #
    •
    Expression
    •
    Term
    •
    Teacher
    •
    Room
    •
    Size
    4. Click Back to return to the Automated Study Hall Parameters page.
    Build Constraints Overview
    Build constraints restrict the way the system schedules a course in the master schedule. Use
    constraints to tell the system exactly how you want to build your schedule.
    PowerSchool contains ten types of build constraints you can define. Use each constraint to
    constrain the schedule in a specific way. For example, use a Teacher Free constraint if you want the
    football coach to have a free period at the end of the day during the fall semester. Alternatively, to
    preschedule the Wind Ensemble course at a particular time and place, use a Pre-Schedule
    constraint.
    Note: Since constraints restrict the schedule, the more constraints you define, the less flexibility the
    system has to build your schedule and the less optimal the resulting schedule will be. It is always
    best to use the fewest number of constraints required to accomplish your scheduling goals.
    The most common constraints are Pre-Schedule and Teacher Free. There are also constraints to
    manage course and teacher teams, and restrict the meeting times of courses.
    You do not have to define any constraints if you can build a satisfactory master schedule without
    them. Schools often start building schedules with only a couple of constraints, then gradually add
    new ones to refine the schedule and achieve particular results.
    After creating constraints, you can edit and delete them as necessary. For more information, see the
    section "
    Work With Build Constraints
    ." In addition to build constraints, you can set constraints
    during the load process. For information about load constraints, see the section "
    Load
    Constraints
    ."
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    Build Constraints
    Build constraints restrict the actual building of the master schedule.
    Note: To view a list of build constraints and the number of each that have been defined for your
    schedule, choose Build Constraints from the constraints menu.
    How to Add a Course Optimize Constraint
    Use a Course Optimize constraint to override the global sampling parameters when scheduling a
    specific course. For example, if you have a course that you know will be very difficult to schedule,
    increase both the minimum number of combinations to sample and sampling percentage using
    this constraint.
    Note: You can only define one Course Optimize constraint per course.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
    3. Under Build Constraints, click Course Optimize.
    4. On the Course Optimize Constraints page, click New. The Edit Course Optimization page
    appears.
    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number
    Click Associate to select the course you want to optimize.
    Minimum number of
    combinations to sample
    Enter the minimum number of combinations you want the
    system to sample when scheduling this course into the master
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    Field
    Description
    combinations to sample
    schedule.
    For example, if this field on the Edit Build Scenario page is set
    for 10,000 and you have a course you know will be difficult to
    schedule, enter 50,000 so that the system will evaluate five
    times as many combinations as it does for your other courses.
    Sampling Percentage
    Enter the percentage of combinations you want the system to
    sample when scheduling this course into the master schedule.
    For example, if this field on the Edit Build Scenario page is set
    for 75% and you have a course you know will be difficult to
    schedule, enter 100 to have the system evaluate all possible
    combinations.
    6. Click Submit. The Course Optimize Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Course Restriction Constraint
    Use a Course Restriction constraint to restrict sections of a course to particular periods and days or
    to meet any time except the specified periods and days.
    For example, use this constraint to force three sections of a five-section course to schedule at the
    same time. The system normally spreads the sections out over different periods. With this
    constraint, you can force them to be scheduled where you want.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
    3. Under Build Constraints, click Course Restrict.
    4. On the Course Restrictions Constraints page, click New. The Edit Course Restriction page
    appears.
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number
    Click Associate to select the number of the course you want to
    restrict.
    Term
    Use the pop-up menu to choose to which term you want this
    constraint to apply.
    Schedule
    Select the checkbox next to each period in each day that you
    want this course to be taught.
    Applies to days only
    Select this checkbox to apply this constraint to only the day(s)
    specified in the Schedule checkboxes. The system does not
    consider periods and terms for this constraint.
    Applies to periods only
    Select this checkbox to apply this constraint to only the
    period(s) specified in the Schedule checkboxes. The system
    does not consider days and terms for this constraint.
    Applies to term only
    Select this checkbox to apply this constraint to only the term
    specified in the Term pop-up menu. The system does not
    consider days and periods for this constraint.
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    Field
    Description
    Minimum Number of
    Sections
    Enter the minimum number of sections you want to restrict.
    Note: If the "Minimum Number of Sections" and "Maximum
    Number of Sections" fields are both 0, then this course can be
    taught in any period or day except the one(s) indicated.
    Maximum Number of
    Sections
    Enter the maximum number of sections you want to restrict.
    Note: If the "Minimum Number of Sections" and "Maximum
    Number of Sections" fields are both 0, then this course can be
    taught in any period or day except the one(s) indicated.
    Section Type
    If the course section you want to restrict has a section type, use
    the pop-up menu to choose it. If a course has five sections and
    the two sections you want to restrict contain section types, you
    must create two constraints.
    6. Click Submit. The Course Restrictions Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Course Room Constraint
    Use a Course Room constraint to assign a course to a particular room. For example, you could force
    the Computer-Aided Drafting class to be taught in the Computer Lab rather than the Shop.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
    3. Under Build Constraints, choose Course Room.
    4. On the Course Room Constraints page, click New. The Edit Course Room Constraint page
    appears.
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number
    Click Associate to select the number of the course you want to
    assign to a particular room.
    Room
    Click Associate to select the room in which you want this
    course to be scheduled.
    Teacher
    Click Associate to select the teacher who will be instructing this
    course.
    Note: This constraint only applies to the sections of this course
    taught by the teacher you select. If you do not select a teacher,
    this constraint applies to all sections of the selected course.
    6. Click Submit. The Course Room Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Course Team Constraint
    Use a Course Team constraint to block teachers and courses together so that certain courses can
    only be taught at the same time as certain other courses. For example, a jazz band instructor can
    only teach a jazz band course when a jazz choir instructor leads a jazz choir class (or vise versa).
    A blocking course relationship requires Course 1 and Course 2 to have the exact same number of
    sections. A Course Team constraint allows Course 1 and Course 2 to offer different numbers of
    sections, as long as there is at least one section of each using the blocking specified. For more
    information, see the section "
    Course Information
    ."
    Note: The order of the courses is irrelevant.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
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    3. Under Build Constraints, click Course Team.
    4. On the Course Team Constraints page, click New. The Edit Course Team Constraint page
    appears.
    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number 1
    Click Associate next to the Course Number field to select the
    name of the first course you want to team together. Click
    Associate next to the Teacher field to select the name of the
    teacher instructing this course.
    Course Number 2
    Click Associate next to the Course Number field to select the
    name of the course you want to team with Course Number 1.
    Click Associate next to the Teacher field to select the name of
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    Field
    Description
    the teacher instructing Course Number 2.
    Simultaneous Blocking?
    Select this checkbox if you need these two courses to be
    scheduled at the same time. Otherwise, any other blocking
    course relationship (such as Before or After) prevails.
    Note: For more information, see the section "
    Course
    Information
    ."
    Same Room?
    Select this checkbox if you want to force both courses to be
    scheduled in the same room.
    Minimum Number of
    Teaming Sections
    Enter the minimum number of sections of these courses that
    will be teamed together. For example, if each course has four
    sections but you enter 2 in this field, then only two of the four
    sections will be teamed.
    6. Click Submit. The Course Team Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Pre-Schedule Constraint
    Use a Pre-Schedule constraint to schedule sections of a course ahead of time when you already
    know exactly when and where they must meet in the master schedule. For example, use this
    constraint to schedule sections of Band in sixth and seventh periods, which is the only time the
    band teacher is available.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
    3. Under Build Constraints, click Pre-Schedule.
    4. On the Pre-Schedule Constraints page, click New. The Edit Pre-Schedule Constraint page
    appears.
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number
    Click Associate to select the number of the course you want to
    preschedule.
    Schedule
    Select the checkbox next to each period in each day that you
    want to schedule this course.
    For example, if you have a one-day schedule and select Period
    1 and Period 2, a section of this course will span periods 1 and 2
    every day. Alternatively, if you have a two-day schedule and
    select Period 1 for both days, the section will meet every day
    during first period.
    Room
    Click Associate to select the number of the room in which you
    want to preschedule this course.
    Teacher
    Click Associate to select the name of the teacher who instructs
    the course you want to preschedule
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    Field
    Description
    the course you want to preschedule.
    Section Type
    If the section of the course you want to preschedule has a
    section type, use the pop-up menu to choose it.
    Note: If you want to preschedule two sections of the same
    course, one of which has a section type, you must create two
    constraints.
    Team Code
    If the section of the course you want to pre-schedule is
    associated with a teacher team, use the pop-up menu to
    choose it.
    6. Click Submit. The Pre-Schedule Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Room Free Constraint
    Use a Room Free constraint to block a room from being scheduled for a particular term, day, and
    period. For example, use this constraint to keep a classroom free during the last period of the day
    for after school detention.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
    3. Under Build Constraints, click Room Free.
    4. Click New. The Edit Room Free Constraint page appears.
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Room
    Click Associate to select room you want to keep free when
    scheduling.
    Schedule
    Use the pull-down menu to select the term in which this
    constraint applies.
    Select the checkbox next to each period in each day that you
    want keep this room free.
    For example, select the checkbox(es) across the first row if you
    want to keep the room free during the first period of each day.
    6. Click Submit. The Room Free Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Schedule Break Constraint
    Use a Schedule Break constraint to add flexibility to teachers' max-in-a-row count. For example, if
    your teachers can instruct a maximum of three periods in a row, work around this by putting a 10-
    minute homeroom period after Period 2. This would make it possible to schedule teachers for
    Periods 1 through 5.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
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    3. Under Build Constraints, click Schedule Break.
    4. On the Schedule Break Constraints page, click New. The Edit Schedule Break Constraint
    page appears.
    5. Choose the period after which you want to insert a break in the schedule from the pop-up
    menu.
    6. Click Submit. The Schedule Break Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Teacher Dovetail Constraint
    Use a Teacher Dovetail constraint to fit partial courses together during the same period so that they
    take up less room.
    For example, Course 1 is a partial course that meets three times during a six-day schedule cycle.
    Course 2 is a partial course taught by the same teacher and also meets three days in the cycle. Use
    this constraint to force both courses to meet during the same period, but on alternate days.
    Together the partial courses act as a full course, allowing greater flexibility in that teacher's
    schedule.
    Note: You only have to define this constraint for one of the courses you want to fit together with
    another course.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
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    3. Under Build Constraints, click Teacher Dovetail.
    4. On the Teacher Dovetail Constraints page, click New. The Edit Teacher Dovetail Constraint
    page appears.
    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number
    Click Associate to select the name of one of the courses you
    want to dovetail with another.
    Teacher
    Click Associate to select the name of the teacher who instructs
    this course. Only the sections of the course taught by this
    teacher will be constrained.
    Note: If you do not select a teacher, all sections of the course
    you selected will be constrained.
    6. Click Submit. The Teacher Dovetail Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Teacher Free Constraint
    Use a Teacher Free constraint to specify those periods when a teacher must be free, such as when
    teaching at another school. This is the opposite of the Teacher Part-Time constraint.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
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    3. Under Build Constraints, click Teacher Free.
    4. On the Teacher Free Constraints page, click New. The Edit Teacher Free Constraint page
    appears.
    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Teacher
    Click Associate to select the name of the teacher who you want
    to be free during certain periods of the day.
    Schedule
    Use the pop-up menu to choose the term to which you want to
    apply this constraint.
    Select the checkbox next to each period in each day that you
    want this teacher to be free.
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    6. Click Submit. The Teacher Free Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Teacher Part-Time Constraint
    Use a Teacher Part-Time Constraint to define which periods a part-time teacher is available to be
    scheduled. This is the opposite of the Teacher Free constraint.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
    3. Under Build Constraints, click Teacher Part-Time.
    4. On the Teacher Part-Time Constraints page, click New. The Edit Teacher Part-Time
    Constraint page appears.
    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Teacher
    Click Associate to select the name of the teacher who is on a
    part-time schedule.
    Beginning Period
    Choose the start of the time when this teacher is available from
    the pop-up menu.
    Ending Period
    Choose the secondary period this teacher is available from the
    pop-up menu.
    Maximum Consecutive
    Enter the maximum number of consecutive periods this teacher
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    Field
    Description
    Periods
    is available. If you do not select any periods but do enter a
    value in this field, then the teacher will be available in any
    configuration of consecutive periods.
    For example, assume you do not select any periods and enter 4
    in the Maximum Periods field. If your school has a seven-period
    day, this teacher would be available for periods 1-4, 2-5, 3-6, or
    4-7.
    6. Click Submit. The Teacher Part-Time Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Teacher Team Constraint
    Use a Teacher Team constraint to allow teachers to teach course sections outside of their own
    team. For example, if a teacher belongs to the Blue team but also must teach a section for the Red
    team, define this constraint to allow Red team students to be scheduled with this teacher for a
    particular course.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
    3. Under Build Constraints, click Teacher Team.
    4. On the Teacher Team Constraints page, click New. The Edit Teacher Team Constraint page
    appears.
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number
    Click Associate to select the number of the course you want to
    link to a teacher.
    Team Code
    Choose the appropriate teacher team code from the pop-up
    menu.
    Teacher
    Click Associate to select the name of the teacher who will be
    teaching outside of his or her assigned team.
