Kate Howard
Reporter
Starting on Thursday, December 9, report cards and progress reports will be available electronically, and no longer sent out in hardcopies. The move is designed to advance district communication and save money.
“When the school purchased PowerSchool as our main system of use, one of the benefits of buying it was in the intention of going online, providing greater access to students and parents,” Assistant Principal Ari Rothman said. “The second reason that we want to switch to online is because we are trying to think economically. In using less paper to have to make eight major mailings a year, we are saving resources.”
PowerSchool Portal is a web-based student information database that, according to the product’s website, supports more than 8.5 million students across the United States. Several Connecticut public schools including Bristol, Cheshire, Farmington, North Haven and Wilton have already made the switch to online report cards.
Scheduling coordinator Paul Gallo provided details on the financial component of switching online. “It saves a lot of money,” he said. “It costs 44 cents a stamp and say there are 1500 students. That’s $660 spent every time we send out progress reports. So instead of eight mailings a year, $5280 will be saved.”
The time and money put into the assemblage process adds up, according to Secretary Lynda Pescatello. “I think it’s a great thing. It saves postage and much time of the faculty,” she said. “It is also an efficient way to notify parents because students have no way of hiding [grades].”
Mr.Gallo said an email will be sent out that notifies parents and guardians of when grades have been submitted, indicating that grades are available for viewing and downloading. From there, parents simply have to type their username and password into PowerSchool, which gives them the option of printing and accessing grades instantly.
“The report card is exactly alike. There’s no difference because the system is setup to look like grade books,” Mr. Gallo said. Individual assignments will not be shown, although attendance can be viewed.
Because this is a test run, the administration has its concerns. Mr. Rothman said that the success of the program will be determined by whether the emails given to families at the beginning of the year are reliable. “If we have that, we assume the system should work with no problem,” he said.
Mr. Gallo believes that the initial set-up and first time signing on the system will cause the most confusion, but that people will quickly become comfortable with it. “We figure it should be very easy and user-friendly,” he said.
There is a conern about lack of security. Latin teacher David Harvey said, “My only concern is if a student goes in and deletes the email notifying parents when grades are available.”
Despite this initial concern, Mr. Harvey is pleased with the decision to go cyber. “I’m an adjunct at Sacred Heart University, so I’ve been using the online grades for awhile,” he said. “I have found it to be very convenient to do and clearly all colleges are doing it, so we should embrace it too. Very honestly, I look forward to not having to show each student their individual grade.”
The switch has no impact on the way teachers put in their grades. Math teacher Attila Levai sees no change in his part of the report card process. “The system has already been online and I’ve been putting in grades electronically for years,” he said.
Students had their own opinion regarding the school’s decision to go cyber. “I am glad that the school is accepting this technology,” senior Chris Freeman said. “The school has to stay on the forefront of it, so that the school can move forward for the better.”
Sophomore Kaylee Brea agreed it was a positive change, citing the long wait between when grades are closed and when report cards are recieved in the mail. “Finally we don’t have to wait a year to get our report cards,” she said.
However, according to sophomore Madison Mulhern, being able to know grades instantly on PowerSchool detracts from the experience of recieving them. “I don’t like it because it takes away the anticipation and excitement of waiting for [my report card] in the mail,” she said.
In a letter sent home to parents, administration urged parents or guardians who have not set up their PowerSchool account to do so promptly.
For any questions and technical support, contact Paul Gallo at paul.gallo@newcanaan.k12.org.
