Documentation for Administrators

District Report Cards & Transcripts

Updated on

The District Report Cards & Transcripts screen is used to generate and publish report cards and transcripts at the district level, instead of at each individual school. School users may also be given access to this functionality.

Report cards published from the District Report Cards screen are stored in the published_district_report_cards table.

Before Using District Report Cards & Transcripts

View and Edit profile permissions must be set for the profiles who will need access to the District Report Cards & Transcripts screen. Additionally, there are separate View and Edit permissions for each tab on the District Report Cards & Transcripts screen. Each item (report cards, standard report cards, and transcripts) have their own permissions to control whether the user can generate that item.

  • The Generate permission allows the user to generate a zip file of PDF report cards/transcripts for one or multiple schools.
  • The History permission allows the user to see the status and history of PDF generation.
  • The Publish permission allows the user to publish report cards/transcripts for one or multiple schools to the Parent and/or Student Portal. If a school-based user has this permission, the user would only be able to publish for his or her school.
  • The Report Cards, Standard Report Cards, and Transcripts permissions allow the user to generate that item.
Profiles

The existing profile permissions for the Report Cards screen must also be set for the appropriate profiles.

  • The Edit Template Settings permission allows the user to change the report card options that are selected and saved as the default for the letterhead template.
  • The Email Report Cards permission allows the user to email a PDF of the report card.
  • The Publish Report Cards permission should be disabled if report cards will be published from the District Report Cards screen. This option would publish a different instance of the report card to the Portal.
Profiles

Similarly, the existing profile permissions for Standard Grades Report Cards screen must be set for the appropriate profiles, if applicable.

  • The Edit Template Settings permission allows the user to change the report card options that are selected and saved as the default for the letterhead template.
  • The Publish Report Cards permission should be disabled if report cards will be published from the District Report Cards screen. This option would publish a different instance of the report card to the Portal.
Profiles

Before generating report cards and transcripts, the letterhead templates that will be used for report cards and transcripts will need to be set up in Setup > Letterhead Templates for each school.

In addition, the report card options need to be selected and saved as the default for the letterhead template in Grades > Report Cards and Assessments > Standard Grades Report Cards for each school, if applicable. The transcript settings also need to be selected and saved as the default for the letterhead template in Grades > Transcripts.

Generating District Report Cards and Transcripts

The Generate tab of the District Report Cards & Transcripts screen is used to generate a zip file of district report cards or transcripts. Each school is generated as a separate PDF file included in the zip file.

1. In the Grades menu, click District Report Cards & Transcripts.

District Report Cards

The Generate tab is opened by default.

District Report Cards

2. If desired, enter a Zip File Name.

If no zip file name is entered, the zip file will be given the default name "District Report Cards & Transcripts - (Date)."

District Report Cards

3. In the blank row, enter a File Name.

The name of the school selected in the School field will be used by default if no file name is entered.

4. Select the School for which to generate report cards or transcripts.

The school selected at the top-right of the screen is automatically selected.

5. Select the Grade Levels for which to generate report cards or transcripts.

The options that are displayed for selection depend on the school selected in the School field. If no grade levels are selected, then students in all grade levels will be included.

6. Select the Report Card Type: Report Cards, Standard Based Report Cards, or Transcripts.

7. Select the letterhead template to use in the Letterhead Templates pull-down.

The options saved as default for the letterhead template on the Report Cards screen, Standard Grades Report Cards screen, or Transcripts screen will be used to generate the report cards or transcripts.

8. Select Has Multilingual Template? to generate report cards using the student's primary language.

Ensure the system preference "Enable multi-lingual report cards" is enabled, the letterhead template is set up for the appropriate languages in Setup > Letterhead Templates, and the "Multilingual Report Cards" option is saved as default to the letterhead template on the Report Cards or Standards Grades Report Cards screen.

9. Select Include Inactive to include inactive students.

10. Select a Sort Order option to sort report cards or transcripts.

11. If applicable, select the Rotation Days for which to sort report cards or transcripts.

12. Press Enter to add the row.

District Report Cards

13. Continue adding additional rows as needed.

14. When ready to generate the report cards or transcripts, click Generate.

District Report Cards

The History tab is opened. A pop-up message will display indicating the file generation has started.

15. Click OK to close the pop-up window.

sandbox.focusschoolsoftware.com says

The History tab displays the progress of the file. See Viewing History and Downloading District Report Cards or Transcripts for more information.

