SCHOOL MAX INFORMATION

SCHOOL MAX INFORMATION
INTRODUCTION TO SCHOOLMAX’s FAMILY PORTAL
•The purpose of SchoolMAX’s Family Portal is to ensure that all
legally responsible family members can have 24 x 7 access to
accurate and timely information about their PGCPS student(s)
•Family Portal is a web based portal that’s accessible to any
web-enabled computer with a live internet connection
•It is the Board of Education’s intent to have this information
available as soon as possible but PLEASE BE PATIENT, this is a
work in progress and, much of the work has fallen on the
individual schools
SchoolMAX Family Portal
The Family Portal in SchoolMAX includes views of:
•Attendance (cumulative for the year)
•Schedule (classes that should be attended presently)
•Gradebook (all grades, assignments, scores, weights)
•Progress reports (progress [P] and quarter [Q] grade types)
•Discipline (all recorded incidents and responses)
•My Profile (to update info, request attendance notifications)
The system went live on 1/26/2009 and letters will be generated
after that date by our school that give parents access keys.
SchoolMAX Family Portal
Family Portal is accessible with any web-enabled computer here:
https://family.sis.pgcps.org
This address is accessible at the county website
but you should enter this address into the address bar
of your browser and make it a favorite or bookmark
This way if the county website is down you still have access
(they are on two different servers)
Screen shots explaining how to get started/registered
and a downloadable instruction manual are here:
http://www1.pgcps.org/schoolmax/family/index.html
SchoolMAX Family Portal
Family Portal is accessible the first time after you receive a letter
from our school containing an access key and register
Upon login, student information is visible based on
information provided in the enrollment record
If the enrollment record is faulty
our communications will be faulty
If a family has multiple students in the system, persons of record
will be able to select which student’s info to view
Downloadable instruction manual here:
http://www1.pgcps.org/schoolmax/family/index.html
Registration, Access Keys, Usernames/Passwords
•The school will automatically generate an access key for each
parent/guardian and print a letter to parents/legal guardians
•During registration the access key is used on the first screen along with
the I need to register link to gain access for the first time
•As you register you will create your username and password
•You will also have to choose three questions from the password hint
drop down menu (what is your favorite color, mother’s maiden name, etc). You will
have to be able to answer these questions if you try to retrieve your
password using the I forgot my password link
•As with all initial access codes and username/password combinations, it
the responsibility of the parent/legal guardian to safeguard access keys
and usernames/passwords
•If the access keys and username/passwords are compromised, whoever
has your username/password has the same privileges as you
•The school and school system is not responsible if you give out your
access information to other people including your children
Resetting/Retrieving your password
Once you have registered for the first time you can change your
password using My Profile and get your password if forgotten using the
I forgot my password link
When using the link you have three tries to answer the questions
correctly and, if you can’t, you get locked out.
This isn’t a software malfunction, it is the operation of the software as
designed
If you are locked out you can email Family Portal Administrator and you
will be asked 4 questions in a reply email:
1. What is the username for this account
2. Security Question #3 (from account creation)
3. Security Question #2 (from account creation)
4. Security Question #3 (from account creation)
Resetting/Retrieving your password
If you answer correctly you will be emailed in a message that contains
nothing but a new password. Use that password to enter and
immediately change the password to something you will remember.
If you answer incorrectly you can some to school and see the Family
Portal Administrator with proper ID and your account can be unlocked
and your password reset.
üAt this point NO PHONE CALLS or any other COMMUNICATION can
substitute for your in person visit
Lockouts
As with other secure, online software you are allowed three attempts
to logon to the Family Portal with a username and password
combination. After three unsuccessful attempts to logon you will be
locked out.
This isn’t a software malfunction, it is the operation of the software as
designed.
If you are locked out you can email Family Portal Administrator and you
will be asked 4 questions in a reply email:
1. What is the username for this account
2. Security Question #3 (from account creation)
3. Security Question #2 (from account creation)
4. Security Question #3 (from account creation)
Lockouts
If you answer correctly you will be emailed in a message that contains
nothing but a new password. Use that password to enter and
immediately change the password to something you will remember.
If you answer incorrectly you can some to school and see the Family
Portal Administrator with proper ID and your account can be unlocked
and your password reset.
üAt this point NO PHONE CALLS or any other COMMUNICATION can
substitute for your in person visit
Forgot your password?
As with other secure, online software you are allowed three attempts
to self-serve finding your own password. After three unsuccessful
attempts answering the prompt questions you will be locked out of
access to your account.
This isn’t a software malfunction, it is the operation of the software as
designed.
When you are notified of your password after your request it will not be
the password you made up. It will be a reset password that you will
have to use to access your account. When you get back in you can
then change your password to something more suitable.
SOME HINTS FOR SMOOTHER OPERATION
üEvery screen is extremely case sensitive
üDo not type spaces after any thing you enter
üDelete all browser history, cache, passwords, etc
üOnly have the family portal running on your desktop
Access Key Letter
Your access key will be printed in the body of a letter to be distributed
to each parent/legal guardian listed as Caretaker 1.
