Portal
The Portal page is the key to navigation throughout Focus. A lot can be accomplished directly from the Portal page, which includes News, Events, Student Blocks (Grades, News, Planner, Reports), and more.
From the Portal, click Portal. You can also click the district logo to navigate to the Portal page while on another screen.
Upon logging into your account, Focus will automatically open the Portal page.
To change the layout of the Portal page, zoom in (Command + or CTRL +) and out (Command - or CTRL -) to make the screen bigger and smaller.
Your username displays next to the school name at the top of the screen. Note: Your username displays as a pull-down if you have more than one type of profile/account assigned to you.
Across the top of the Portal page is the name of the School. If the student is enrolled in multiple schools, you can select another applicable school from the pull-down.
Next to the school name is the school year pull-down, which will default to the current school year. This pull-down is accessible at all times and can be changed as needed.
When a previous or future year is selected, the header and accent color of the screen will turn red as an alert that you are working in a different school year.
The Focus navigation menu displays along the left side of the screen. Click any of the screens listed to open the corresponding screen, such as My Profile (Parents) or My Information (Students).
The hamburger menu displays when using a mobile device or when the browser is resized to a smaller size.
Click the hamburger menu to display the hidden school name, school year, and menu. Select the year, menu, etc., as needed, or click the X to close the menu options and return to the previous screen.
Linked students display at the bottom of the navigation menu along with student screens, such as Child Info, Class Schedule, etc. for Parents.
Click the arrow to hide student screens. Click the arrow again to display student screens.
Students can click any of the displayed menu options in the left panel. Note: The screens displayed are based on permissions set by the district.
The Logout buttons display at the bottom left corner of the screen.
The Logout button can be used when you would like to sign-out of your Focus session. Logging out will take you back to the main login screen. Note: Closing out of the window will not sign you out. Closing the browser all together may or may not sign you out depending on your browser settings.
The Help button displays next to the Portal name in the top left corner of the screen.
The Help button is linked to an external software called ScreenSteps. Clicking the Help button will open a help documentation article pertaining to the screen you are using. The Help button is available on every Focus screen.
News
The News tab displays Portal Messages published by the district and include Alerts for parents and students.
1. From the Portal page, click the News tab in the District & School Announcements section.
The Alerts section displays messages that need attention, such as setting the email to ensure email notification can be sent for grades, referrals, assigned tests, etc.
The News tab also contains important announcements posted by the district or by teachers.
Events
The Events tab displays public events created on the district and/or teacher Calendar.
1. From the Portal page, click the Events tab.
All events are listed be date.
2. Hover over an event to view a tooltip, which contains the event's description, if one was added upon creating the event.
3. Click the View Calendar link to open the Calendar screen.
1. See the student information blocks for grades, attendance, assignments due, report cards, and more.
2. The student's photo, name, and school display at the top of the block.
3. If the student has been awarded with Positive Behaviors, the number of badges earned are displayed, along with the number of badges spent. Note: The district has the ability to customize the name "Badges," so another title may be displayed here, such as Awards.
4. Click the Florida Statewide Assessments button to access the Family Portal, a resource released by Cambium Assessment, Inc. (CAI), which allows for Students and Parents to view their student’s FSA and NGSSS assessment results online.
Family Portal displays your student's scores for the select school year.
![[FOCUS-32476] FLDOE Family Portal Link - JIRA](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/005/112/920/original/04a5914d-bceb-4a04-859c-b180e7d90380.png)
a. Click the pull-down to view scores from a different school year.
![[FOCUS-32476] FLDOE Family Portal Link - JIRA](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/005/112/922/original/2692ff35-6fef-44b4-97fd-fd58bfd0d223.png)
b. Click View All Tests to view all available tests and scores.
c. Click View Detailed Report to view a more detailed report of the test scores.
d. Click the corresponding buttons to view the Glossary, Guide, Resources, or to Print.
e. Click Sign Out to sign out of the Family Portal.
Grades
1. The student information block defaults to the Grades tab.
2. The current marking period sub tab is selected by default. Click the applicable tab to display grading data for another marking period.
The marking period date display next to the available marking periods.
3. The Grades tab displays the student's schedule including the Pd (period), Course, Teacher, attendance records (Ex: Excused Absences, Unx: Unexcused Absences, and Tardy), as well as the current Grade in the Course.
4. If applicable, click the Course link to open the teacher's Web Page. See Teacher Web Page for more information.
5. Click teacher names to compose an email and/or message, which opens in the Communication module.
See Communication for details on how to send a message.
