Using the Mobile App for Administrators
See Using the Mobile App for Teachers for the teacher version of this document. See Using the Mobile App for Parents/Students for the parent/student version of this document.
The district can customize the display of the app login screen using HTML on the Community App setup screen. The session timeout length can also be defined for teacher and admin profiles.
1. Open the app on your device.
2. Enter your Focus Username and Password and tap Log In.
If single sign-on is set up for your Focus site, and is enabled for staff logins in System Preferences, you can log in to the mobile app using your single sign-on login information.
If you have two factor authentication enabled, you will be prompted to authenticate after logging in.
Users can view public News and Links without logging in to the app by swiping the screen to the left or tapping on the News or Links icons at the bottom of the screen.
After logging in, the Students search screen is displayed.
1. If you have access to multiple schools and you would like to limit the search results to a specific school, tap the Restrict School pull-down and select the school.
2. To search for a student, tap the Search by Name or ID... field and enter the student's full or partial name or student ID number.
3. If multiple students are returned in the search, tap the student to view.
The student's summary screen is displayed, with the Courses tab open. The student's schedule, attendance summary (absences and tardies), and gradebook average are listed for the current marking period. If a period is currently in session according to the bell schedule, the course information is displayed next to "In Session" above the schedule, along with the student's attendance code for that period. "In Progress" will also display next to the course in session in the student's schedule.
If lunches are set up via Scheduling > Lunches, the student's assigned lunch will display above their schedule.
3. To view a different marking period, tap the marking period tab.
4. To view student information, tap Student Info.
The Student Info screen is displayed.
5. To change the category you are viewing, tap the arrow on the left side of the screen.
6. Tap the category to view.
7. To call a student's contact, navigate to the Address & Contacts category, and tap the Call button at the bottom of the screen.
A pop-up is displayed with a list of the student's contacts and their phone numbers.
8. Tap the phone number to call the number.
9. To close Student Info and return to the summary screen, tap the Back button.
1. In the Courses tab, tap the course to view.
The Grades tab is displayed, with a list of Gradebook assignments and grades for that course.
2. Tap an assignment in the list to view the assignment details.
3. Tap Back to return to the Grades tab.
4. Tap the Planner tab to view an overview of assignments due over the current week.
5. Tap an assignment to view the assignment details.
6. Tap Back to return to the Planner.
7. Tap the News tab to view tardy/absence, positive behavior information, and course web page posts.
See Tardy Tracking & Check In/Check Out System for more information about tardy tracking, including the setup involved.
1. In the Courses tab, tap the Tardy button.
2. Select the tardy code to assign to the student and tap Finalize.
- Custodial contacts who have an email address set up (custom_100000001) will receive an email both when the student is marked tardy and when they earn a detention based on that tardy. If the custodial contact does not have an email address set up, or there's an absence of a custodial contact altogether, the email will then be forwarded to the email address of the linked user.
- Custodial contacts who have signed into the mobile app will receive a notification when the student is marked tardy. They will receive another when the student receives a detention based on the tardy.
- If the student has a custodial contact with a cell phone number with SMS set up and the contact has not logged into the mobile app, the contact will receive a text message when the student is marked tardy. They will receive another text message when the student receives a detention based on the tardy.
If the system preference "Send E-mail and Text Message to parents when printing Tardy Slips" is disabled, emails and text messages will not be sent when the student is marked tardy.
Referral codes that are marked "Include on Mobile App" in Referral Codes & Actions are available for selection. The codes must also have icons set up in Referral Codes & Actions.
1. In the Courses tab, tap the Detention button.
2. Select the Referral Code Icon for the referral code to assign to the student.
3. Select the Referral Action.
4. Select the Detention Date.
5. Tap Finalize.
The student will be added to the Detention List. A discipline referral will also be created for the student using the selected referral code and action.
Students can be checked in or out of school for attendance. For more information on the check in/check out functionality, including the setup involved, see Tardy Tracking & Check In/Check Out System.
1. In the Courses tab, tap the Check In/Out button.
2. If you are checking a student in to school, tap Check In. If you are checking a student out of school, tap Check Out.
The Auto option is automatically selected for the Time. This will check in or check out the student with the current time.
3. To manually enter a check in or out time, tap Manual.
4. Enter the hours and minutes and tap AM and PM.
5. When finished, tap Finalize.
- When checking in a student, the tardy will be added for the student based on the time of day and the start and end times set in period setup. The tardy code is based on the system preferences.
If the section the student checks in to does not take attendance, the attendance code is not added to the student.
- Custodial contacts who have an email address set up (custom_100000001) will receive an email both when the student is marked tardy and when they earn a detention based on that tardy. If the custodial contact does not have an email address set up, or there's an absence of a custodial contact altogether, the email will then be forwarded to the email address of the linked user.
- Custodial contacts who have signed into the mobile app will receive a notification when the student is marked tardy. They will receive another when the student receives a detention based on the tardy.
- If the student has a custodial contact with a cell phone number with SMS set up and the contact has not logged into the mobile app, the contact will receive a text message when the student is marked tardy. They will receive another text message when the student receives a detention based on the tardy.
If the system preference "Send E-mail and Text Message to parents when printing Tardy Slips" is disabled, emails and text messages will not be sent when the student is marked tardy.
- When checking out a student, the early release code (based on the system preference "Check-out Default Attendance Code") will be added for the student based on the time of day and the start and end times set on the period setup.
If the student checks out of the same period they checked in to, the check out code will overwrite the check in code for the period attendance.
If the student's schedule has spanned periods, the check in and check out code will be stored in the beginning period, even if the check out time is during the ending period. The time will represent the time during the ending period.
If the student is checked in or out for attendance during a timeframe where there is not an active schedule, the screen will display an error message that there is no active school period at this time.