After you create an account and you go to the web address
the logon page looks like this:
SchoolMAX Family Portal
On the login page:
SchoolMAX Logo and Home link (top right)
return participants to the general information screen
Help is not functional presently in the Family Portal
Auto Logout in: provides 29:15 minutes of access
to navigate within the portal before automatically logging out
üyou will get a nag screen warning about automatic logout
üchanging screens/menus will reset this to 29:15
Academic Year shows current year but you may view
other years as we use SchoolMAX into the future
The user registration page looks like this:
The next user registration page looks like this:
The Password Hint drop-down questions look like this:
When finished with these click Create Account.
After you create an account and you go to the web address
the logon page looks like this:
The next page looks like this if you have more than one student enrolled:
And looks like this if you have one student enrolled:
Attendance
•Attendance displayed is cumulative
•Attendance in the elementary schools is taken by the day and in the
secondary ( high and middle) schools is taken period by period
•No county schools record hourly attendance
•Questions regarding attendance or attendance discrepancies should be
directed to the specific teacher of the class in question
The Attendance page looks like this:
Schedule
•The schedule displayed is the current schedule your student
should be attending PLEASE NOTE: As of 1-23-2009 the times that the courses begin
and end are inaccurate as displayed and they are being worked on by the county
•The page defaults to a schedule depicting Today’s Classes as
the term code . To see all classes change the term code to ALL
in the drop-down menu next to Change Term Code:
•Questions regarding a specific class should be directed to
classroom teachers. Direct eMail links to teachers are provided
and if you press the link it may auto start your email client
(seems to work with Outlook, not sure on Firefox/Chrome, won’t
auto start web-based or company email clients)
•Questions regarding scheduling and schedule changes should be
directed to the assigned guidance counselor (301)513-5305
The Schedule page looks like this:
Gradebook
•The gradebook displayed is the current gradebook in each class
your student should be attending
•This page can display grades, scores and details about
assignments in specific classes PLEASE NOTE As of 1-23-2009 the current Grade Period
Weighted Average displayed when you press Grades is cumulative for the year, not the quarter. That is
being worked on by the county so eventually you will be able to see quarter grades
•The Current Grade Period Weighted Average displayed is not
the official grade for the course and can be updated at any time.
Official grades are published on grade reports and transcripts
•Questions regarding grades should be directed to the specific
classroom teacher, direct email links to teachers provided on the
Schedule page may auto start your email client.
The Gradebook page looks like this:
When you get to Grades the Grade Period Weighted Average
on this page is cumulative:
Progress Reports
•The progress report screen displayed are all of the most recent
P grade types (progress report grades), Q grade types (quarterly
report card grades), and FG grade types (final grades) in each
class your student should be attending. PLEASE NOTE: as of 1/23/2009 the final
grades are displayed and are inaccurate, please disregard for now, the county is working to fix this ongoing
problem. (The software is generating and displaying final grades for courses that haven’t ended, none of
them have ended yet)
•By the end of the year you should see 9 grades per year long
course and 5 grade per semester course for each class attended
•In very few cases a “W” grade appears in those courses that
were dropped after the 20th day of school and approved by the
principal. The “W” grades will appear on transcripts
•Questions regarding grades should be directed to the specific
classroom teacher
The Progress Report page looks like this:
Discipline
•The discipline screen displays all of the recorded incidents and
responses about eh student in question
•Questions regarding discipline incidents should be directed to
the specific grade level administrator
My Profile
•The My Profile page displays an option for changing your phone
number and address, entering your eMail, and some choices for
Communication Medium for Printed Material
•Entering information here does not change the record, it sends
a request to change records to the Registrar. That request can
be accepted or declined. Questions regarding data in the
enrollment record or requests for an appointment to change data
should be directed to the Registrar's Office (301)513-5305
•Please see the next slide regarding changes to data in the
enrollment record.
•You can enter an eMail address by pressing the Edit Profile link
and choose some options in Communication Medium for Printed
Material PLEASE NOTE: As of 1-23-2009 the Communications options don’t work but please pick one,
they are supposed to work in the future The eMail address entered is used only
for the communications options on this page and not for direct
contact with parents/guardians
START RIGHT FROM THE START
üIn order to facilitate communications the data in the enrollment
record has to be maintained.
üIt is the responsibility of the parent/legal guardian of record to
provide accurate information and updates to the registrar’s office.
üIn order to comply with FERPA and county registration procedures
we can only accept or decline changes to data made in My Profile
after verification which has to be in person at the Registrar’s office
with proper ID and original documentation (no copies).
üData in the enrollment record can be changed by making an
appointment with registrar’s office, coming to school in person,
providing proper identification, and proper documentation for the
data change
üNO PHONE CALLS, EMAILS, or any other COMMUNICATION
can substitute for your in person visit to change data
üUpdates submitted electronically in My Profile will be
evaluated and then accepted or declined based on your visit
The My Profile page looks like this:
PLEASE EXPERIMENT ON YOUR OWN FIRST
The downloadable instruction manual
has more detail and is available here:
http://www1.pgcps.org/schoolmax/family/index.html