Overview

Several fields in the STU and SMS tables can be used to group students during scheduling:  Team Course Group/Team Number, Scheduling Groups, and Class Links. This documentation provides examples and scenarios to assist users in deciding which fields to choose for their specific scheduling needs.


Examples  ↑

Example #1:  My school has a year-long course that has been divided into two Course IDs, one for the Fall semester and one for the Spring semester. How can I schedule my students so they stay together, with the same teacher in the same period, from Fall to Spring?

 

In the SSS table (Course Requests), most students will request both the Fall and the Spring Course IDs. On the other hand, it is acceptable for a student to request only one of the courses, if that student is repeating the course.

 

There are two options for setting up the sections in the SMS table:


  1. Use the Class Link field. Each paired sections for the Fall course and the Spring course would have a unique Class Link value. For more information, see the Class Link documentation.
  2. Use the Team Course Group and Team Number fields. All sections of the two courses would have the same Team Course Group code, and each of the paired sections would have the same Team Number. For more information, see the Complex Schedules - Team/Course Group and Team Number Fields documentation.

 

Both of the above solutions are applicable for a trimester school with three different courses for the three trimesters.


Note that one more option is provided to create "matching" Fall and Spring sections:  the Create Sections for Next Term page. This function relies on population of the Next Course field (CRS.NC) for every appropriate course, instead of on a complex scheduling field. For more information, see the Create Sections for Next Term documentation.  

 

Example #2:  My school has academies. How can I schedule my students so they are in sections of the academy they selected?

 

  1. For each course offered in multiple academies, create a unique course record for each Academy. Then these unique Course IDs (CRS.CN) would be used for each academy's common courses (English, History, Science, etc.).  Students and sections in one academy would have course requests for their academy's Course IDs, which would be different from the students and sections in a different academy.

    One disadvantage to this solution is the increase in the number of courses offered. For example, instead of one English II course offered at a school, the same school with three Academies would have three English II courses -- one per Academy. An advantage to this solution is that a different Course Request Packet could be created for each academy.

  2. Use the Scheduling Group fields (STU.SG and SMS.SG). First, designate each academy with a unique Scheduling Group code.  Then the appropriate students and sections should be identified, based based on the code assigned to the academy:  
    • Add a Scheduling Group code (STU.SG) to each student, based on the student's academy's Scheduling Group code. 
    • Add a Scheduling Group code (SMS.SG) to all sections of the academy.  Sections that allow students from all academies should have a blank Scheduling Group code.

      For example, an English course will be offered in multiple academies. Sections of English for one specific academy would have that academy’s Scheduling Group code and sections of English for a different academy would have that academy’s Scheduling Group code.  Students requesting English would be scheduled into the English sections that match the student’s Scheduling Group code.

      For more information, see the Complex Schedules - Teams, Houses, Academies documentation. 

 

Example #3:  My school has Homerooms, or Advisory, courses.  How can I schedule my students so they stay with the same Homeroom teacher, or Advisor, from one year to the next?

 

Assign each Homeroom teacher or Advisor a specific Scheduling Group code. Then the appropriate students and sections should be identified, based based on the code assigned to the teacher:  

  • Add a Scheduling Group code (STU.SG) to each student, based on the student's Homeroom teacher or Advisor's Scheduling Group code. 
  • Add a Scheduling Group code (SMS.SG) to all sections of Homeroom or Advisory, based on the section's teacher's Scheduling Group code.


The student Scheduling Group field copies from year to year, so it does not need to be re-assigned every year. New students will need to have Scheduling Group assigned. 


One option for the first year students (for example) is to leave their Scheduling Group blank, until after the students have been scheduled into sections. Once the students have been scheduling into Homeroom or Advisory sections, add the students' Scheduling Group based on the Homeroom or Advisory section they were scheduled into. 

For more information, see the Complex Schedules - Teams, Houses, Academies documentation. 


Example #4:  My school has Teams, or Cohorts. How can I schedule my students so they are randomly divided into Teams, or Cohorts?

 

Use the Team Course Group and Team Number fields in the SMS table (SMS.CG and SMS.TM) to schedule students into Teams or Cohorts. First, identify the group of courses that are to be teamed.  All sections in the SMS table, of this group of courses, would have the same Team Course Group code, and all sections of each Team would have the same Team Number.


For more information, see the Complex Schedules - Team/Course Group and Team Number Fields documentation.