    Number of Sections
    Enter the number of course sections you want this teacher to
    teach outside of his or her assigned team.
    6. Click Submit. The Teacher Team Constraints page appears.
    Work With Build Constraints
    After creating build constraints, you can view them by choosing Constraints under Resources from
    the PowerScheduler menu. Select the constraint you created to view the constraints by type.
    To view constraints that affect courses, sections, students, or teachers, choose the appropriate
    resource from the PowerScheduler menu. Then, view the constraints either by choosing Constraints
    from the pop-up menu or by clicking Constraints on the page. The Constraints page displays all
    constraints that affect that resource, regardless of type.
    Use the PowerScheduler menu to view the constraints by type, or to modify or delete constraints.
    How to Modify Build Constraints
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
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    3. Click the name of the type of constraint you want to modify, such as Course Optimize.
    4. Click the course name, student name, teacher name, or period number in the row of the
    constraint you want to modify. The Edit page for that particular constraint appears.
    5. Make your changes to the fields, as necessary.
    6. Click Submit. The appropriate Constraints page appears.
    How to Delete Build Constraints
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
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    3. Click the name of the type of constraint you want to delete, such as Course Team.
    4. Click the course name, student name, teacher name, or period number in the row of the
    constraint you want to delete. The Edit page for that particular constraint appears.
    5. Click Delete. The Selection Deleted page appears.
    Course Rank
    Building a course rank is the last step before building the master schedule.
    The course rank file defines the order in which the system schedules courses into the master
    schedule. The rank is a value that a course is given according to how difficult it is to schedule. As
    the system fills the master schedule with courses during the build, it becomes more and more
    difficult to schedule each successive course. Therefore, the order in which the system schedules
    courses is important. The best course rank places the courses that are the most difficult to schedule
    at the beginning of the build process and saves the courses that are easiest to schedule for the end.
    For example, singletons (courses that are offered only once per term) are scheduled before regular
    courses because they are more difficult to fit in a schedule. The system schedules prescheduled
    courses first, then singletons, doubletons, core sections, and electives.
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    Demand for a course (the number of student course requests) and constraints on a course affect
    course rank. The system initially builds the course rank based on constraints and other parameters
    that you defined.
    It is important to keep the course rank file up-to-date as you build your schedule and adjust your
    courses, teachers, constraints, and other parameters.
    The first time you build the course rank, the system creates a rank file. As you build your schedule
    and adjust parameters, such as courses, teachers, and constraints, the rank file needs to be updated.
    For more information, see the section "
    Build Course Rank
    ."
    Build Course Rank
    When you initially build the course rank, the system displays the courses in the order the system
    has determined, based on the course definitions and constraints.
    The system assigns a sequential number to each course to indicate its place in rank using numbers
    in increments of ten (such as 10, 20, 30). The smaller the number, the higher the course ranks.
    Use this numbering system to edit the ranks of courses and put courses between system-defined
    ranks. For example, you can rerank a course to 11, 12, or 13 without affecting the ranks of the
    system-defined courses ranked at 10 and 20.
    After building the course rank, you may need to rebuild it. Rebuilding the course rank overwrites
    any changes you have made to the rank file. Rebuild the course rank after you do either of the
    following:
    •
    Add a new course.
    •
    Delete a course.
    If you rebuild the rank, you will lose any edits you made. Be sure to make note of those changes so
    that you can re-create them. To rebuild the course rank, see the section "
    How to Build Initial
    Course Rank
    ."
    Alternatively, use the Update Rank function to rebuild the rank without updating your manual
    changes. For more information, see the section "
    Update Rank
    ."
    How to Build Initial Course Rank
    Use this function to set up an initial course rank or rebuild a course rank. This will overwrite any
    manual changes to the course rank.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose Course Rank from the PowerScheduler menu. The Course Rank
    page appears.
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    3. Click Build Rank. The Confirm Build Course Rank page appears.
    4. Click Submit. The Course Rank page appears.
    How to Edit a Course Rank
    After creating an initial rank file, you can modify, update, and rebuild it. These are the final steps
    before building the master schedule.
    The system evaluates all factors that affect courses to determine the best course rank. After the
    system builds the course rank, you can make manual adjustments based on your own experience or
    special circumstances not reflected in the parameters and constraints you defined. The rank you
    manually give a course overrides the rank assigned by the system.
    For example, the system calculates a course rank of 90 for Concert Band based on the constraints
    you entered for this course compared to the constraints you entered for other courses. Due to
    experience in dealing with the conflicts band members face when trying to schedule Concert Band,
    you decide to change the rank of this class. By changing the rank from 90 to 5, you force other
    courses to schedule around Concert Band, reducing the chance of conflicts.
    Note: You cannot change the rank of a course to be higher than a prescheduled course.
    Prescheduled courses are always the first courses scheduled.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose Course Rank from the PowerScheduler menu. The Course Rank
    page appears.
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    3. Use the following table to edit information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Delete
    Select this checkbox to delete this course from the course rank.
    Note: Only delete a course from the course rank if it is not
    going to be scheduled.
    Sys Rank
    The rank that the system determined for the course appears.
    Rank
    The rank that the system determined for the course appears.
    The Sys Rank value is the same as the Rank value if the course
    rank has not been manually changed.
    Crs Num
    The number of the course appears.
    Crs Name
    The name of the course appears.
    Sections
    The number of sections offered for the course appears.
    PPC
    The number of periods per cycle for the course appears.
    Demand
    The number of requests for the course appears.
    Crs Conflicts
    The number of unique courses among students who are
    requesting a particular course appears. The course in that row is
    not included in the calculation.
    Stu Conflicts
    The sum of all requests made by students who have requested
    the course appears.
    Constraints
    This field contains a dot if any constraints have been associated
    with the course. It is blank if the course has no constraints.
    Comments
    Enter any comments about why you are editing a particular
    course rank number.
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    4. Click Submit. The system displays the changes on the Course Rank page.
    How to Update Rank
    Update the course rank after you do any of the following:
    •
    Edit the number of sections of a course.
    •
    Significantly change the number of student course requests.
    •
    Add or delete constraints.
    Updating the course rank recalculates the system rank and updates the course rank for courses that
    you have not adjusted.
    Note: If you want to overwrite any manual changes and rebuild your entire course rank, rebuild the
    course rank. For more information, see the section "
    How to Build Initial Course Rank
    ."
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose Course Rank from the PowerScheduler menu. The Course Rank
    page appears.
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    3. Click Update Rank. The Confirm Update Course Rank page appears.
    4. Click Submit. The Course Rank page appears.
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    Build Master Schedule Introduction
    After you define all of the parameters and constraints outlined in the section "
    Prepare to Build
    the Master Schedule
    ," proceed by building the master schedule. When you build the master
    schedule, you do the following:
    •
    Validate the data you entered. For more information, see the section "
    Validate Build
    Scenarios
    ."
    •
    Begin the build. For more information, see the section "
    Build the Master Schedule
    Overview
    ."
    •
    Fix any issues the system finds when building the schedule. If the system stops the build,
    see the section "
    When the System Stops the Build
    ."
    •
    Optimize the built schedule.
    •
    Load students into the master schedule.
    •
    Commit the master schedule for the next school year.
    You can follow these steps several times to create the best possible master schedule. For example,
    you might build the schedule and realize you need to add some course sections. After adding the
    sections, you rebuild the schedule. Then, you may find that you need to define a Teacher Part-time
    constraint, which restricts when the system can schedule a course to which a particular teacher is
    assigned. You add the constraint and build the schedule again.
    You will most likely build the master schedule several times before committing it for the next
    school year. To ensure that your student schedules are complete, see the section "
    Checklist to
    Know Your Student Schedules are Complete
    ."
    You must read and complete all of the steps in "
    Prepare to Build the Master Schedule
    " before
    you can proceed. There are five main steps you must complete in the following order when
    building the master schedule:
    •
    "
    Validate Build Scenarios
    "
    •
    "
    Build the Master Schedule
    "
    •
    "
    Load Constraints
    "
    •
    "
    Load Students
    "
    •
    "
    Commit the Master Schedule
    "
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    Validate Build Scenarios
    Before the system builds your master schedule, you need to validate the information that was
    entered. The validation process finds any errors in your data, such as too many sections assigned to
    teachers.
    The system checks the following:
    •
    All courses selected as scheduled must be in the rank.
    •
    All courses assigned to teachers must be in the rank.
    •
    Each course has a room that will handle its capacity.
    •
    Student course requests have been dropped if a course is not scheduled.
    The validation process also alerts you to potential problems, such as students with no scheduled
    course requests or a teacher who has more periods assigned than periods available.
    Before validating your build scenario, confirm that the build parameters are correct. For more
    information, see the section "
    Build Scenario Parameters
    ."
    How to Validate a Scenario
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose Build from the PowerScheduler menu. The Build Schedule page
    appears.
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    3. Select the "Validate only" checkbox.
    4. Click Submit. The engine starts to run and the PowerSchool Scheduler page appears. See
    the section "
    Understand the PowerSchool Scheduler Page
    ."
    5. Make the necessary corrections using the steps described in the section "
    Build
    Validation
    ." Continue to validate your data until it is error-free.
    Build Scenario Parameters
    Before you validate your data, verify that the details of the build scenario are correct.
    How to Confirm Build Scenario Parameters
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose Scenarios from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scenarios page
    appears.
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    3. Click the name of the build scenario you will use to build your master schedule. The Edit
    Build Scenario page appears.
    4. Verify that the data in the following fields is correct: Build Name, Terms, Periods, Days, and
    Course Catalog. Make modifications, if necessary.
    5. Make sure that the Active Build checkbox is selected.
    6. Enter comments in the Build Description field to describe this scenario. If you build another
    master schedule, comments make it easy to differentiate between the two.
    Note: You can also use this field to denote changes as the build process progresses.
    7. Click Submit to save any changes. The Scenarios page appears.
    Load Validation
    Validate the data in your schedule before loading. This process finds any errors that would prevent
    the system from loading a master schedule.
    How to Validate Load Data
    Before running a load, you should validate the data. The validation process finds any errors in your
    data and alerts you to potential problems.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
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    2. Under Processing, choose Load from the PowerScheduler menu. The Load Student
    Schedules Queue page appears.
    3. Select the "Validate only" checkbox.
    4. Click Submit. The engine starts to run and the PowerSchool Scheduler page appears. See
    the section "
    Understand the PowerSchool Scheduler Page
    ."
    5. Make the necessary corrections and continue to validate your data until it is error-free.
    Note: The Import link does not appear on the Load Student Schedules Queue page if only
    validation was performed.
    Build Validation
    Use the results log to identify any errors in your data. Items in the log can be of three types:
    information, warnings, and errors. All errors must be corrected before you begin building the
    master schedule. Though warnings do not need to be corrected, you may want to review them
    before building the master schedule.
    When you start the validate process, the system checks the following types of data:
    •
    Courses
    •
    Students
    •
    Blocks
    •
    Constraints
    •
    Parameters
    •
    Teachers
    The following table displays examples of error messages contained in the validation log:
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    Validation Type
    Error Messages
    Course
    •
    Course has been dropped. Missing from course rank.
    Sections offered is zero.
    •
    Invalid minimum periods-per-day.
    •
    Invalid frequency.
    •
    Invalid maximum days-per-cycle.
    •
    Invalid term length.
    •
    Invalid schedule type.
    •
    Dropped course still listed in course rank.
    •
    Course is not flagged to be scheduled.
    •
    The assigned course number is not valid.
    •
    Requested course number is not a valid course flagged
    for scheduling.
    Blocks
    •
    Invalid block -courses can only be blocked in pairs (no
    chaining).
    •
    Invalid block - a course cannot have multiple blocking
    relationships.
    Teachers
    •
    Teacher is flagged for scheduling but has no teacher
    assignments.
    •
    Teacher has more periods assigned than periods
    available.
    •
    Teacher's max-in-a-row is zero.
    •
    Scheduled teacher has no scheduled assignments.
    •
    Invalid teacher.
    •
    Too many sections assigned to teachers.
    •
    Not enough sections assigned to teachers.
    Students
    •
    Scheduled student has no scheduled requests.
    •
    Student with requests is not flagged for scheduling.
    •
    Student is not flagged for scheduling but has requests.
    Once you know where the errors in your data are, go back and correct them. For example, if the log
    indicates that too many sections are assigned to a teacher, find the related course number and
    make the necessary changes. Then, validate your scenario until it is error-free.
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    Build the Master Schedule Overview
    When you build a master schedule, the system assigns each section to a period and schedules the
    sections into classrooms based on teacher assignments made. The system attempts to satisfy as
    many student course requests as possible, while respecting constraints and the course rank. Before
    you can
    build the master schedule
    , you must
    download and install the scheduling
    engine
    .
    The goal is to create a master schedule that satisfies the most student course requests possible
    while maintaining a good balance of students in course sections.
    Plan to build the master schedule several times. After you build the schedule for the first time, you
    may find that you forgot to define a constraint or that you need to add sections to a course. Make
    those changes and build the schedule again. It is likely that you will make changes and rebuild
    several times before you have a satisfactory schedule.
    After you decide the master schedule is complete, you have the option of allowing the system to
    optimize
    it. Then,
    finalize the master schedule
    before loading student schedules.
