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πŸ“ Back to School Checklist

Updated today

With the new school year approaching, ensure a seamless SmartPass transition. Here’s your comprehensive guide to a smooth rollover β€” it shouldn't take more than an hour.


1. Update Rooms 🏫

Update room configurations in SmartPass to reflect any changes for the new school year.

  1. Reassign rooms to teachers if teacher assignments have changed.

  2. Remove teacher and staff locations for those who have departed, and add your new teachers' rooms.

  3. Adjust any room visibilities you have set with new students.


2. Add Bell Schedules and Accept Classes πŸ—“οΈ

Adding your bell schedule(s) in SmartPass unlocks a ton of capabilities, including teachers having their current class roster on their home screen, faster pass creation since students/teachers won’t have to select an β€œorigin” anymore, and teachers can look up where any student is currently located.
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This year we have revamped how you add your bell schedules to allow live time edits and changes without the need to wait on our team. Even if you had your bell schedule in the system last year, you will need to take a moment and enter it into the new format.

  1. As an admin, click the Bell Schedule tab and add your bell schedule(s).

  2. After your bell schedule is add, instruct your teachers to accept their classes from Clever, ClassLink, or Google Classroom. Alternatively you may help accept classes on their behalf via the Classes tab.

    1. Tip: Share this how-to video with your teachers, or do it all together during a staff meeting.

Have more questions? Read the guide to get started.


3. Review Data & Adjust Settings βš™οΈ

Double-check settings like Pass Limits (including individual pass limits), Encounter Prevention, and No Fly Time. Make any necessary adjustments to align with your school's policies and safety measures for the upcoming school year.
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Now is also a great time to dive into last year's data using your analytics to help guide you!


4. Schedule PD Training πŸŽ“

Once you have made all of your settings changes, be sure to consider if your staff need a refresher training. It may also make sense to have new staff attend a SmartPass training as well.
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SmartPass Academy offers pre-recorded training sessions for admin, teachers, and clerical staff to help ensure you have a smooth start to your school year.


5. Check Your Integrations πŸ”„

If using G Suite...

Follow these steps to roll over your SmartPass <> G Suite integration.

1. Roll over students and staff accounts

  • If using Multiple organizational units (OU) for each grade level...

    1. Remove any inactive or graduated students' OUs.

    2. Add the OUs for incoming students.

  • If using School-level OU...

    1. Ensure that the inactive students are removed from your school's organizational unit

    2. Add the incoming students to the OU.

  • If using Google Groups to sync information...

    1. Remove the groups for inactive or graduated students

    2. Contact us if you need to add new Google Groups.

2. Share classes from Google Classroom (optional)

SmartPass now supports displaying class rosters on teacher homepages! Please reauthorize the sync to share classes from Google Classroom..

If using Clever...

Follow these steps to roll over your SmartPass <> Clever integration.

  1. Update your SIS: Make sure your SIS is up-to-date with accurate student, teacher, and admin data for the new school year.

  2. Sync data with Clever: Set up automatic data syncing between your SIS and Clever to ensure that your digital resources are always up-to-date.

  3. Archive old data: Use Clever's Data Browser to archive old data that is no longer relevant for the upcoming school year.

If using ClassLink...

Follow these steps to roll over your SmartPass <> ClassLink integration.

  1. Update user profiles: Add incoming students, remove graduated or inactive students, and update teacher assignments as needed.

  2. All done!

If Rostering with Spreadsheets...

Follow these steps to get your accounts in SmartPass updated.

  1. Fill out this template to send us account information for all of your incoming students and new teachers (email address, first name, last name, and password).

  2. Send the file to our support team.

Switch to an Integration
Consider switching to G Suite, Clever, or ClassLink for next year. Integrations allow new students to get added to SmartPass automatically. Switching to an integration takes <1 hour.


6. Explore New Features and Tips πŸš€

Check out a few of the latest SmartPass updates. If you aren't taking advantage of these, now is a great time to do so!

Kiosk Login Export

Looking for a way to help set up your kiosks for the start of the year? Use the new Export Kiosk Login button.


Not using kiosks yet, learn more here!

Max Passes From A Room

Max Passes From A Room is a great way to support teacher who need it, and help align SmartPass with you building policies. This feature allows you to establish a max number of students allowed to leave a classroom at a given time.
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To learn more, check out this article on how to set it up, as well as best practices around this setting.

Tips and Tricks

We recently add a resource to our Help Center completely dedicated to helping you get the most out of SmartPass. Explore tips and tricks on on everything from scheduling exams, to utilizing kiosks.

Flex

If you haven't heard yet, we completely overhauled Flex. Flex is a tool designed to drive visibility, engagement, and accountability across all student activities before, during, and after the school day.
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Explore what Flex is all about here.


FAQ

Where can I get a quote to renew my SmartPass subscription? Please reach out via live chat. They will be able to provide you with a quote for renewal.

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