The Marking Periods screen is used to set up the marking periods for the school and define the marking period, grade posting, and course registration dates. Marking periods are an integral component within Focus, affecting attendance, scheduling, and grades. Focus divides the school year into semesters. Semesters are divided into quarters, and quarters are divided into progress periods. Marking periods must be set up to the quarter level in order for the Gradebook and attendance to function correctly in Focus. The labels for Year, Semester, Quarter, and Progress Period can be customized in Setup > System Preferences > Localization tab.
For historical Course History data to import without errors, marking periods must be set up as far back as data is being imported. These can be set up in one school and copied to all other schools using Copy School. Marking periods can also be rolled from one year to the next and updated as needed.
All schools that house students should have marking periods configured. Marking period dates should not overlap between school years. Marking period dates should not overlap between the same marking period types in the same school for the same school year (e.g. semesters, quarters, etc.).
1. In the Setup menu, click Marking Periods.
2. Click the + icon in the Year column.
3. Enter the following information:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | Enter a title for the marking period. This is the title as it will display in pull-downs throughout Focus. |
| Short Name | Enter the short name. This needs to match any imported data. The short name will display instead of the title in various places within Focus, including the Report Cards screen and in More Search Options. |
| Sort Order | Enter the sort order. This determines where the marking period displays in lists. |
| Exclude from API | If the district is using the OneRoster API dialect in Third Party Systems, select this option to exclude the marking period from the Academic Session resource within the OneRoster API. |
| Begins, Ends | Select the dates the year marking period begins and ends. The dates are inclusive, meaning the start date and end date is included in the marking period. |
| Grade Posting Begins, Grade Posting Ends | Select the date range when teachers can enter final grades for the year marking period. If the grade posting window is not defined, the Grade Posting Averaging screen will not display properly. |
| Standards Grade Posting Begins, Standards Grade Posting Ends | If the grade posting window is different for standards grades versus regular grades, select the date range. If no dates are entered, it will default to the Grade Posting Begins and Grade Posting Ends dates. Standards grade posting dates must be entered for teachers to see individual posting alerts for standards. |
| Course Registration Begins, Course Registration Ends | If your school allows students to register for courses (controlled by the system preference “Allow students to enroll themselves in classes” in Setup > System Preferences > Scheduling tab), select the date range when students can register. |
| Grade 12 Posting Begins, Grade 12 Posting Ends | If the grade posting window will be different for students in grade 12, select the date range when grades can be posted for those students. The window should not overlap with the regular grade posting window. |
4. Click Save.
Marking periods are set up like folders. Once the year marking period is set up, semester marking periods can be created within it. Within a semester, quarters can be created. Within a quarter, progress periods can be created.
Each semester must have at least one quarter set up so that the Gradebook and attendance can work properly. If quarters are not used at the school, one quarter must still be created within a semester.
1. To set up a semester, click the year marking period and click the + in the Semester column. To set up a quarter, click the semester marking period and click the + in the Quarter column. To set up a progress period, click the quarter marking period and click the + in the Progress Period column.
2. Enter the following information for the marking period:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | Enter a title for the marking period. This is the title as it will display in pull-downs throughout Focus. |
| Short Name | Enter the short name. This needs to match any imported data. The short name will display instead of the title in various places within Focus, including the Report Cards screen and in More Search Options. |
| Sort Order | Enter the sort order. This determines where the marking period displays in lists. |
| Exclude from API | If the district is using the OneRoster API dialect in Third Party Systems, select this option to exclude the marking period from the Academic Session resource within the OneRoster API. |
| Begins, Ends | Select the dates the marking period begins and ends. The dates are inclusive, meaning the start date and end date is included in the marking period. |
| Grade Posting Begins, Grade Posting Ends | Select the date range when teachers can enter final grades for the marking period. If the grade posting window is not defined, the Grade Posting Averaging screen will not display properly. |
| Standards Grade Posting Begins, Standards Grade Posting Ends | If the grade posting window is different for standards grades versus regular grades, select the date range. If no dates are entered, it will default to the Grade Posting Begins and Grade Posting Ends dates. Standards grade posting dates must be entered for teachers to see individual posting alerts for standards. |
| Course Registration Begins, Course Registration Ends | If your school allows students to register for courses (controlled by the system preference “Allow students to enroll themselves in classes” in Setup > System Preferences > Scheduling tab), select the date range when students can register. |
| Grade 12 Posting Begins, Grade 12 Posting Ends | If the grade posting window will be different for students in grade 12, select the date range when grades can be posted for those students. The window should not overlap with the regular grade posting window. |
3. Click Save.
For summer school, a "Summer School" semester can be created.
1. Click the year marking period.
2. Click the + in the Semester column.
3. Set up a summer school semester, following the same procedure as setting up a regular semester.
4. Click Save.
5. If summer school is divided into multiple sessions, create quarters within the summer semester.
At least one quarter must be created within the semester.