    Download and Install the Scheduling Engine
    When you install the scheduling engine, all of the necessary files download to your local computer
    from the PowerSchool website. Complete the instructions for your specific type of computer.
    Note: Occasionally, there are enhancements made to the scheduling engine. If you go to into
    PowerScheduler and see a message about updating your engine, you must download the most
    recent engine.
    How to Download the Scheduling Engine for Macintosh
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Engine Download from the PowerScheduler page. The Engine
    Download page appears.
    3. Click PSSchedulerInstall.sit. The Download Manager page appears, and the engine
    downloads. You have just finished downloading the scheduling engine.
    4. Double-click PSSchedulerInstall.sit. If you have StuffIt Expander installed on your computer,
    the UnStuff page appears and creates the installation file.
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    Note: If you do not have StuffIt Expander installed, download the application from
    http://www.aladdinsys.com/
    .
    5. Double-click the installation file.
    6. On the Install PowerSchool Scheduling Engine page, click Continue.
    7. On the Choose Destination Location page, click the disk onto which you want to install the
    engine. Click Choose... to navigate to a specific location.
    8. Click Continue.
    9. Click Install. When the message "The software was successfully installed" appears, click
    Close.
    Note: If you are using Mac OS X 10.2.2 without the Security Update 2002-11-21 installed, the
    engine will not run properly. To install the security update, select Software Update in the
    Mac OS X System Preferences dialog, which is available from the Apple menu.
    To continue, see the section "
    Build the Master Schedule
    ."
    How to Download the Scheduling Engine for Windows
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Engine Download from the PowerScheduler menu. The Engine
    Download page appears.
    3. Click PSSchedEngineInstall.ZIP. Depending on the type of computer you are using, different
    pages appear. However, everyone must save the scheduling engine software.
    4. Select a folder or directory that you will remember when asked where to store the software.
    5. Open WinZip. The WinZip page appears.
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    Note: If you do not have WinZip installed, download the application from
    http://www.winzip.com/
    .
    6. Click Open.
    7. On the Open Archive page, navigate to the appropriate location.
    8. Double-click PSSchedEngineInstall.
    9. On the WinZip page, double-click PSSchedEngineInstall.exe to extract the file. The
    InstallShield Wizard page appears.
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    10. Click Next. The Choose Destination Location page appears.
    11. Click Browse in the Destination Folder field to navigate to the appropriate location.
    12. Click Next. The InstallShield Wizard Complete page appears.
    13. Click Finish. The InstallShield Wizard page closes.
    To continue, see the section "
    Build the Master Schedule
    ."
    Build the Master Schedule
    After you prepare the master schedule, validate the build scenario you want to use, build the
    master schedule, and then optimize the master schedule. For information on data validation, see
    the section "
    Validate Build Scenarios
    ." For information on optimization, see the section
    "
    Optimize the Master Schedule
    ."
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    How to Build the Master Schedule
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose Build from the PowerScheduler menu. The Build Schedule page
    appears.
    3. Select the "Build master schedule" option.
    4. Select the "Use locked master records" checkbox if you are rebuilding the schedule after
    fixing an issue with a particular item, such as a course, room, or teacher, or if you manually
    entered any sections using the Sections link on the PowerScheduler menu. The system
    restarts the build at the course it was scheduling when the build stopped, leaving all of the
    courses it had scheduled before the build stopped where they were originally scheduled.
    Note: Do not select this checkbox if you are building the master schedule for the first time
    or optimizing a completed master schedule.
    For more information on locked course sections, see the section "
    Unlock Previously
    Scheduled Courses
    ."
    5. Click Execute. The engine starts to run and the PowerSchool Scheduler page appears. See
    the section "
    Understand the PowerSchool Scheduler Page
    ."
    6. Click (Q) next to Build on the PowerScheduler menu to view the results of the build. The
    Build Master Schedule Queue page appears.
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    Note: Each time you run a build, a new result appears on the Build Master Schedule Queue
    page.
    7. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Build Type
    The function performed (either Build or Optimize).
    Started
    Indicates whether the function started (either True or False).
    Success
    Indicates whether the function was successful (either True or
    False).
    Completed
    For events where the Success is "True," the date and time at
    which the function completed appears. The date and time is
    according to the server's settings.
    Results Log
    Click View to see the results of the build. For more information,
    see the section "
    Build Results Log
    ."
    Results
    Click Import to import the results of the build from
    PowerScheduler Engine into PowerSchool. For more
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    Field
    Description
    information, see the section "
    Import the Master Schedule
    ."
    Note: The Import link does not appear if only validation was
    performed.
    Build Log
    Click View to see the build log. For more information, see the
    section "
    Build Log
    ."
    Comment
    Enter a comment for the build, such as First try.
    Delete
    Select the Delete checkbox if you want to clear the build
    information from the queue.
    8. If you entered a Comment or selected the Delete checkbox, click Submit to save your
    changes. The Build Master Schedule Queue page refreshes.
    Understand the PowerSchool Scheduler Page
    After you click Submit on the Build Master Schedule page, PowerSchool prepares the information
    and notifies the scheduling engine on your computer that it is ready to begin the build process.
    Note: With Internet Explorer, you can add a File Helper for the PowerScheduler engine application
    so that you're not prompted to save the engine each time you build. However, if you then work
    outside the network on which your PowerSchool server resides, you must change the IP address for
    the engine by modifying the Preferences in the engine application.
    The engine downloads the files necessary for the build and begins to build the schedule.
    It is normal for the engine to immediately quit. The first build attempts cause the engine to do
    more validation. You must eliminate all validation errors in order to proceed. For more information,
    see the section "
    Build Results Log
    ."
    Once all of the engine validations are eliminated, the PowerSchool Scheduler page appears, and the
    engine starts to schedule each course according to the build rank. The build process can take a very
    long time. You may want to monitor the system’s progress to troubleshoot if the build stops.
    The system begins scheduling each course in the course catalog in the order defined in the course
    rank.
    For each course, the system displays the following:
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    •
    Course number
    •
    Course name
    •
    Number of sections
    •
    Number of courses that have been successfully scheduled
    •
    Percentage of courses that have been successfully scheduled
    The PowerSchool Scheduler page contains the following buttons:
    •
    More Detail (Mac) or Schedule Details (Windows): Click this button to view additional
    information about the course the engine is scheduling. The button name changes to Faster.
    Click Faster to return to the page that displays less information but runs faster.
    •
    Abort Schedule: Click this button to stop the build. Then, click Yes when asked if you are
    sure you want to stop scheduling. The system saves the schedule it created before you click
    Abort Schedule, but does not schedule the course it is currently reviewing.
    For example, you start the build process on Friday afternoon but want to stop the build
    before you leave for the weekend. On Monday, restart the build where the system left off on
    Friday afternoon. For more information, see the section "
    Restart the Build
    ."
    •
    Skip Course: Click this button to force the system to move on to schedule the next course.
    You should wait until at least 10% of the combinations are tried before skipping the course.
    Then, click Yes when asked if you are sure you want to skip this course.
    You may want to click Skip Course if the system has tested one million of more than two
    million combinations for a course and is beginning to slow while attempting the final
    million combinations. The system schedules the course in the best combination it has
    attempted.
    While the engine runs, you may notice that it slows down sometimes. This is because with
    thousands of scheduling possibilities, the engine must cycle through them to produce the most
    optimal schedule possible while taking into account student requests, courses, and the constraints
    upon them. The engine must sort through more and more information as it proceeds with the
    building or loading process. For example, when the process first begins, it is easy to find a section
    for a student's request; however, as more sections fill up and fewer sections are available, the
    engine must work through a student's schedule to attempt to fulfill all course requests. Thus, you
    may notice periodic slow points as the engine proceeds.
    When the System Stops the Build
    The system stops the build process for one of the following reasons:
    •
    The engine has encountered validation errors. View the
    build results log
    .
    •
    The system has encountered a course for which it cannot schedule all of its sections due to
    constraints that cannot be respected, data entry mistakes, or some other problem. View the
    build log
    .
    •
    The build process is complete.
    If the system stops immediately, the PowerSchool Scheduler page displays the following message:
    "No longer listening for incoming connections." This means that your data has uncorrected
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    validation errors. Use the build log to correct these errors. For more information, see the section
    "
    Build Log
    ."
    Build Results Log
    If you want to see the results of the build or if the engine stops immediately after starting, check
    the build results log. This log displays any new validation errors the engine discovered.
    How to View the Build Results Log
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose (Q) next to Build from the PowerScheduler menu. The Build
    Master Schedule Queue page appears.
    3. Click View in the results log column of the appropriate build. The "Results Log for [school
    name]" page appears.
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    If the build stops because of validation errors, the results log displays details about these
    errors. There are three types of errors:
    •
    Info: These messages are informational, such as "Course [x]: Rescheduled [x]
    students out of [x] (leaving [x] unscheduled)." These do not prevent a successful
    build.
    •
    Warning: These are "red flag" messages, such as "The teacher’s preferred room is not
    suitable for the course the teacher is teaching." These do not prevent a successful
    build.
    •
    Error: These messages are validation errors that must be corrected in order for the
    engine to run, such as "Invalid valid term found in the Course file (does not match
    the term length)." These do prevent a successful build.
    For more information on validation messages, see the section "
    Build Validation
    ."
    Build Log
    The build log displays possible reasons the engine stopped the build while scheduling a particular
    course. It also displays information about course attributes, teachers, and rooms.
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    How to View the Build Log
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose (Q) next to Build from the PowerScheduler menu. The Build
    Master Schedule Queue page appears.
    3. Click View in the build log column of the appropriate build. The Build Log page appears.
    How to Interpret the Build Log
    If the system completes the build, the build log displays a quick summary of the build. The example
    above shows a build log for a finished build.
    If the build stops because of a problem scheduling a course, the build log displays details about the
    course for which it stopped the build. Determine how to resolve the issue based on the following
    information the system lists for the course:
    •
    Summary of the course parameters, such as if facilities are needed
    •
    Rooms in which the system already scheduled the course
    •
    Names of teachers assigned to teach the course and their parameters, such as max-in-a-row
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    •
    Availability of the required facilities and rooms
    •
    List of possible reasons for stopping
    Once you have this information, make adjustments to eliminate or work around the problem. The
    system will not schedule any additional courses until you correct the issues.
    Import the Master Schedule
    Each time you click Build, you must import the results of that build unless you want to rebuild from
    scratch. Importing the master schedule flags the sections as locked. If you rebuild from this point
    forward, you must select the "Use locked master records?" option when building. For more
    information on locked course sections, see the section "
    Unlock Previously Scheduled
    Courses
    ."
    If the engine stops the build before all courses have been scheduled, you can import the master
    schedule to view the schedule information in PowerSchool.
    How to Import the Master Schedule
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose (Q) next to Build from the PowerScheduler menu. The Build
    Master Schedule Queue page appears.
    Note: Each time you run a build, a new result appears on the Build Master Schedule Queue
    page.
    3. Click Import. The Import Schedule page appears.
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    4. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Master Schedule?
    Select this option if you want to import the master schedule
    without student schedules.
    Master Schedule with
    Student Schedules?
    Select this option if you want to import the master schedule
    with student schedules.
    5. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    Review Course Rank
    Before you restart the build, you may need to rebuild or update your course rank if you made
    significant changes to a course or student course requests.
    The system uses the course rank to determine the order in which it schedules each course. If you
    make changes to a course or student course requests, those changes may affect when the system
    should schedule the course during the build process.
    Update the course rank if you add a new course to the course catalog. When you update the rank,
    the system fits the new course into the rank without moving or recalculating the rank of all the
    other courses. For more information, see the section "
    Build Course Rank
    ."
    Rebuild the course rank for all courses if you add or drop sections from a course. The system deletes
    the previous course rank file and recalculates rank for every course. For more information, see the
    section "
    Build Course Rank
    ."
    If you rebuild the rank, do not lock previously scheduled courses when you build the schedule
    again. Rebuilding the rank places all courses, including those that were scheduled during the last
    build, in a new scheduling order. To allow the system to create the most successful schedule with
    the new rank order, build the schedule again by deselecting the "Use locked master records?"
    checkbox on the Build Master Schedule (Step 2) page.
    Restart the Build
    If you made significant changes to a course or student course requests, review your course rank
    before restarting the build. For more information, see the section "
    Review Course Rank
    ." After
    you solve all issues with the course, click Build on the Scheduling page to build the schedule again.
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    When you restart the build, you can do one of the following:
    •
    Build the schedule again from scratch, which overwrites any courses that the system
    scheduled before the last build stopped. For more information, see the section "
    Restart
    the Build from Scratch
    ."
    •
    Restart the build and lock all or specific courses the system successfully scheduled during
    the previous build. The system reschedules only courses you do not lock. To unlock sections
    of courses, see the section "
    Unlock Previously Scheduled Courses
    ."
    After completing one of the above steps, analyze the build to determine if you need to adjust it. For
    more information, see the section "
    Analyze the Built Master Schedule
    ."
    Restart the Build From Scratch
    You may want to rebuild the schedule from scratch if either of the following are true:
    •
    Adjustments you made to the course impact courses that were successfully scheduled
    during the previous build before it stopped.
