Master Schedule or Scheduling Master Schedule
Scheduling Students into Classes
Overview
An elementary school has the ability to use a master schedule next year and can begin the scheduling process during the previous school year instead of waiting until the new school year is created. During the scheduling process for an Elementary with Master Schedule school, certain factors must be taken into consideration.
Courses ↑
All elementary courses must be added to the Courses table. Most school districts have guidelines to follow regarding the addition of new courses, so this process should be conducted in collaboration with your school district.
Courses for lower grade levels can be titled Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, etc. In the example below, the Course Title given is 0-Kinder Core. The Low Grd and High Grd are both 0, since only kinders will be scheduled into this course.
It is not necessary to enter Credit Values for courses at the elementary level. A Dept code can be entered if desired, but is also not necessary.
All CALPADS required fields must be populated. Please check the CALPADS in Aeries document for a listing of these fields.
Courses for upper grade levels are given more specific titles related to the subject area of the course. In the example below, the Course Title given is 6th Math A but notice that a Long Title has also been given. In this case, the Long Title is 6th Grade Math A. The Low Grd and High Grd are both 6, since this is a grade 6 math course.
It is common practice to add a course titled Homeroom, or something similar. This course is used for the Master Schedule sections created for the period attendance will be taken.
Note: Do not populate the Subject Area Code fields; they are for high school use for tracking graduation requirements.
Master Schedule or Scheduling Master Schedule ↑
When all courses have been added to the Courses table, a decision must be made whether to use the Master Schedule or Scheduling Master Schedule to create the sections students will be assigned to. The basic difference between the two is that using the Scheduling Master Schedule within the Scheduling Process area has many options for mass scheduling that the Master Schedule does not.
NOTE: While scheduling for the current year, changes made to an MST record will automatically sync the changes to the matching SMS record.
Master Schedule ↑
To add sections to the Master Schedule, click on the Add New Record button.
The form will open in edit mode with the cursor in the Period field. Entering the period number and tabbing to the next field will cause the section number to automatically populate. The following fields need to be populated to create the new section.
- Period – The period this class will meet.
- Block (Blk) - If this class meets for more than one period, enter the number of periods. For example, the screenshot below the period is 1 and the block is 1 which indicates that this period meets period 1 for a 1 block period of time.
- Semester (Sem) – The semester this class will meet. The drop down menu is populated from the school’s terms. Aeries recommends using Term Y for the Attendance Period section. The Attendance period should not be changed.
- Course – Select the course for this section using the drop down menu.
- Teacher – Select the teacher for this section using the drop down menu.
- Grd Range – The low and high grade level this class will allow.
- Exclude – Homeroom and Lower Grade level sections should be populated with an X which will exclude the section from Grade Reporting.
- Split Term – Indicates the days of the week the class will meet.
There are several other fields on the Master Schedule form that are required to be populated for CALPADS reporting. If the Highlight State Reporting Fields option is selected, those fields will shaded in green. If the option is not selected, the green shading will not display. The fields must be accurately populated for State Reporting. Please refer to the CALPADS in Aeries Basics - Field Mapping by Page documentation for a complete listing of all required fields. To turn on the Highlight State Reporting Fields, select the user login drop-down, then select the option.
When all data has been entered, click the Insert button at the bottom of the form. Continue adding sections until all classes are in the Master Schedule.
Scheduling Master Schedule ↑
Classes can be added to the Scheduling Master Schedule using either the Scheduling Master Schedule or the Scheduling Master Schedule (SMS) Board. Both of these forms are found within the Scheduling Process category in the Navigation.
To add sections using the Scheduling Master Schedule follow the same instructions listed above for adding sections to the Master Schedule.
If you are starting from scratch and your Scheduling Master Schedule is blank, adding sections using the Scheduling Master Schedule Board will need to be done using the SMS Builder. When a blank Scheduling Master Schedule Board is opened there are no teachers or periods listed. Teachers need to have at least one section assigned in order for their name to display on the Board. Without a section assigned to teachers the Add Class button on the Board is not available.
For detailed instructions on the use of the SMS Builder as well as the Scheduling Master Schedule Board, please refer to the Scheduling Master Schedule Board documentation.
It is important to note that when using the Scheduling Master Schedule for mid-year scheduling, a prompt will display asking about changing the Attendance Teacher on the Student Demographic form when copying the scheduling results to MST/SEC at the completion of scheduling. When you are ready to copy Scheduling Results to SEC and MST, click the checkbox Check here to continue.
Another window will appear for the proper date entries.
Scheduling Students into Classes ↑
Students in lower grade levels are typically scheduled into one class only. Students in upper grade levels are typically scheduled into a rotating schedule.
Lower Grade Level Student Scheduled into One Class Only
In the example below, the student is in kindergarten and the class the student is scheduled into is a 0-Kinder Core class which meets period 0. Period 0 is the period where attendance is taken.
This student is being scheduled on the Classes page. This student was scheduled by entering the Sec # (Section Number) but alternately could have been scheduled by entering the Crs ID (Course ID) and allowing the scheduler to schedule the student into their class.
Upper Grade Level Student Scheduled into a Rotating Schedule
In this example, the student is an upper grade level student and is scheduled into many classes during the course of the day. This is a rotating schedule. The student is scheduled into a Home Room class which meets 0. In this school, period 0 is the period where attendance will be taken.
This student was scheduled on the Classes form found in the navigation tree under Student > Scheduling > Classes.
In Edit Mode, check the End Date and Start Date. The End Date should be the last school day that the student was enrolled in the old section (the section they are leaving). The Start Date should be populated with the first school day when the student will be enrolled in the new section. In order for the Course Attendance Reporting (CAR) table to be properly maintained, these dates must be correct. Locate the course in their schedule that contains the section that will be changed. Click on the section that the student is moving into. The new section will turn green.
The student is changing their homeroom class from Merle to Caudill and will start the new class on 03/31/2022.
Students can also be mass scheduled using the forms available within the Scheduling Process > Functions category on the navigation tree.
Detailed instructions on student scheduling is available at the following link: Scheduling.