Creating a class section in PowerSchool SIS

Instructions:

1. Login to the PowerSchool admin portal: https://ecssd.powerschool.com/admin
2. At the top right of your screen, select the school and school year where you will be creating the section.
3. Then from the left menu, select School Management > Courses and Programs > Course Sections.
4. From the courses list on the left of your screen, find the course that you wish to create a section for and click it (using the filter at the top of the list will speed up your search).
5. If any sections have already been created for the course, take note of their section numbers from the center pane.
6. Click New.
7. Fill in the relevant details for the course:
1. Course Name: Leave as is.
2. Course Code: Leave as is.
3. Schedule: See the section below to determine what blocks to select.
4. Term: Choose the term that matches when the course will run.
5. Teacher - Section Lead: Click Add and select the teacher who will be teaching the course (you MUST have a lead teacher or the class section will not save).
6. Gradebook Type: Leave as is.
7. Room: Enter the room number that the course is taught out of.
8. Section Number: Select an available section number that doesn't match any of the section numbers from step 5.
9. Grade Level: Enter the grade level of the course.
10. Maximum Enrollment: If you have a maximum enrollment for a course, feel free to enter it here (but not necessary).
11. District Where Taught, School Where Taught: Leave both as is.
12. Dependent Sections: This field can be used to list other sections that have already been created, and which will automatically enroll any students into this section. This is useful for elementaries and junior high courses, where a given group of students may travel together for many of their courses throughout the day. If you want more details, contact Tech Services, otherwise leave blank.
13. Program, Automated Walk-In, Record Attendance Using Attendance Mode: Leave as is.
14. Record Attendance (only applicable if Record Attendance Using Attendance Mode includes Meeting): Choose Each Meeting Separately unless you have a specific reason not to.
15. Exclude from Attendance: Any section that does not take attendance should have this box checked. Some examples of sections that don't take attendance:
1. Modules for CTS courses at high schools.
2. Non-homeroom elementary courses
3. After school courses.
4. Outreach courses.
16. All Remaining Fields until 'Alberta Information': Leave as is.
8. Once you reach 'Alberta Information', you should fill in any relevant fields with the appropriate PASI values.

How do I determine what scheduling blocks to select for a class section?

There are two main types of sections you will be creating for students:

Sections for students that take AM/PM Attendance:

For these types of sections, you should select the AM/PM block for each day if it is a homeroom section. This will cause the homeroom section to show up on the students' bell schedule. For all other class sections for these students (i.e. subjects like Math, Science, etc.), select the Academic Block (AC1 at most schools).

Sections for Students that Take Block by block attendance:

If your students take class based attendance, then you should select the blocks where the class actually runs. That means that a Day 1, Block 2 class should select Block 2 of Day 1 in the Schedule Expression picker. For any course that does not take attendance, select the "Floater" block for those students ("JHF" at junior high schools, and "MOD" at high schools).