    •
    You rebuilt the entire course rank file.
    For example, if you corrected a teacher conflict by defining a Teacher Part-Time constraint, the
    correction is likely to affect any other courses that the teacher was previously scheduled to instruct.
    Therefore, the system reschedules those courses, too.
    Unlock Previously Scheduled Courses
    When you rebuild the schedule, the system automatically selects the Locked Section checkbox on
    the Edit Section page to lock sections that were successfully scheduled in the previous build. The
    purpose of locking sections is to save time when rebuilding the master schedule.
    Unlock all sections for a course when you want to rebuild that course in the master schedule. The
    sections are locked as the build runs successfully. If the build partially finishes and then you later
    rebuild, the system starts where it left off. To have the system rebuild sections of a certain course
    and then jump to where it left off, you must unlock the sections of the course and select the Use
    Locked Master Records checkbox when rebuilding. For example, unlock sections of a Biology
    course. When rebuilding, select the Use Locked Master Records checkbox. The system starts
    rebuilding with Biology and then skips to where it left off in the previous build.
    If you do not select the Use Locked Master Records checkbox when rebuilding the master schedule,
    the system rebuilds all sections, locked or not. For more information, see the section "
    Build the
    Master Schedule
    ."
    How to Unlock an Individual Section
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Schedule, choose Sections from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Edit Sections page, choose the course from the courses menu for the section you
    want to unlock.
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    4. On the course information page, click the number of the section you want to unlock in the
    Section # column. The Edit Section page appears.
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    5. Deselect the Locked Section checkbox.
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    6. Click Submit. The [course name] page appears.
    How to Unlock More Than One Section
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Functions
    page appears.
    3. Click Update Selections. The Update Selections page appears.
    4. Choose ScheduleSections from the Current Table pop-up menu.
    5. Choose Course_Number from the pop-up menu under Search ScheduleSections.
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    6. Enter the numbers of the courses you want to select, separated by commas, in the blank
    field in that row.
    7. Click "Search all [number] records in this school." The Update Selections page displays the
    new number of records.
    8. Click Modify Records. The Modify Records page appears.
    9. Choose LockedSection from the pop-up menu.
    10. Click Modify Selected Records. The Update Selections page appears.
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    Schedule Sections
    View the sections for the master schedule, including teachers, enrollment, and periods and terms in
    which the section is taught. Delete or modify a section, such as locking it to prevent the section
    from being changed when the system rebuilds the master schedule.
    How to Edit a Section on the Master Schedule
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Schedule, choose Sections from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. Choose the course for the section to be edited from the courses menu.
    4. On the Course page, click Sections. The Sections page for the selected course appears.
    Note: Click the number in the Size column to view the class roster for the section.
    5. Click the number in the Section # column for the section to be edited. The Edit Section page
    appears.
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    6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
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    Field
    Description
    Course name
    The name of the selected course appears.
    Course number
    The number of the selected course appears.
    Term
    Choose the term in which the section is offered from the pop-
    up menu.
    Schedule
    Select the checkbox(es) for the periods for the appropriate days
    on which this section is taught.
    Note: This creates the schedule expression that appears next to
    the section on several pages.
    Teacher
    Choose a teacher from the pop-up menu.
    Room
    Enter the room name or number in which this section is taught.
    Section number
    Enter a unique section number for this section. Select the
    Locked Section checkbox if the section should not be
    rescheduled during the next build.
    Close section at max
    Select this checkbox to not accept more enrollments than the
    maximum number of enrolled students.
    Section type
    Choose the type of section, such as Bilingual, from the pop-up
    menu (optional).
    Grade Level
    Enter the grade level of this section.
    Current enrollment
    The current enrollment of students in this section appears.
    Maximum enrollment
    Enter the maximum number of students that can enroll in this
    section.
    Team
    Choose the team associated with this section from the pop-up
    menu.
    House
    Click Associate to select a team to which this section belongs.
    Where Taught
    Enter the school ID if the section is taught at a different school.
    Dependent sections
    Enter any dependent sections for this section. Separate multiple
    sections with commas.
    Exclude From
    Attendance
    Select this checkbox if you do not want to include this section
    in the student ADM/ADA counts.
    Grade Scale
    Choose the grade scale from the pop-up menu.
    Exclude from GPA?
    Select the option to either include or exclude the grade from
    the GPA calculation.
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    Field
    Description
    Exclude from class rank?
    Select the option to either include or exclude the grade from
    the class rank calculation.
    Exclude from honor roll?
    Select the option to either include or exclude the grade from
    the honor roll calculation.
    7. Click Submit. The course page appears.
    How to Delete a Section From the Master Schedule
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Schedule, choose Sections from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. Choose the course for the section to be edited from the courses menu.
    4. On the Courses page, click Sections. The Sections page for the selected course appears.
    Note: Click the number in the Size column to view the class roster for the section.
    5. Click the number in the Section # column for the section to be edited. The Edit Section page
    appears.
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    6. Click Delete. The Delete Section page appears.
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    7. Click Delete to confirm. The Selection Deleted page appears.
    Master Schedule
    The master schedule displays the schedule for all teachers in your school.
    How to View the Master Schedule
    View the master schedule for all teachers for all periods. The first time you display the master
    schedule after creating or modifying it, the Master Schedule Preferences page appears. For more
    information, see the section "
    How to Modify Master Schedule Preferences
    ."
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Schedule, choose Master Schedule from the PowerScheduler menu. Depending on
    your preferences, classes for each teacher and the number of students in each class appear
    on the Master Schedule page.
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    3. Do one of the following (optional):
    •
    Click a course number to edit the information for that section of the selected course.
    The Edit Section page appears.
    Note: To edit the section, see the section "
    Schedule Sections
    ." If you do not want
    to edit the section, click your web browser's Back button to display the Master
    Schedule page.
    •
    Click a number for one of the classes to view a list of students in that class. The Class
    Roster page displays the students for the class.
    Do one of the following (optional):
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    •
    Click "Make this the current selection of students" to select the students in the
    class as the only group you want to work with.
    •
    Click "Add these students to the current selection of students" to add this group
    to a previously selected group. The Group Functions page appears, including
    the number of selected students.
    How to Modify Master Schedule Preferences
    The first time you display the master schedule after creating or modifying it, the Master Schedule
    Preferences page appears. Use this page to filter information that appears on the master schedule
    page.
    The master schedule preferences are associated with each user account. Therefore, your
    preferences will appear when you log in to any computer with your username and password.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Schedule, choose Master Schedule from the PowerScheduler menu. The Master
    Schedule Preferences page appears.
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    3. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Periods
    Select the checkbox(es) to indicate which periods to display on
    the master schedule. To display all periods, select the All
    Periods checkbox.
    Days
    Select the checkbox(es) to indicate which days to display on the
    master schedule. To display all days, select the All Days
    checkbox.
    Credit Type
    Enter the credit type to indicate which credit type to display on
    the master schedule, such as
    MATH
    . To display all credit types,
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    Field
    Description
    do not enter anything in the field.
    Rooms
    Select the room(s) to display on the master schedule. Press and
    hold Command (Mac) or Control (Windows) to make multiple
    selections. Select All Rooms to display all rooms.
    Teachers
    Select the teacher(s) to display on the master schedule. Press
    and hold Command (Mac) or Control (Windows) to make
    multiple selections. Select All Teachers to display all teachers.
    Sort By
    Select a sort order option for the master schedule:
    •
    Credit Type
    •
    Department
    •
    Room
    •
    Teachers
    Note: If setting up preferences for the Master Schedule List
    report, select one of the following sort order options:
    •
    Course Name
    •
    Course Number
    •
    Department
    •
    Room
    •
    Teacher
    4. Click Submit. The master schedule appears.
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    Unless any changes are made to your master schedule, the Master Schedule page appears
    according to your set preferences. To change your preferences, click Show Preferences at the
    bottom of the Master Schedule page.
    Analyze the Built Master Schedule
    After the system completes the build, evaluate the master schedule to see if you need to make
    changes and rebuild the schedule or manually adjust it.
    To analyze the completed master schedule:
    •
    Print the master schedule.
    •
    Print post-scheduling reports. For more information, see the section "
    Build the Master
    Schedule Reports
    ."
    To evaluate the master schedule:
    •
    Use the student numbers to evaluate how the system balanced students among sections.
    •
    Evaluate how and when a room is used.
    •
    Be sure teachers are not over- or under-scheduled. Teachers should not be over-scheduled
    unless you entered an excess number of teacher assignments.
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    Master Schedule Checklist
    Use the following checklist to help you determine that the master schedule is complete and ready
    to optimize, load, or print. For more information, see the sections "
    Optimize the Completed
    Master Schedule
    ," "
    Load Students
    ," and "
    Print Schedules and Rosters
    ."
    •
    Are all of the courses in the course catalog defined to be included in the master schedule?
    •
    Do all of the courses in the master schedule contain the correct number of sections?
    •
    Did the system respect all of the constraints you defined?
    •
    Did the system schedule all of the courses in rooms with any required facilities?
    Optimize the Completed Master Schedule
    When you determine that your master schedule is complete, the system can perform a final
    optimization. Although it is not required, PowerSchool recommends that you optimize the master
    schedule. See the section "
    Optimize the Master Schedule
    ."
    Optimize your schedule before or after you make any manual adjustments. If you want to optimize
    your master schedule after you make manual adjustments and you want to keep these courses
    where you manually scheduled them, enter very high rank numbers for the adjusted courses in the
    course rank. You can then define that the system only optimizes courses with a lower rank number.
    If you did not keep track of the courses you adjusted, do not optimize.
    Optimizing your schedule can only make it better. To safeguard the original completed master
    schedule before you optimize, duplicate the scenario. See the section "
    Duplicate the Scenario
    ."
    After optimizing the master schedule, you can finalize it. For more information, see the section
    "
    Finalize the Master Schedule
    ."
    Duplicate the Scenario
    Make a copy of the original completed master schedule before you optimize it.
    How to Duplicate the Scenario
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Functions
    page appears.
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    3. Click Duplicate Scenarios. The Duplicate Scenarios page appears.
    4. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Source Scenario
    Choose the name of the scenario you want to duplicate from
    the pop-up menu.
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    Field
    Description
    New Scenario Name
    Enter a name for the new scenario.
    New Scenario
    Description
    Enter a description of the new scenario.
    Master Schedule
    Select this checkbox to copy the master schedule into the new
    scenario.
    Student Schedules
    Select this checkbox to copy the student schedules into the
    new scenario.
    Teacher Assignments
    Select this checkbox to copy the teacher assignments into the
    new scenario.
    Constraints
    Select this checkbox to copy the constraints into the new
    scenario.
    Course Relationships
    Select this checkbox to copy the course relationships into the
    new scenario.
    Note: Be sure to select all of the checkboxes under the "Select items to copy" heading to
    duplicate your current scenario in its entirety.
    5. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    Optimize the Master Schedule
    Optimize your master schedule to meet as many student course requests as possible within the
    given parameters.
    How to Optimize the Master Schedule
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose Build from the PowerScheduler menu. The Build Schedule page
    appears.
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    3. Select the "Optimize master schedule" option.
    4. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Time Allowed for
    Optimizations
    Enter the number of hours in the first field and the number of
    minutes in the next field that you want the system to spend
    optimizing your master schedule.
    Note: Because PowerSchool restarts nightly, do not enter a
    number higher than 12 in the Hours field.
    Skip courses with rank
    above
    Enter the course rank number of the course at which you want
    the system to stop optimizing. For example, you do not need to
    optimize course rank numbers 800-910 since these courses are
    already successfully scheduled. Enter 800 in the Max Rank field
    to have the system optimize the courses with a course rank of
    1-799.
    5. Click Execute. The engine starts to run and the PowerSchool Scheduler page appears. See
    the section "
    Understand the PowerSchool Scheduler Page
    ."
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    Finalize the Master Schedule
    Once you have built and possibly optimized the master schedule, you need to import the
    information from the scheduling engine back to PowerSchool. For more information, see the
    section "
    Import the Master Schedule
    ."
    Note: For more information about this page, see the section "
    Understand the PowerSchool
    Scheduler Page
    ."
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    Load Constraints
    Load constraints restrict the way the system loads students into courses that have already been
    scheduled.
    PowerSchool contains six types of load constraints you can define. Use each one to constrain
    student schedules in a specific way. For example, use a Student Preference constraint to force a
    student to be scheduled in a particular teacher’s section.
    Note: Since constraints restrict student schedules, 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 is always best to use the fewest number of constraints required to accomplish your
    scheduling goals.
    For information about build constraints, see the section "
    Build Constraints
    ."
    Define Load Constraints
    You must build your master schedule before you can define load constraints.
    Note: To view a list of load constraints and the number of each that have been defined for your
    schedule, choose Load Constraints from the constraints menu.
    To edit or delete constraints, see the section "
    Work With Load Constraints
    ."
    How to Add a Balance Adjustment Constraint
    Use a Balance Adjustment constraint to preload a course section with a certain number of pseudo
    students before adding the rest of the students. For example, use this constraint if you have a math
    class that needs five seats open for SPED students.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
    3. Under Load Constraints, choose Balance Adjustment.
    4. On the Balance Adjustment Constraints page, click New. The Edit Balance Adjustment
    Constraint page appears.
