Recommended Procedures

Setup

When the plug-in is first installed, obviously an initial import will have to be done to get the data from Sycamore. Be sure to view any warnings generated by this process and carefully analyze the resulting data in ptsignup. Often inconsistencies in the way data has been entered into Sycamore will become apparent and multiple cycles of editing in Sycamore and then re-importing into ptsignup will be necessary. Do note that a complete import cycle (families, courses, course details) is strongly recommended.

After a successful import is done, there are often edits that have to be done within ptsignup. Sometimes a pseudo-class exists in Sycamore to allow special functions (attendance, awards, etc.) and you may want to delete those pseudo-classes. Or perhaps a teacher's name or a family's name or a location name needs to appear one way in Sycamore and differently in ptsignup. Once edits like these within the ptsignup system have been made, a re-import from Sycamore will destructively delete these edits!

Depending on the updates and editing that are done in Sycamore throughout the school year it may be appropriate to import once at the beginning of the year and then simply work within ptsignup throughout the rest of that year. Or a re-import may be necessary, followed by re-applying all of those edits.

Generally it is preferred to leave signups closed when conferences are not active. This prevents teachers or parents making changes to a non-active system and thinking that their changes will "stick". Close signups by editing each department and setting a "closes" date in the past.

Time for Conference

• About 2-3 weeks before parent/teacher conferences the ptsignup administrator should prepare the system and edit the times and fill slots appropriately. Filling the slots will destroy any past signups.
• Open signups by editing the departments and establishing the "opens" and "closes" dates appropriately for each department. Typically the "closes" date should be a day or more before the conferences actually begin.
• When all is to his/her satisfaction the teachers should be notified so that they can go in and mark their unavailable times before parents have access.
• Thereafter parents should be notified, either en masse or according to a prioritized scheme (for instance, sometimes parents with multiple children need to sign up earlier due to the logistical difficulty of scheduling all needed conferences). Parents should be encouraged to signup with a deadline of 3-4 days prior to conferences.
• Parents who will be required to attend conferences should be notified in person.
• Once the parent deadline date has passed teachers should examine the schedule and make sure all needed conferences have been scheduled. Any missing meetings will necessitate a personal phone call to handle the scheduling and either the parent or the teacher can then perform the actual signup on ptsignup.
• Parents and teachers should be encouraged to take advantage of the "Display X Schedule" feature to view and perhaps print their own schedules. But typically the front office will need to be prepared to print schedules (using administrative access) on a one-off basis when parents or teachers do not come with their schedules.
• After conferences are complete and the department "closes" date has passed, those signups will be lost. If there is any need (unlikely) to store the schedule for historical purposes, the main screen can be printed off in hardcopy or to a PDF.