District Report Cards
Viewing History and Downloading District Report Cards or Transcripts

The History tab displays active and inactive report card or transcript tasks. Active tasks can be paused and resumed. Tasks can be previewed, downloaded, and deleted.

1. In the Grades menu, click District Report Cards & Transcripts.

District Report Cards

2. Click the History tab.

The percentage of completion for each task displays in the Progress field. The Run Time is also displayed.

District Report Cards

3. To pause and resume an in-progress task, click the Pause and Play buttons.

The Pause and Play buttons are grayed out if the task is already completed.

District Report Cards

4. To download the zip file of the district report cards or transcripts, click Download.

District Report Cards

The zip file is downloaded to your computer.

5. To preview the district report cards or transcripts, click Preview.

District Report Cards

Each individual file included in the zip file will display in its own row in the table.

District Report Cards

6. To preview an individual file, click Preview.

District Report Cards

The report cards or transcripts display in a pop-up window. Click the X to close the window.

District Report Cards

7. To download an individual file, click Download.

District Report Cards

The PDF is downloaded to your computer.

8. Click the X to close the pop-up window.

District Report Cards

If there were any errors while generating the district zip file or an individual report card/transcript file, the Errors button will be enabled and can be clicked to view the errors in a pop-up window.

District Report Cards
Publishing District Report Cards or Transcripts to the Portal

The Publish tab is used to publish report cards or transcripts to the Parent Portal and/or Student Portal.

1. In the Grades menu, click District Report Cards & Transcripts.

District Report Cards

2. Click the Publish tab.

District Report Cards

3. In the blank row, select the School.

The school you are currently logged into at the top-right of the screen is automatically selected. It is recommended to select all schools unless you are only publishing report cards/transcripts for a specific school. The selections in the following columns will limit the schools correctly for publishing.

4. Select the Grade Levels.

The grade levels available for selection are based on the school(s) selected in the School field. The grade levels selected should correspond to the report card type and letterhead template that will be selected. For example, when publishing a middle school report card, the grade levels selected will be 06, 07, and 08, with the middle school letterhead template selected.

5. In the Report Card Types pull-down, select Report Cards, Standard Based Report Cards, or Transcripts.

Depending on the option selected, Focus will look to the settings saved to the letterhead template in the Grades > Report Cards screen, Assessment > Standard Grades Report Cards screen, or Grades > Transcripts screen. The title of the PDF that displays to parents and students will also differ depending on the type of report cards/transcripts generated.

When all marking periods on the template are Gradebook, or a progress period is included on the template, the title of the PDF will display as "Progress Report" rather than "Report Card."  

6. Select the Marking Period.

The selected marking period will be used as the prefix for the report card title that is displayed on the PDF to parents and students. The marking period that is used to generate the report card/transcript is determined using the marking period saved to the letterhead template in Grades > Report Cards, Assessment > Standard Grades Report Cards, and Grades > Transcripts.

District Report Cards

7. Enter or select the Start Date when the report card/transcript will be available on the Portal for parents and/or students.

8. Enter the Start Time when the report card/transcript will be available on the Portal for parents and/or students.

9. Enter or select the End Date when the report card/transcript will be removed from the Portal for parents and/or students.

10. Enter the End Time when the report card/transcript will be removed from the Portal for parents and/or students.

11. Select whether the report card/transcript will be available on the Parent Portal, Student Portal, or Both.

12. Select Include Inactive Students if a report card/transcript should be available to parents and/or students for inactive students.

If a student has grades at school A, and is now enrolled at school B, this option needs to be selected so the student grades from school A are available.  

District Report Cards

13. Press Enter to add the row.

14. Click Save.

District Report Cards

15. Add additional rows as needed.

The Mass Update function can be used to mass update all the rows. For example, the  End Date can be updated for all report cards/transcripts. Click Mass Update. Select the Column to be updated and enter the Value. Click Update. The value will display for all the rows. Click Save.

District Report Cards

Parents and/or students will see the report card/transcript in the Reports tab on the Portal. The title of the report card will be prefaced with the marking period selected in the Publish tab of the District Report Cards & Transcripts screen. The title will say "Report Card," "Standard Report Card," "Progress Report," "Standard Progress Report," or "Transcript," depending on the selected report card type and the marking periods included. If no end date was set for the report card/transcript, parents and students will see all report cards/transcripts published; the previous report card/transcript will not be replaced when the new one is published.

Previous Article Report Cards
Next Article CTE Report Cards