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number
    Click Associate to select the name of the course you want to
    balance.
    Section Number
    Enter the section number of the selected course that you want
    to balance.
    Teacher
    Click Associate to select the name of the teacher who instructs
    this course section.
    Number of Students
    Enter the number of pseudo students to load into this section
    to hold seats.
    6. Click Submit. The Balance Adjustment Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Student/Student Avoid Constraint
    Use a Student/Student Avoid constraint to specify that two selected students cannot be scheduled
    into any of the same course sections.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
    3. Under Load Constraints, choose Student Avoid.
    4. On the Student/Student Avoid Constraints page, click New. The Edit Student/Student Avoid
    Constraint page appears.
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Student 1
    Click Associate to select the name of one of the students you
    want to separate from one another.
    Student 2
    Click Associate to select the name of the other student.
    6. Click Submit. The Student/Student Avoid Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Student/Teacher Avoid Constraint
    Use a Student/Teacher Avoid constraint to specify that this student and this teacher cannot be
    scheduled into any of the same course sections.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
    3. Under Load Constraints, choose Teacher Avoid.
    4. On the Student/Teacher Avoid Constraints page, click New. The Edit Student/Teacher Avoid
    Constraint page appears.
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Student
    Click Associate to select the name of the student you want to
    avoid scheduling with a selected teacher.
    Teacher
    Click Associate to select the name of the teacher you want to
    avoid scheduling with the selected student.
    6. Click Submit. The Student/Teacher Avoid Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Student Free Constraint
    Use a Student Free constraint to specify those periods when a student must be free, such as when
    taking a course at another school.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
    3. Under Load Constraints, choose Student Free.
    4. On the Student Free Constraints page, click New. The Edit Student Free Constraint page
    appears.
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Student
    Click Associate to select the name of the student who needs to
    have a free period(s).
    Term
    Choose the term that this student needs the free period(s) from
    the pop-up menu.
    Schedule
    Select the checkbox next to each period in each day that you
    want to schedule this student to have a free period(s).
    6. Click Submit. The Student Free Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Section Link Constraint
    Use a Section Link constraint to specify that if students are enrolled in one course section, they
    must also be enrolled in another, specific course section.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
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    3. Under Load Constraints, choose Section Link.
    4. On the Section Link Constraints page, click New. The Edit Section Link Constraint page
    appears.
    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number 1
    Click Associate to select the name of one of the courses for
    which you want to link a section.
    Section Number 1
    Enter the section number of the course in the Course Number 1
    field that you want to link to another course section.
    Course Number 2
    Click Associate to select the name of the other course for which
    you want to link a section.
    Section Number 2
    Enter the section number of the course in the Course Number 2
    field that you want to link to the section in the Section Number
    1 field.
    6. Click Submit. The Section Link Constraints page appears.
    How to Add a Student Preference Constraint
    Use a Student Preference constraint to schedule a student into a particular course section. You can
    also specify the course per a specific term and teacher.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
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    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
    3. Under Load Constraints, choose Student Preference.
    4. On the Student Preference Constraints page, click New. The Edit Student Preference
    Constraint page appears.
    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Student
    Click Associate to select the name of the student you want to
    force to schedule in a specific course section.
    Course Number
    Click Associate to select the name of the course.
    Term
    Choose the term to which you want this constraint to apply
    from the pop-up menu (optional).
    Section Number
    Enter the section number of the course into which you want
    the student to be scheduled.
    Teacher
    Click Associate to select the name of the teacher who instructs
    this course section (optional).
    6. Click Submit. The Student Preference Constraints page appears.
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    Work With Load Constraints
    After creating load constraints, you can view them by choosing Constraints under the Resources
    heading from the PowerScheduler menu. Select the constraint you created to view the constraints
    by type.
    To view constraints that affect courses, sections, students, or teachers, choose the appropriate
    resource from the PowerScheduler menu. Then, view the constraints by choosing Constraints from
    the pop-up menu. The Constraints page displays all constraints that affect that resource, regardless
    of type.
    Use the PowerScheduler menu to view the constraints by type, or to modify or delete constraints.
    How to Modify Load Constraints
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
    3. Click the name of the type of constraint you want to modify, such as Balance Adjustment.
    4. Click the course name, student name, or teacher name in the row of the constraint you
    want to modify. The Edit page for that particular constraint appears, similar to the following
    example.
    5. Make your changes to the fields, as necessary.
    6. Click Submit. The appropriate constraints page appears.
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    How to Delete Load Constraints
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Constraints from the PowerScheduler menu. The constraints menu
    appears.
    3. Click the name of the type of constraint you want to delete, such as Student Preference.
    4. Click the course name, student name, or teacher name in the row of the constraint you
    want to delete. The Edit page for that particular constraint appears, similar to the following
    example.
    5. Click Delete. The Selection Deleted page appears.
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    Load Students
    When using PowerSchool to build your master schedule, you need to be familiar with two terms:
    build and load.
    The build process creates the master schedule by placing courses in specific rooms during certain
    periods and scheduling teachers to instruct those courses. The load process places students in a
    schedule that has been or is being created, based on their course requests.
    In a sense, the build creates the master schedule and the load creates the student schedules.
    Although students are loaded into the schedule as it is building, this is not necessarily an optimal
    load. Students who are loaded into the schedule early on have an advantage over those loaded
    later. Their course requests are more likely to be met, as they have a head start. Also, while these
    students may be fully or close to fully scheduled, theirs may not be the best possible schedule that
    the system can create based on the completed master.
    When the system created their schedules during the build process, the best possible schedules
    were chosen for them at that time; however, the build was not complete, and the system could not
    take into account any changes made to the schedule after they were loaded.
    Note: The build function does one pass; it does not go back to review better alternatives for courses
    already scheduled.
    Once you have built a satisfactory master schedule, you can begin fine-tuning student schedules by
    running a load. While this function has no impact on the number of students enrolled in courses, it
    could have a positive effect on section balances.
    It is possible that during your first load, you gain eight students in one course, five students in
    another, and ten in a third. Then, you can try again to help individual students get all of their course
    requests.
    Do not load students into your master schedule until you are satisfied with it. Loading will not have
    any impact on the structure of the schedule, just on the placement of students within it. Also, do
    not make manual adjustments to student schedules and then reload students; the system will
    overwrite all of the changes you made.
    Loading is required in most cases. You need to load if you entered alternate course requests or
    global substitutions, or if you chose to close course sections at a maximum number. The build
    process does not consider these factors, which are not met unless you load. Also, if you are making
    manual adjustments to your master schedule, you need to do a load under most circumstances.
    After running a load, analyze the results. For more information, see the section "
    Analyze the
    Results
    ." After analysis, proceed with one of the steps outlined in the section "
    Post-Load
    Options
    ."
    Run a Load
    Anytime you adjust the master schedule, you potentially affect and conflict many students'
    schedules. For example, moving a course section to a different period may allow a number of
    unmet course requests to be satisfied, but can cause problems with others. Imagine the possible
    problems if you move more than a few courses.
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    As a result, whenever you change the master schedule, you need to reload students. You can also
    load students to see if the system can create better schedules for all students. Do this after you
    finish building a master schedule or if you made a number of changes.
    After running a load, import student schedules and then analyze the results. For more information,
    see the section "
    Analyze the Results
    ." After analysis, proceed with one of the steps outlined in
    the section "
    Post-Load Options
    ."
    How to Run a Load
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose Load from the PowerScheduler menu. The Load Student
    Schedules Queue page appears.
    3. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Load type
    Select a type of load:
    •
    Full: The system reschedules all students. Previously
    created student schedules or manually adjusted student
    schedules are deleted.
    •
    Balance: The system adjusts student schedules to help
    improve the balance of students among sections. There
    is no guarantee that students' schedules will not
    change.
    •
    Reschedule: The system reschedules only students
    whose schedules have not been locked. You can select
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    Field
    Description
    this option multiple times.
    Close sections at
    maximum
    Select this checkbox to ensure that courses close at their
    maximum enrollment numbers.
    Note: Do not select this checkbox the first time you do a load.
    The build itself runs without considering section maximums, so
    this will let you determine if you can get a little better
    percentage. Also, doing so will help you focus on students with
    conflicts.
    Use global course
    substitutes
    Select this checkbox to ensure that the system automatically
    inserts any global course substitutes after student course
    substitutes have been tried and rejected.
    Use student course
    substitutes
    Select this checkbox to ensure that the system automatically
    inserts student course substitutes in the order chosen, if
    needed.
    4. Click Execute. The engine starts to run and the PowerSchool Scheduler page appears. See
    the section "
    Understand the PowerSchool Scheduler Page
    ."
    To view details about the load, click View in the Load Log column on the Load Student
    Schedules Queue page. To view errors and messages produced by the load, click View in
    the Results Log column. For more information on the Results Log, see the section "
    Load
    Results Log
    ." After successfully loading schedules, import the results of the load. For more
    information on importing, see the section "
    Import Student Schedules
    ."
    Note: The Import link does not appear on the Load Student Schedules Queue page if only
    validation was performed. For more information on load validation, see the section "
    Load
    Validation
    ."
    Import Student Schedules
    After you load students into schedules, you must import the results in order to display student
    schedules in PowerSchool.
    Note: You must import the load that corresponds with the appropriate build.
    If you import schedules that have changed for a student or a group of students after the first
    import, only the schedules of the selected students will be overwritten. Students schedules that did
    not change since the last import are not affected.
    How to Import Student Schedules
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose (Q) next to Load from the PowerScheduler menu. The Load
    Student Schedules Queue page appears.
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    3. Click Import in the appropriate row in the Results column. The Changes Recorded page
    appears.
    Analyze the Results
    When the load finishes, percentages for students with requests, students without conflicts, and
    total requests satisfied appear on the main Scheduling page.
    To display the Scheduling page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu on the start page.
    The page displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Build Scenario
    The name of the build scenario.
    Note: Click the name of the scenario to view or edit its
    information.
    Last Build
    The most recent date you built the master schedule for a build
    scenario
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    Field
    Description
    scenario.
    Last Load
    The most recent date you loaded student schedules for a build
    scenario.
    Students With Requests
    The total number of students for whom course requests were
    entered.
    Requests Satisfied
    The percentage of all primary student course requests satisfied.
    Students Without
    Conflicts
    The percentage of students without any conflicts in their
    schedules.
    Status
    Indicates if the build scenario is active or inactive.
    Load Results Log
    Similar to the build results log, the load results log displays the names of students it cannot
    schedule. It also provides possible reasons the engine did not run properly and alerts you to any
    potential issues the engine finds.
    How to View the Load Results Log
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Processing, choose (Q) next to Load from the PowerScheduler menu. The Load
    Student Schedules Queue page appears.
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    Note: Use this page to import the student schedules after being loaded. For more
    information, see the section "
    Import Student Schedules
    ."
    3. Click View in the Results Log column of the appropriate row. The "Results Log for [school
    name]" page appears.
    If the build stops because of validation errors, the results log displays details about these
    errors. There are three types of errors:
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    •
    Info: These messages are informational, such as "Course [x]: Rescheduled [x]
    students out of [x] (leaving [x] unscheduled)." These do not prevent a successful
    load.
    •
    Warning: These are "red flag" messages, such as "The teacher’s preferred room is not
    suitable for the course the teacher is teaching." These do not prevent a successful
    load.
    •
    Error: These messages are validation errors that must be corrected in order for the
    engine to run, such as "Invalid valid term found in the Course file (does not match
    the term length)." These do prevent a successful load.
    For more information on validation messages, see the section "
    Build Validation
    ."
    Post-Load Options
    After completing your first load, you can do one or more of the following procedures:
    1. Accept the results of the load and begin manually adjusting student schedules. Select this
    option only if you are positive that the master schedule will not change and that student
    schedules are correct. Verify student schedules to make sure the master schedule is correct.
    For more information on adjusting student schedules, see the section "
    Manually Adjust
    Student Schedules
    ."
    2. Resolve student conflicts by using or adding alternate course requests if you did not use
    them in the first load. If your schedule contains alternate student course requests but you
    did not allow the system to use them, rerun the load and select the substitutes options. For
    more information about creating alternate course requests, see the section "
    How to Enter
    Requests in the Scheduling Area
    ."
    3. Manually adjust student course requests to allow better scheduling. For example, if a
    student has a course request that is impossible to meet, change it. Repeat this process until
    you are satisfied with the results. For more information about adjusting alternate course
    requests, see the section "
    How to Enter Requests in the Scheduling Area
    ."
    4. Select the students you want to reschedule. Then, reload student schedules.
    If you select option 2, 3, or 4 above, you probably need to reload student schedules. For
    more information, see the section "
    Reload Students
    ."
    In the event that the unsatisfactory load results are due to discrepancies in the master
    schedule, you need to rebuild or manually adjust the master schedule. For more
    information, see the section "
    Restart the Build
    ."
    Lock Student Schedules
    If you manually adjusted students’ course requests and are satisfied with the resulting schedules,
    you can effectively lock those students' schedules before reloading by excluding them from the
    student selection before reloading. That way, only the students selected are included in the load.