If the section the student checks out of does not take attendance, the attendance code is not added to the student.
Students can be checked in or out of a location, such as the media center or health clinic. For more information on the check in/check out functionality, including the setup involved, see Tardy Tracking & Check In/Check Out System.
Students can be checked out without having been first checked in for a kiosk logging field. For example, this might be used when documenting late parent pick ups after school.
1. In the Courses tab, tap the Check In/Out button.
2. In the Kiosk pull-down, select the location logging field.
3. If you are checking a student in, tap Check In. If you are checking a student out, tap Check Out.
The Auto option is automatically selected for the Time. This will check in or check out the student with the current time.
4. To manually enter a check in or out time, tap Manual.
5. Enter the hours and minutes and tap AM and PM.
6. When finished, tap Finalize.
When checking in a student, the code that was set in the "Kiosk (Attendance Code)" field for the logging field in Student Fields will be added for the student based on the time of day and the start and end times set in period setup.
The logging field in Student Info will record the date and time the student was checked in.
The attendance record will display the code set for the logging field in Student Fields, with the date and time the student checked in. The word "Kiosk" will display.
When checking out a student, the code that was set in the "Kiosk (Attendance Code)" field for the logging field in Student Fields will be added for the student based on the time of day and the start and end times set in period setup.
If the student checks out of the same period they checked in to, there will be no change when hovering over the attendance record. If the student checked out the following period, the student will also receive the logging field code for that period.
If the student's schedule spans periods, the check in and check out code will be stored for the beginning period, even if the check out time is during the ending period.
The logging field in Student Info will record the time the student was checked out. If the student returns to the location again, a new row will be added each time the student checks in.
When a student's attendance is updated via the kiosk (attendance or logging field mode), the attendance_reason column in the attendance_period table is updated with "Kiosk" and the Kiosk field is updated with 1.
If a student is checked in or out using a logging field option and there is not an active period of the day, the logging field will still update with the time in or out, but no attendance record will be updated.
Positive behavior badges can be added to students and spent in the app. See Positive Behaviors for information on how badges are set up.
1. In the Courses tab, tap the Badges button.
2. To add a badge to the student, tap the icon for the badge.
3. Adjust the Value, if needed.
4. Optionally, enter a comment to display on the Parent and Student Portal.
5. Tap Finalize.
6. To spend badges, in the Courses tab, tap the Badges button.
7. Tap the Spend icon.
8. Adjust the Value, if needed.
9. Optionally, enter a comment to display on the Parent and Student Portal.
10. Tap Finalize.
The Planner tab displays an overview of the assignments the student has due for the current week for all of the student's courses.
1. While viewing a student, tap the Planner tab.
2. Tap an assignment to view the assignment details.
3. Tap Back to return to the Planner tab.
The News tab displays an overview of the student's tardies/absences, course web page posts, and positive behaviors.
1. While viewing a student, tap the News tab.
The number of available and spent badges are displayed in the blue header.
The Reports tab displays student report cards, progress reports, and the TIDE Family Portal (for Florida districts, if set up in Focus).
1. While viewing a student, tap the Reports tab.
2. Tap the report card/progress report to view, or tap the TIDE Family Portal link, as needed.
The Student Groups screen in the mobile app displays the student groups that you have created and groups that have been assigned to you. Depending on your profile permissions, you may be able to view groups that have been created by other users. The student groups in the mobile app are view only. You cannot add, edit, or delete student groups in the mobile app. See Student Groups for more information about using student groups in Focus.
1. Tap the menu icon.
2. Tap Student Groups.
3. Tap the My Groups or All Groups tab.
4. Tap the View button next to the group to view.
The View Students report is displayed, including the Student ID, Student Name, Gradelevel, # Absences [Marking Period], # Unexcused Absences [Marking Period], # Failing Courses [Marking Period], # Processed Referrals, Course History GPA, and Honor Roll.
5. Tap a student's name to open the summary screen for the student.
The News screen in the app displays school and district messages sent from Portal Messages, school and district announcements sent from Communication, as well as posts from social media feeds set up in the Community App screen.
1. Swipe left from the Students search screen to view the News screen, or tap the News icon at the bottom of the screen.
Alternatively, tap the menu icon at the top-left of the screen, and tap News.
School and district Portal messages, Communication announcements, and social media posts are displayed.
The Links screen in the app displays links and folders that were set up in the Community App screen.
1. Swipe left twice from the Students search screen to view the Links screen, or tap the Links icon at the bottom of the screen.
Alternatively, tap the menu icon at the top-left of the screen, and tap Links.
The links and folders are displayed. Tap a link to open it in a browser. Tap a folder to view the links/documents housed within the folder.
The Communication module in the app allows users to view and respond to messages, as well as compose messages and post announcements for select profile users. See Communication for more information on using this module.
Tap the envelope icon at the top-right corner of the screen to open the Communication module. If you have unread messages, the number of unread messages will be indicated on the icon.
Users can enable or disable school news and social media news feeds in the app.
1. Tap the menu icon.
2. To change school news settings, tap School News Settings.
The school news feeds are listed.
3. To disable a school news feed, tap the toggle so that it is gray. To enable a news feed, tap the toggle so that it is green.
4. To change social media news feed settings, tap the menu icon.
5. Tap Social Media News Settings.
The social media feeds are listed.
6. To disable a social media feed, tap the toggle so that it is gray. To enable a social media feed, tap the toggle so that it is green.
You will not be able to disable the social media feed if "Force Subscription" was enabled on the news feed in the Community App setup screen.
If your district has the InformaCast integration set up, administrators and teachers can either request assistance or initiate a lockdown within the mobile app. See InformaCast Integration for more information on using this feature, including the setup required.
1. Tap the menu icon.
2. Tap Log Out at the bottom of the screen.