6. Click the attendance codes to open the applicable attendance information on the Absences screen.
7. Click a Grade to open more information as it pertains to the grade given on the Grades screen > Grades (Assignments).
Depending on how the district set up your permissions, you may or may not be able to view grades from the portal or click the grade link to open Grades (Assignments).
If positive behaviors have been earned, they will display at the bottom of the Grades tab in the Badges section. Note: The name of the section varies depending on your school district. In the example displayed, 1 award has been earned for each of the following behaviors: Citizenship, Positive Attitude, and Preparedness.
News
The News tab displays an overview of attendance, assignments, Positive Behaviors, and Teacher Webpage posts.
1. From the student information block, click the News tab.
2. Posts published from teacher Web Pages display.
3. Graded assignments display along with the grade given, the date and time posted, the name of the assignment, the course, the points earned out of possible points.
Click assignments to open more information as it pertains to the grade given on the Grades screen > Grades (Assignments).
4. Absences posted display, such as unexcused absences, tardies, etc.
Click the listed absence to open the applicable attendance information on the Absences screen.
5. Positive Behaviors awarded and spent display here, as well.
Planner
The Planner tab displays all upcoming Assignments Due as posted by teachers.
1. From the student information block, click the Planner tab.
All assignments due are listed by date. The current date is flagged with a white arrow.
Reports
The Reports tab contains links to Report Cards, SSRS Report Cards, Standard Grades Report Cards, Progress Reports, IEP Progress Reports and/or Gifted Progress Reports to be viewed in PDF formatting when published by the district.
1. From the student information block, click the Reports tab.
2. Click the download arrow to view the report.
Once opened, you can view the report card in a PDF print preview screen, at which point, it can be printed, downloaded, etc.
Below is an example of downloaded test scores, which can be viewed in PDF formatting when published by the district.
The Test Score Reports download links are school year specific displaying test history for the current year and the year prior. To view test history reports older than two year years, select the applicable year from the school year pull-down. No reports display if no test scores are available to download for the selected school year.
From the Student Portal, students are able to log in and click an I’m Present button, which will automatically record their attendance as present for each scheduled course throughout the day. If the school district is utilizing the third-party integration with Google Classroom, a link to Google Classroom will also be provided in the Check In Portal block.
1. From the Portal page, locate the Check In portal block.
2. Click I'm present to sign in and mark yourself present for the day.
Once clicked, the I’m Present button will be Inactive (grayed out) for the remainder of the day.
3. Click the Google Classroom link to open Google Classroom as set up by your teacher.
The Google Classroom link does not display on the student portal if the district is not utilizing the Google Classroom integration with the Focus Gradebook.
If your district or school requires a form to be completed, a message will display when you log into the Portal along with a link to the form. You will not be able to access other screens in the Portal until the form is completed.
Click the Not yet started - Click to begin button to access the form.
If your district or school has set up optional forms for parents or students, then the forms will be located in the Forms Summary screen.
1. For students, click Forms Summary in the side-menu. For parents, click Forms Summary under the applicable student.
Students:
Parents:
2. In the Available Forms section of the screen, click the link to the form.
Once you click on the link to complete a required or available form, the form is displayed in Focus.
1. If the form contains multiple pages, click the Next Page and Previous Page buttons to navigate through the form.
2. Fill in all required fields. Required fields are marked with a red asterisk.
You will not be able to proceed to the next page or submit the form without filling in the required fields. If you attempt to do so, a warning message will display.
Existing students will have fields populated from information in their student record in Focus. Changes can be made as needed.
3. To save the form to complete at a later time, click Save and Continue Later.
For required forms, you will not be able to access other screens in the Portal until the form is completed and submitted.
4. When you are ready to submit the form, click Submit and Finish.
When SSS (Student Support Services) forms are published by administrative users, parents will receive a Portal alert. The forms will available as a PDF in the Reports tab on the student block in the Parent Portal. Forms may include ESE, Section 504, ELL, MTSS, etc.
Once published, you will receive the Portal alert, "A Student Service document (event name) has been published for your review for your student (student name)."
Click the Portal alert to navigate to the Reports tab in the student block of the Parent Portal. The document link is available under the Student Service Documents header. The Date Published will indicate the date and time the documents were published to the Parent Portal.
Click the document link to open the document as a PDF, which you can review, download, and print.
After you click the document link, the Date Viewed column updates with the date and time you viewed the documents. The Portal alert is also removed once the document link is clicked.