    Note: If one of the students in the selection has an association with another student, such as a
    Student Avoid constraint, the schedule of the “other” student not included in the selection may be
    affected by the load process.
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    For more information on selecting students, see the section "
    Schedule Search and Select
    ."
    Reload Students
    After you make changes to student course requests, you may want to reload the affected students
    into the master schedule. For more information about rescheduling students, see the section "
    Run
    a Load
    ."
    How to Reload Students into the Master Schedule
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Search for and select the group of students you would like to reschedule.
    Note: You must select the students before you click Reschedule.
    3. Under Processing, choose Load from the PowerScheduler menu. The Load Student
    Schedules (Step 1) page appears.
    Note: By default, all student schedules are unlocked. Only the Reschedule option adjusts
    unlocked student schedules.
    4. Click Reschedule. The Load Student Schedules (Step 2) page appears.
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    5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Close sections at
    maximum.
    Select this checkbox to ensure that courses close at their
    maximum enrollment numbers.
    Note: Do not select this checkbox the first time you do a load.
    The build itself runs without considering section maximums, so
    this will let you determine if you can get a little better
    percentage. Also, doing so will help you focus on students with
    conflicts.
    Use global course
    substitutes.
    Select this checkbox to ensure that the system automatically
    inserts any global course substitutes after student course
    substitutes have been tried and rejected.
    Use student course
    Select this checkbox to ensure that the system automatically
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    Field
    Description
    substitutes.
    inserts student course substitutes in the order chosen, if
    needed.
    6. Click Submit. The PowerSchool Scheduler page appears.
    Manually Adjust Student Schedules
    Manually adjust and fine-tune student schedules only if you are certain that the master schedule
    will not change and that student schedules are correct.
    You can also manually enroll students in courses based on their course requests. For more
    information, see the section "
    How to Manually Schedule Students
    ."
    How to Enroll a Student in a Course
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
    3. Enter the name of the student whose schedule you want to change.
    4. Click the Search icon. The Selected Students page appears.
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    5. Select the name of the appropriate student. The student’s name appears in the students
    menu.
    6. Choose Schedule from the pop-up menu.
    7. Click the student’s name. The Schedule page appears. To determine which student course
    requests have yet to be filled, see the bottom of the screen.
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    8. Click the Enroll pop-up menu.
    9. Choose the period in which you want to enroll this student in a course. The Available Period
    Courses page appears.
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    Note: For information on the filter options, see the section "
    How to Filter Manual
    Schedule Options
    ."
    The page displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Crs.Sec
    The course and section number.
    Course Name
    The course name.
    Note: Click a course name to automatically add it to the
    student’s schedule.
    Expression
    The period and day combination.
    Term
    The selected term.
    Teacher
    The teacher’s name.
    Grade
    The grade level.
    Credit Type
    The credit type, such as Math.
    Cr Hours
    The number of credit hours earned by taking this course.
    Enrollment
    The number of students currently enrolled in this course during
    the selected period, followed by the maximum enrollment
    figure.
    10. Click a course name to add that course to the student’s schedule during the selected
    period. The Scheduling page appears.
    How to Drop a Student From a Course
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
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    3. Enter the name of the student whose schedule you want to change.
    4. Click the Search icon. The Selected Students page appears.
    5. Select the name of the appropriate student. The student’s name appears in the students
    menu.
    6. Choose Schedule from the pop-up menu.
    7. Click the student’s name. The Schedule page appears.
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    8. Click the Drop pop-up menu.
    9. Choose the period in which you want to drop this student from a course. Period names in
    the menu match the periods on the page. For example, to drop a course that convenes
    during Period A2 in Semester 2, choose the second occurrence of A2. The Scheduling page
    appears.
    Note: To drop more than one course at a time, select the checkbox in the appropriate row,
    and then click Drop Classes.
    How to Filter Manual Schedule Options
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
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    3. Enter the name of the student whose schedule you want to change.
    4. Click the Search icon. The Selected Students page appears.
    5. Select the name of the appropriate student. The student’s name appears in the students
    menu.
    6. Choose Schedule from the pop-up menu.
    7. Click the student’s name. The Schedule page appears.
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    8. Click the Enroll pop-up menu.
    9. Choose the period in which you want to enroll this student in a course. The Available Period
    Courses page appears.
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    10. Select one of the following to filter information on the Available Period Courses page.
    Field
    Description
    Period
    Choose the period from the pop-up menu.
    Term
    Choose the term from the pop-up menu.
    Teacher
    Choose the teacher from the pop-up menu.
    Day
    Choose the day from the pop-up menu.
    Grade
    Choose the grade level from the pop-up menu.
    Course
    To jump to a particular course, enter the course number and
    press Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows).
    Show only classes with
    available seats
    Select this checkbox to display only classes that have not
    reached the maximum enrollment.
    11. Repeat Step 10 to further filter the selections. To enroll the student in a course, see the
    section "
    How to Enroll a Student in a Course
    ."
    How to Mass Enroll a Group of Students in a Course
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Resources, choose Students from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling page
    appears.
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    3. Select the students you want to work with, using any of the following methods:
    •
    Click a number to select all students in a particular grade level.
    •
    Click M or F to select all males or all females in your school.
    •
    Click the Search icon to view a list of all students and then make your selection by
    hand.
    •
    Enter a search command line to conduct your own search, such as for all students
    assigned to a particular team.
    Note: For more information, see the section "
    Schedule Search and Select
    ."
    4. On the Selected Students page, click Functions. The Scheduling Functions page appears.
    5. Click Schedule Mass Enroll. The Mass Enroll page appears.
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    6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Teacher
    Choose the teacher from the pop-up menu.
    Period
    Choose the period from the pop-up menu.
    Term
    Choose the term from the pop-up menu.
    course.section
    Alternatively, enter the course and section number. Separate
    the course and section numbers with a period and no spaces.
    7. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    Other Scheduling Functions
    Use the links on the Scheduling Functions page to execute processes related to the master
    schedule. For scheduling functions not listed in this section, see the following sections:
    •
    "
    Calculate Sections
    "
    •
    "
    Duplicate Scenarios
    "
    •
    Expression Mapping, used when "
    Importing the Master Schedule
    "
    •
    "
    Update Selections
    ," including the processes "
    Unlock Previously Scheduled
    Courses
    ," "
    How to Set the Next Year Grade Field for an Entire Grade Level
    ,"
    "
    How to Include All of Next Year’s Students
    ," and "
    How to Assign a Group of
    Students to a Building
    ."
    How to Auto Generate Course Information
    Automatically generate information into the fields on the Course Information page based on the
    current master schedule.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Functions page, click Auto Generate Course Information. The Auto-Fill
    Course Info page appears.
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    4. Select the checkbox to verify that you want to generate course information for the fields.
    5. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    How to Auto Generate Rooms
    Automatically generate rooms from the existing master schedule to use in the new build.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Functions page, click Auto Generate Rooms. The Generate Rooms page
    appears.
    4. Select the checkbox to verify that you want to copy the existing rooms into the current
    build.
    5. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
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    How to Auto Generate Teacher Assignments
    Automatically generate teacher assignments from the existing master schedule. To verify that these
    assignments display the correct terms, number of assignments, and other information, run the
    Teacher Assignments by Teacher Report
    .
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Functions page, click Auto Generate Teacher Assignments. The Generate
    Teacher Assignments page appears.
    4. Select the checkbox to generate teacher assignments using the existing master schedule.
    5. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    How to Copy the Master Schedule
    Copy the current year's master schedule to another year.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Functions page, click Copy Master Schedule. The Copy Master Schedule
    page appears.
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    4. Choose the year from which you want to copy the master schedule from the School pop-up
    menu.
    5. Select the checkbox if you want to proceed.
    6. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    After copying the master schedule, do the following:
    •
    Map periods from the Functions menu.
    •
    Regenerate bitmaps from the Functions menu.
    •
    Align the active scenario to the imported master schedule in terms of years and
    terms, periods, and days. For more information, see the section "
    Build Scenarios
    ."
    How to Delete the Master Schedule
    Delete the current year's master schedule.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Functions page, click Delete Master Schedule. The Delete Master
    Schedule page appears.
    4. Select the checkbox if you want to proceed.
    5. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    How to Move Previous Year Data
    Use this function to delete all constraints, relationships, and teacher/course assignments for the
    current build and replace them with constraints, relationships, and teacher/course assignments
    from the selected build.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Functions page, click Move Previous Year Data. The Move Previous Year
    Data page appears.
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    4. Choose the build that you want to use to overwrite the current build from the pop-up
    menus.
    5. Select the confirmation checkbox if you want to proceed.
    6. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    How to Set the Schedule Year
    Because course requests can be made for the current year or for other scheduling years, you must
    set the schedule year for student requests made in PowerScheduler, in Parent Access, or on the
    Requests Modify Future page in PowerSchool.
    For example, set the scheduling year to 2004-2005 if you want students to enter course requests on
    the student access pages for the 2004-2005 year. In this case, the request Screen Setup function in
    PowerScheduler will apply to the 2004-2005 school year. The student's requests made through the
    Requests Modify Current page in PowerSchool will apply to the 2003-2004 school year.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Functions page, click Set Schedule Year. The Set Schedule Year page
    appears.
    4. Choose the schedule year from the pop-up menu.
    Note: Only the years established on the Years & Terms page appear. If you want to select a
    year that is not listed in the pop-up menu, you must first set up that scheduling year. For
    more information, see the section “
    Schedule Years and Terms
    .”
    5. Click Submit. The Scheduling page appears.
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    How to Regenerate Bitmaps
    Reset the bitmap from the expression for all sections and constraints in the current build.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Functions page, click Regenerate bitmaps. The "Expression to Bitmap"
    page appears.
    4. Select the checkbox if you want to proceed.
    5. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    How to Reset Class Counts
    Use this function to reset the number of students in each section for all courses in the current build.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Functions page, click Reset Class Counts. The system resets the number
    of students in each section in the current build, and redisplays the Scheduling Functions
    page.
    How to Reset Sections Offered
    Use this function to reset the number of sections needed for all courses in the current course
    catalog.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Functions page, click Reset Sections Offered. The system resets the
    number of sections needed for the current course catalog, and redisplays the Scheduling
    Functions page.
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    How to Split Yearlong Classes
    Use this function to split yearlong classes into smaller terms. By creating yearlong classes and then
    using this function to divide the class into smaller terms, you reduce the number of classes you
    need to set up.
    Note: This should only be done when you are ready to commit your master schedule.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Functions page, click Split Year-Long Classes. The Split Year-Long Classes
    page appears.
    4. Select the term segment into which you want to split yearlong classes.
    5. Select the checkbox if you want to proceed.
    6. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    Update Selections
    Use the Update Selections function to update a group of selected records at one time. Update
    selections for procedures such as "
    Unlock Previously Scheduled Courses
    ," "
    How to Set the
    Next Year Grade Field for an Entire Grade Level
    ," "
    How to Include All of Next Year’s
    Students
    ," and "
    How to Assign a Group of Students to a Building
    ." See the section "
    How
    to Update Selections
    " for general instructions.
    How to Update Selections
    To change the records for a group of students, first select the group. For examples of how to search
    for a group of students, see "
    How to Set the Next Year Grade Field for an Entire Grade
    Level
    " in the section "
    Next Year Grade
    ."
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Functions from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Functions
    page appears.
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    3. Click Update Selections. The Update Selections page appears.
    4. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
    Field
    Description
    Current Table
    Choose the table from which you want to export records from
    the pop-up menu.
    Note: For a complete list of PowerSchool tables and fields, see
    http://your.school.address/admin/home?ac=structure
    .
    Select all [x] records in
    this table
    To indicate the records to use in the export, either:
    •
    Click "Select all [number of] records in this table" to
    select all records. Skip to Step 6.
    •
    Identify search criteria in the Search Students fields by
    continuing to the next step.
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    Field
    Description
    Search Students
    Choose a field from the first pop-up menu.
    Choose an operator from the second pop-up menu:
    •
    Equals (=)
    •
    Less than (<)
    •
    Greater than (>)
    •
    Less than or equal to (<=)
    •
    Greater than or equal to (>=)
    •
    Does not equal (#)
    •
    Contains (contains)
    •
    Does not contain (!Contain)
    Enter the value for the field in the last field.
    5. Click "Search within the current [# of selected] records only." The Update Selections page
    displays the new number of current records in selection.
    6. Do one of the following:
    •
    Click List View to view the selections.
    •
    Click "Select Records by Hand" to narrow the selection. Press and hold Command
    (Mac) or Control (Windows) and click the selections you want to keep. Click Submit.
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    •
    Click Modify Records and continue to the next step. The Modify Records page
    appears.
    7. Choose the field to modify in the selected records from the pop-up menu.
    8. Enter the value for the field to modify in the selected records.
    9. Click Modify Selected Records. The system updates the records, and the Update Selections
    page appears.
    Checklist to Know Your Student Schedules are Complete
    Following is a checklist you can use to be sure that your student schedules are complete:
    •
    You built a master schedule.
    •
    You worked on conflicts, identified patterns, and corrected problems.
    •
    You updated your master schedule.
    •
    You optimized your master schedule. (optional)
    •
    You ran a load.
    •
    You checked your balances.
