Conferences go hi-tech

Parent-teacher conferences looked a little different this year. They were still in the main gym, but some teachers approached the conferences in a different way. Usually they would have stacks grade sheets and folders with them, but this year many teachers had laptops. Teachers pulled up Skyward on their computers and talked to parents that way instead of having papers.

For example, English teacher John Izaguirre said,” I used both a printed hand out of each students grades and I used Skyward. I had my own computer and I used Skyward as a reference. Even if the grades are available online, I think it is important for parents to come and actually sit down and talk with their child’s teacher. The one on one time during conferences is more important than viewing grades or posting them online.”

Every student that was interviewed gave negative thoughts about parent teacher conferences, whether it was because of grades or they just didn’t acknowledge it.

Senior Kyle Devaris said, “No, my parents don’t go to them because they are too busy. I don’t like parent teacher conferences because I don’t want my parents knowing my grade.”

Senior Mike Buckley said, “Conferences are horrible because if I have bad grades I’ll get in trouble, but if I have great grades I don’t get anything from my parents, it’s a lose-lose situation.”

 Senior Jim Cifaldi said, “No, my parents don’t go because they don’t want to go. Plus the new thing is Skyward, I’m sure they can find everything out on that.”

Skyward was introduced last year to RB and parents can get all of their children’s information school wise. They can see grades and even notes about their child in class, depending on if the teacher writes a note.

Skyward experiences growing pains

A quarter and a half into the school year, RB’s grading system has been experiencing some growing pains.

Skyward, new to RB this year, holds information about students such as their grades, discipline, and even where they live. Teachers keep attendance through Skyward and also send messages.

Many problems have occurred throughout the school year with the new program. The reason is not because Skyward itself is a bad system, but because of the conversion. All one thousand and five hundred students’ data had to be switched from SASI, RB’s old grading system, to Skyward.

“The problems aren’t bad,” said Interim Assistant Principal, Troy Gobble, “The problem is really with little things.”

The most recent problem with Skyward is that it was calculating GPAs incorrectly. There is already a great team working to fix it: the Data Processing team.

“We will find a way to fix it, and I think it will be fixed by December,” Gobble said.

Another trouble the school has had with Skyward is that Skyward has generated old e-mails and sent them to parents. Though no one is exactly sure why it happened, it was believed to be a glitch in the system, but is now repaired.

Teachers were also not able make adjustments to first quarter grades. The reason behind this however was not because Skyward was having a problem. Administrators had to lock down the grade book to print out first quarter grades. The administrators have opened it again grade window but it will be closed soon.

“I anticipated these issues- there are always some problems. It’s important for us to stay ahead of the game and look at the areas that will impact us most,” Data Processing Supervisor, Ron Lilke, said

He and the other Data Processing team members are working to correct these small issues.

Even through these small troubles, administrators believe they are getting good feedback on Skyward.

“The adjustment the school is going through is average and not overpowering. The faculty has adapted well,” Lilke said.

Skyward – RB’s new grading program

A new piece of technology has slipped into the building, perhaps overshadowed by the new classrooms, fresh hallways, and clean bathrooms. However, students and teachers of RB will soon find, if they haven’t already, that Skyward is imperative to their daily academic lives.

Skyward, replacement for RB’s previous grading and records software, not only tracks and tabulates grades for teachers, but also runs attendance, sends messages, has a full personalized activity calendar, and much more. It was introduced to RB through a software bid program, where many companies vied for the school’s business.

According to that website, Skyward is a “vendor of K-12 administrative software.” The site also states Skyward can help manage and store information relating to a school’s student management, human resources, financial management, and food service. Over 1,300 school districts worldwide use this software. Besides 17 states in the US, Skyward is used in parts of Venezuela, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and India.

Teachers are now able to mark students present or absent through Skyward, and the information is broadcast through the students’ schedules to their other teachers throughout the day. They can also use the grade book program to post scores of tests, quizzes, and homework. They can also list assignments for students to check and complete. Skyward tabulates total points for the teachers and notifies parents when anything changes.

Teacher Mark Gouwens, the Social studies department Skyward leader, commented about the new program. “Edline was attached to our old program, SASI, which went away; and we were forced to update the school software,” said Gouwens. “Skyward is overall easier to use. It is pretty intuitive as far as being user friendly. It’s good for parents and teachers; the days of hiding bad grades are rapidly coming to an end.” Gouwens also said, “Grading is now in ‘real time’, meaning there is no lag [when grades are entered.] Eventually, we may make attendance real time also.”

On the student side, Skyward allows RB attendees to see how they are doing in their classes, log missing assignments, and receive messages from their teachers. This can be very helpful if students miss a day of school, or forget to write down their homework in their assignment notebook.

Junior Claire Schraidt said, “It’s just like a list of grades you can see right away, so if you’re getting a weird grade you can click on it.” She also said that the increased parent notification doesn’t scare her. “They know I’m going to be motivated enough to do my homework,” she added.

Another Junior, Nate Reyes, said that he found Skyward “Kind of confusing, especially since the teacher we were signing up with didn’t know how to use it either.” Reyes said his mom is pretty strict about grades, “especially the ones she had to pay lots of money for, like AP classes.” Reyes also said that he thought “Edline was more precise, less cluttered.”

In Reyes’s case, Skyward can be a burden, especially since all missing assignments show up right away, rather than giving him and other students a long time window to get everything in, usually before the end of the marking period.

Sophomore Danny Kelliher also commented, saying, “Skyward’s main advantage is said to be that it is updated instantly after the grade is entered into the teacher’s grade book. But a few of my teachers only update their grades once a week. So it defies the whole point. For Skyward to be used to its full potential, every teacher would have to update grades immediately after the assignment is graded which is not always possible.”