    •
    You accommodated all student course requests. (optional)
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    •
    You reloaded and made any manual adjustments.
    •
    Your balances are satisfactory.
    •
    Your teacher schedules are satisfactory.
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    Commit the Master Schedule
    When you have a satisfactory schedule and want to make it your master schedule for the next
    school year, you must commit it. Once a schedule is committed, it replaces any existing master
    schedule and becomes your current schedule.
    You can commit the schedule as soon as the current academic year has ended, or you can wait until
    just before the next academic year begins. If your periods for the next academic year are set up
    exactly as they are for the current year, you can commit the schedule as soon as you are confident
    that you no longer need to build or load.
    For information on committing the master schedule, see the section "
    When to Commit the
    Master Schedule
    ."
    When to Commit the Master Schedule
    When your schedule is as good as it can possibly be and school is no longer in session, commit the
    master schedule. When you commit a master schedule, it replaces any existing master schedule for
    that school year.
    How to Commit the Master Schedule
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Click Commit. The Commit Master Schedule page appears.
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    3. Select which schedules to copy:
    •
    Sections Only: Select this option to commit only sections.
    •
    Student Schedules Only: Select this option to commit only student schedules.
    •
    Sections & Student Schedules: Select this option to commit both sections and
    student schedules.
    4. Click Submit. The Changes Recorded page appears.
    Print Schedules and Rosters
    Print Student Schedules
    If you would like to print student and teacher schedules, you can do so either before or after you
    commit your master schedule. For more information, see the section "
    How to Run the Student
    Schedule List Report
    ."
    You can also print student schedules using a report card template. For more information, see the
    section "
    Report Cards
    ."
    Print Class Rosters
    You can print class lists either before or after you commit your master schedule. For more
    information, see the section "
    How to Run the Class Roster (Browser) Report
    " or "
    How to
    Run the Class Roster (PDF) Report
    ."
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    Master Schedule Reports
    Before building your master schedule, use the pre-build reports to determine that the scenario
    information is correct and view how student course requests will affect your schedule for the next
    school year. For example, run the Course Request Tally report if there are more requests than you
    originally planned for a particular course. You can then adjust the section count. See the section
    "
    Prepare to Build the Master Schedule Reports
    " for pre-build reports.
    You can also view reports to display which teachers are assigned to which courses and print a
    teacher assignments list. The teacher reports only display the names of teachers who are already
    assigned to courses.
    After you build a master schedule, use the post-build reports to help you correct any errors in your
    data, such as non-scheduled course requests, non-scheduled student requests, and under-
    scheduled students. You can also use these reports to view your room utilization, a list of student
    schedules, and your new master schedule. See the section "
    Build the Master Schedule
    Reports
    " for post-build reports.
    Prepare to Build the Master Schedule Reports
    PowerSchool includes many reports pertaining to the master schedule. The following 12 reports are
    specific to the first part of the master schedule process—prepare to build the master
    schedule—and relate to courses, student course requests, rooms, students, and teachers. Use the
    Scheduling Reports page to navigate to each report.
    How to Run the Conflict Matrix Export Report
    The Conflict Matrix Export report displays student course request conflicts between courses. For
    example, you might find that 16 students have requested both AP Calculus and
    Anatomy/Physiology. Therefore, you would try not to schedule these two classes during the same
    period. You need to have a spreadsheet application, such as Excel, to view this report.
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    Note: This report is used primarily by schools and districts that are not building their master
    schedule in PowerSchool.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Reports page, click Conflict Matrix Export. The Export Conflict Matrix
    page appears.
    4. Enter the numbers of the grade levels you want to include in this report in the "Grade levels
    to include" field.
    5. Select the "Course numbers" checkbox to include course numbers, the "Course names"
    checkbox to include course names, or both.
    6. Select "Include all courses" to include all courses in your active course catalog in this report;
    select "Only the courses selected below" to include just the courses you select. If you select
    "Include all courses," you do not have to select the checkbox next to each course name.
    7. Do one of the following:
    •
    If you selected "Include all courses," click Submit.
    •
    If you selected "Only the courses selected below," select the checkbox next to the
    name of each course you want to include in this report and click Submit.
    8. Save the file and open it using your spreadsheet application.
    To read this report, select a course in one of the rows and a course in one of the columns and find
    the field where they meet on the spreadsheet. The number in this field indicates how many
    requests have been made for each course.
    How to Run the Course List Report
    The Course List report displays scheduling information for each course in your active course
    catalog.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu.
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    3. On the Scheduling Reports page, click Course List. The Courses page appears.
    The page displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Number
    The course number.
    Name
    The course name.
    Department
    The course’s department.
    Facilities
    Any facilities associated with this course.
    Max
    The maximum enrollment of the course.
    Sections
    The number of sections of the course.
    PP Meeting
    The number of periods per meeting.
    DP Cycle
    The number of days per cycle.
    Frequency
    The number of days the course meets per cycle.
    Sched Terms
    The number of schedule terms in which the course is offered.
    Terms Offered
    The valid terms in which the course can be offered.
    LP
    The order in which students are scheduled in this course during
    the load process.
    Rank
    The rank of the course that determines the order in which
    PowerSchool schedules courses into the master schedule.
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    How to Run the Course Relationships Report
    The Course Relationships report displays any course relationships defined for courses in your course
    catalog.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Reports page, click Course Relationships. The Course Relationships page
    appears.
    The page displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number 1
    The number of the first course.
    Course Name 1
    The name of the first course.
    Course Number 2
    The number of the second course.
    Course Name 2
    The name of the second course.
    Type
    The type of relationship that has been defined for these two
    courses:
    •
    Block: Courses that must be related to one another in
    the schedule. For example, you may want Pottery to be
    scheduled before or after Ceramics so that they can
    share a hot kiln. Alternatively, a medieval literature class
    may follow a medieval history class.
    •
    Concurrent: Courses that can meet at the same time, in
    the same place, and be taught by the same teacher. For
    example, a special education teacher might have a class
    of ten students, three of whom are taking remedial
    reading and the remainder of whom study remedial
    vocabulary and spelling.
    •
    Coreq: Two courses that are scheduled during the same
    term of a student’s schedule.
    •
    Postreq: A course that must be in a student’s schedule
    in a term after the related course.
    •
    Prereq: A course that must be in a student’s schedule in
    a term before the related course. For example, Course A
    is a prerequisite of Course B. When the system
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    Field
    Description
    schedules a student for these courses, it ensures that
    Course A is scheduled into a term before when Course B
    is in the student’s schedule.
    Code
    If the two courses share a block relationship type, this field
    describes the type of block relationship, such as Term or
    Simultaneous.
    How to Run the Course Request Tally Report
    The Course Request Tally report lists the number of primary and alternate student course requests
    by course. Use this report to determine how many sections of a course you need. To run this report
    for a specific group of students, first select those students. Then, select the Use Selected [number]
    Students checkbox on the Scheduling Reports page before clicking Course Request Tally.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Reports page, click Course Request Tally. The Course Request Tally page
    appears.
    The page displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Course
    The course number.
    Course Name
    The course name.
    Primary
    The number of primary student course requests for the course.
    Click a number to view the list of students who requested a
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    Field
    Description
    particular course.
    Alternate
    The number of alternate student course requests for the course.
    Click a number to view the list of students who requested a
    particular course.
    Total
    The total number of requests for the course. Click a number to
    view the list of students who requested a particular course.
    Note: Click any column heading to sort the list.
    How to Run the Requests by Course Report
    The "Requests by Course" report lists the names of the students who requested each of the courses
    in your course catalog. To run this report for a specific group of students, first select those students.
    Then, select the Use Selected [number] Students checkbox on the Scheduling Reports page before
    clicking "Requests by Course."
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Reports page, click "Requests by Course." The Requests By Course page
    appears.
    The page displays the following information:
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    Field
    Description
    Course #
    The course number.
    Course Name
    The course name.
    Student Name
    The list of students who requested each course.
    How to Run the Requests by Student Report
    The "Requests by Student" report lists the names of the courses each student requested. To run this
    report for a specific group of students, first select those students. Then, select the Use Selected
    [number] Students checkbox on the Scheduling Reports page before clicking Requests by Student.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Reports page, click "Requests by Student." The Requests By student
    pages menu appears.
    The menu displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Student #
    The student number.
    Student Name
    The student’s name.
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    Field
    Description
    Course #
    The list of course requests made by each student.
    How to Run the Room List Report
    The Room List report provides scheduling information for all of the rooms available in the school.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Reports page, click Room List. The Rooms page appears.
    The page displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Number
    The room number.
    Description
    A description of the room.
    Max
    The maximum enrollment of the room.
    Sched
    The word True if the room is included in the scheduling process
    or False if it is not.
    Department
    The department to which the room belongs.
    Dept. Use Only
    The word True if the room can only hold courses in its own
    department or False if it can hold courses from any department.
    Facilities
    The facilities associated with the room.
    Fac. Use Only
    The word True if the room can only hold courses requiring a
    facility or False if it can hold courses that do not require a
    facility.
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    Field
    Description
    Always Free
    The word True if the room has no limit to the number of
    courses it can hold or False if it can only hold one course per
    period.
    Building
    The building associated with the room.
    House
    The house associated with the room.
    How to Run the Student List Report
    The Student List report provides scheduling preference information for all of the students who will
    attend your school next year. To run this report for a specific group of students, first select those
    students. Then, select the Use Selected [number] Students checkbox on the Scheduling Reports
    page before clicking Student List.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Reports page, click Student List. The Students page appears.
    The page displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Number
    The student’s number.
    Name
    The student’s name.
    Grade
    The student’s grade level.
    Gender
    The student’s gender.
    Next Grade
    The grade level the student will be in next year.
    Priority
    The student’s scheduling priority.
    YOG
    The student’s year of graduation.
    Locked
    The word True if the student’s schedule has been locked or
    False if it has not been locked
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    Field
    Description
    False if it has not been locked.
    Building
    The student’s building.
    House
    The student’s house.
    Team
    The student’s team.
    How to Run the Student Request Tally Report
    The Student Request Tally report displays the number of primary and alternate student course
    requests made by each student. To run this report for a specific group of students, first select those
    students. Then, select the Use Selected [number] Students checkbox on the Scheduling Reports
    page before clicking Student Request Tally.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Reports page, click Student Request Tally. The Student Request Tally
    page appears.
    The page displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Student
    The student’s name.
    % Scheduled
    The percentage of the student's course requests that were
    fulfilled.
    Primary
    The number of primary course requests made by the student.
    Credits
    The number of credit hours for primary course requests.
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    Field
    Description
    Alternate
    The number of alternate course requests made by the student.
    Credits
    The number of credit hours for alternate course requests.
    Total
    The total number of course requests made by the student.
    Credits
    The number of credit hours for all course requests.
    How to Run the Teacher Assignments by Course Report
    The "Teacher Assignments by Course" report lists the courses assigned to each teacher in your
    school.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Reports page, click Teacher Assignments By Course. The Teacher
    Assignments By Course page appears.
    The page displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Course #
    The course number.
    Course Name
    The course name.
    Teacher Name
    The teacher's name.
    # Sections
    The number of sections assigned to the teacher.
    Term
    The term(s) for which an assignment has been made. If this field
    is blank, the system will determine the term based on course
    preference information.
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    How to Run the Teacher Assignments by Teacher Report
    The "Teacher Assignments by Teacher" report lists the courses assigned to each teacher in your
    school.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Reports page, click Teacher Assignments By Teacher. The Teacher
    Assignments By Teacher page appears.
    The page displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Teacher Name
    The teacher’s name.
    Course Name
    The course name.
    Course #
    The course number.
    # Sections
    The number of sections assigned to the teacher.
    Term
    The term(s) for which an assignment has been made. If this field
    is blank, the system determines the term based on course
    preference information.
    How to Run the Teacher List Report
    The Teacher List report lists the scheduling preferences for all of the teachers in your school.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu.
    3. On the Scheduling Reports page, click Teacher List. The Teachers page appears.
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    The page display the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Teacher
    The teacher’s name.
    Department
    The teacher’s department.
    Room
    The teacher’s preferred room number.
    Consecutive
    The maximum number of consecutive periods the teacher can
    instruct.
    Always Free
    The word True if the teacher can be scheduled to teach more
    than one course during the same period or False if the teacher
    can teach only one course per period.
    Building
    The teacher’s building.
    House
    The teacher’s house.
    Team
    The teacher’s team.
    Build the Master Schedule Reports
    PowerSchool includes eight reports that help you evaluate a completed master schedule. Use these
    reports to determine whether maximum enrollment parameters need to be increased, teachers are
    correctly scheduled, and the system scheduled courses in rooms and their facilities at the correct
    times.
    The following reports are specific to the second part of the master schedule process—build the
    master schedule—and relate to the master schedule, student course requests, rooms, schedules,
    and students.
    How to Run the Alternate Request Report
    Use the Alternate Request report to list the number of course requests made by a student and
    whether or not the student was scheduled in his or her requested course. The report separates the
    requests by course and alternate course.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
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    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
    3. Click Alternate Request Report. The Alternate Request Report page appears.
    The report displays the student's name, name of the requested course, and name of the requested
    alternate requested course. An X in the Scheduled column next to each course indicates that the
    student was scheduled in that course.
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    How to Run the Master Schedule Report
    Use the Master Schedule report to evaluate the schedule the system built. View the master
    schedule for all teachers for all periods. The first time you display the master schedule after creating
    or modifying it, the Master Schedule Preferences page appears. For more information, see the
    section "
    How to Modify Master Schedule Preferences
    ."
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
    3. Click Master Schedule. The Master Schedule [build name] page appears.
    The report displays the teacher's name, the selected day, and the following information for each
    period:
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    •
    Name of the course assigned to this teacher
    •
    Course number
    •
    Section number
    •
    Number of students scheduled for this section
    •
    Maximum enrollment of this section
    •
    Room number
    •
    Expression, which is the combination of period(s) and day(s)
    •
    Term
    Note: Click the course number to view that section's Edit Section page. Click the next blue
    number to view its Class Roster page.
    How to Run the Master Schedule (PDF) Report
    Use the Master Schedule PDF report to generate a PDF of the master schedule. View the master
    schedule for all teachers for all periods. The first time you display the master schedule after creating
    or modifying it, the Master Schedule Preferences page appears. For more information, see the
    section "
    How to Modify Master Schedule Preferences
    ."
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
    3. Click Master Schedule (PDF). The Master Schedule PDF page appears.
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    4. Use the following table to enter information in the Printing Options fields:
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    Field
    Description
    Heading Font
    Choose the heading font from the pop-up menu.
    Heading Style
    Enter the heading font size and line height in points. One point
    equals 1/72 of an inch.
    Select the formatting checkbox(es) you want to use. For
    example, select the Bold checkbox to bold the heading.
    Print Heading On
    Choose the page on which to print the heading from the pop-
    up menu.
    Column Title Font
    Choose the column title font from the pop-up menu.
    Column Title Style
    Enter the column title font size and line height in points. One
    point equals 1/72 of an inch.
    Select the formatting checkbox(es) you want to use. For
    example, select the Bold checkbox to bold the column title.
    Print Column Titles On
    Choose the page on which to print the column titles from the
    pop-up menu.
    Body Font
    Choose the font for the body of the report from the pop-up
    menu.
    Body Style
    Enter the body font size and line height in points. One point
    equals 1/72 of an inch.
    Select the formatting checkbox(es) you want to use. For
    example, select the Bold checkbox to bold the body.
    Cell Padding
    Enter the width of each cell and the amount of space from all
    sides of the cells to the text in points. One point equals 1/72 of
    an inch.
    Page size
    Choose a size for the report page from the pop-up menu. If you
    choose a custom size, enter the size of the page in inches.
    Margins
    Enter the size of the margins in inches.
    Orientation, Scale
    Choose the page layout from the pop-up menu. Portrait is a
    vertical page; landscape is a horizontal page.
    Scale is the finished size of the report. Fit more on a page by
    reducing it by a percentage, but remember to leave it as large
    as possible for easier viewing.
    Watermark Text
    If you want to print text as a watermark on each page of the
    report, use the pop-up menu to either choose one of the
    standard phrases or choose Custom and enter the text you
    want to print as a watermark in the field.
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    Field
    Description
    Watermark Mode
    Use the pop-up menu to determine how you want the text to
    print. Watermark prints the text behind objects on the report,
    while Overlay prints the text over objects on the report.
    When to print
    To run this report, select a time to start it:
    •
    ASAP: Execute immediately.
    •
    At Night: Execute during the next evening.
    •
    On Weekend: Execute during the next weekend.
    •
    On Specific Date/Time: Execute on the date and time
    specified in the following fields.
    Note: For the master schedule options, see the section "
    How to Modify Master
    Schedule Preferences
    ."
    5. Click Submit. PowerSchool runs the report, and the report queue appears. Depending on
    your specifications, this could take several minutes.
    6. Click Completed to display the report.
    How to Run the Master Schedule List Report
    This report displays the master schedule with filters. For example, filter the report to show the
    master schedule for a certain credit type, room, and teacher. Press and hold Command (Mac) or
    Control (Windows) to make multiple selections. Sort the report by course name, number,
    department, room, or teacher.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
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    3. Click Master Schedule List. The Master Schedule List page appears.
    Note: The first time you display the master schedule after creating or modifying it, the
    Master Schedule Preferences page appears. Use this page to filter information that appears
    on the master schedule page. If you want to change your preferences after running the
    report, click "Show Preferences" on the master Schedule List page. For more information,
    see the section "
    How to Modify Master Schedule Preferences
    ."
    The master schedule list displays the course number and name, section number, schedule
    expression, term, teacher, department, room number, number of students enrolled, and maximum
    enrollment for each course section.
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    How to Run the Non-Scheduled Course Requests Report
    Use the Non-Scheduled Course Requests report to view the students whose course requests could
    not be honored during the scheduling process for each course. This information can help you
    determine if you need to ease course maximum restrictions, add more course sections, or update a
    student's course requests.
    Note: To run this report for a specific group of students, first select those students. Then, select the
    Use Selected [number] Students checkbox on the Scheduling Reports page before clicking Non-
    scheduled Course Requests.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
    Note: To exclude alternate requests, click Exclude Alternates below the report name.
    3. Click Non-scheduled Course Requests. The Non-Scheduled Course Requests page appears.
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    The report displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Course Number
    The course number.
    Note: Alternate course requests appear in red.
    Course Name
    The course name.
    Note: Alternate course requests appear in red.
    Student Number
    The number of the requesting student that was not scheduled
    in this course.
    Student Name
    The name of the requesting student that was not scheduled in
    this course.
    How to Run the Non-Scheduled Student Requests Report
    Use the Non-Scheduled Student Requests report to determine which course requests have not
    been satisfied on a student-by-student basis. The information can help you decide if you need to
    ease course maximum restrictions or update a student's course requests.
    Note: To run this report for a specific group of students, first select those students. Then, select the
    Use Selected [number] Students checkbox on the Scheduling Reports page before clicking Non-
    scheduled Student Requests.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
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    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
    Note: To exclude alternate requests, click Exclude Alternates below the report name.
    3. Click Non-scheduled Student Requests. The Non-Scheduled Student Requests page appears.
    The report displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Student Number
    The number of the requesting student that was not scheduled
    in this course.
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    Field
    Description
    Student Name
    The name of the requesting student that was not scheduled in
    this course.
    Course Number
    The course number.
    Note: Alternate course requests appear in red.
    Course Name
    The course name.
    Note: Alternate course requests appear in red.
    How to Run the Room Schedule Report
    Use the Room Schedule report to determine which courses are being taught in a particular room.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
    3. Click Room Schedule. The Room Schedule page appears.
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    4. Click Associate to select the number of the room you want.
    5. Click Submit. The Room [number] Schedule page appears.
    The report displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Sec#
    The section number of the course.
    Expression
    The period and day(s) the course is taught.
    Term
    The term that the course is taught.
    Teacher
    The name of the teacher instructing the course.
    Course#
    The course number.
    Course
    The course name.
    Size
    The number of students enrolled in the course. Click the
    number to display the class roster.
    How to Run the Room Utilization Report
    Use the Room Utilization report to verify that the system scheduled courses in the correct rooms,
    with the appropriate facilities, at the correct times. You can also use this report to make sure that
    you correctly defined room capacities.
    For each room, the system displays the courses that take place in the room by period. For each
    period, the system displays the number of available seats, scheduled students, and maximum seats.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
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    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
    3. Click Room Utilization. The Room Utilization page appears.
    4. Click Associate to select the rooms that you want to display on the report.
    5. Click Submit. The Room Utilization report page appears.
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    The report displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Room
    The room number.
    Day
    The day the room is scheduled.
    Terms
    The terms that the room is scheduled.
    Period
    The course name, teacher, course and section number,
    expression (period and day), year, and maximum seats for each
    room, number of taken seats, and number of seats available.
    How to Run the Schedule Periods by Grade Report
    Use the "Schedule Periods by Grade" report to view the number of students scheduled into courses
    by period, grade, and term.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
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    3. Click Schedule Periods By Grade. The Schedule Periods By Grade page appears.
    The report displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Term
    The term number.
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    Field
    Description
    Expressions
    The period and day(s).
    Grade [number]
    The number of unscheduled students, scheduled students, and
    total number of students for this period and grade level.
    How to Run the Schedule Course Enrollment Report
    Use the "Schedule Periods by Grade" report to view the number of students scheduled into courses
    by period, grade, and term.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
    3. Click Schedule Course Enrollment. The Schedule Course Enrollment page appears.
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    The report displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Number
    The course number.
    Course Name
    The course name.
    Seats Available
    The maximum enrollment for the course.
    Requests
    The number of requests made for the course. Click the number
    to display the names of students that requested the course.
    Seats Filled
    The number of fulfilled requests for the course. Click the
    number to display the names of students enrolled in the
    course.
    Seats Vacant
    The number of empty seats in the course.
    Unfilled Requests
    The number of unfulfilled requests for the course. Click the
    number to display the names of students that requested the
    course but are not enrolled in it.
    How to Run the Schedule Results by Grade Report
    Use the "Schedule Results by Grade" report to view a summary of how many students in each grade
    were fully scheduled and not scheduled. To give you a better indication of the success of your
    schedule, run this report after loading student schedules but before working with individual
    students' scheduled.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
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    3. Click Schedule Results by Grade. The Scheduling Results By Grade page appears.
    The report displays the following information:
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    Field
    Description
    Grade
    The grade level.
    Total Requests
    The number of requests submitted by students in each grade.
    Fully Scheduled
    The number of students and percentage of students in each
    grade that have a complete schedule.
    Not Fully Scheduled
    The number of students and percentage of students in each
    grade that do not have a complete schedule.
    How to Run the Student Schedule List Report
    Use the Student Schedule List report to view the number of courses scheduled by each student.
    You can also use this report to view each student's schedule.
    Note: To run this report for a specific group of students, first select those students. Then, select the
    Use Selected [number] Students checkbox on the Scheduling Reports page before clicking Student
    Schedule List.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
    3. Click Student Schedule List. The Student Classes Scheduled page appears.
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    The report displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Student
    The student's name. Click the heading to sort the list by student
    name.
    % Scheduled
    The percentage of the student's course requests that were
    fulfilled. Click the heading to sort the list by percentage
    scheduled.
    Classes Scheduled
    The number of courses that have been scheduled for this
    student. Click the heading to sort the list by the number of
    classes scheduled. Click the number per student to view the
    student's Schedule page.
    How to Run the Under-Scheduled Students Report
    Use the Under-Scheduled Students report to determine the number of students who have been
    under-scheduled for each period.
    Note: To run this report for a specific group of students, first select those students. Then, select the
    Use Selected [number] Students checkbox on the Scheduling Reports page before clicking Under-
    scheduled Students.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
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    3. Click Under-scheduled Students. The Under-Scheduled Students page appears.
    The report displays the following information:
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    Field
    Description
    # of Blocks
    The number of blocks, or units available in the schedule. Units
    are periods multiplied by the number of days multiplied by the
    number of schedule terms. For example, a scenario with 2 days,
    8 periods, and 4 terms would have 64 blocks.
    Percent
    The number of blocks divided by the total number of blocks
    possible.
    # of Students
    The number of students who have the corresponding number
    of blocks scheduled.
    Percent
    The percentage of the total number of students that have the
    corresponding number of blocks scheduled.
    How to Run the Unscheduled Rooms Report
    Use the Unscheduled Rooms report to determine the number of rooms that have not been
    scheduled for classes per term, period, and day.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
    3. Click Unscheduled Rooms. The Unscheduled Rooms page appears.
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    The report displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Term Period Day
    Description
    The term, period, and schedule day in which there are
    unscheduled rooms.
    # of Rooms
    The number of unscheduled rooms for each term, period, and
    day. Click the number of rooms to display the list of rooms.
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    How to Run the Unscheduled Students Report
    Use the Unscheduled Students report to determine the number of students who have not been
    scheduled into classes per term, period, and day. When making adjustments after loading student
    schedules, school counselors can use this report to find "holes" in student schedules.
    Note: To run this report for a specific group of students, first select those students. Then, select the
    Use Selected [number] Students checkbox on the Scheduling Reports page before clicking
    Unscheduled Students.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
    3. Click Under-scheduled Students. The UnScheduled Students page appears.
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    The report displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Term Period Day
    Description
    The term, period, and schedule day in which there are
    unscheduled students.
    # of Students
    The number of unscheduled students for each term, period,
    and day. Click the number of students to display the list of
    students, from which you can select students from the list and
    perform group functions.
    How to Run the Unscheduled Teachers Report
    Use the Unscheduled Teachers report to determine the number of teachers who have not been
    scheduled into classes per term, period, and day.
    1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler from the main menu.
    2. Under Tools, choose Reports from the PowerScheduler menu. The Scheduling Reports page
    appears.
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    3. Click Unscheduled Teachers. The UnScheduled Teachers page appears.
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    The report displays the following information:
    Field
    Description
    Term Period Day
    Description
    The term, period, and schedule day in which there are
    unscheduled teachers.
    # of Teachers
    The number of unscheduled teachers for each term, period, and
    day. Click the number of teachers to display the list of students.

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