As an administrator, you have the ability to edit your school year and its terms and dates.
Editing Your School Year
There are two scenarios in which you will likely need to edit your school year schedule: In preparation of the next school year or due to an error / last minute change.
Prepping for Next School Year
If you are preparing for the next school year, there is no need to edit the current school year. Instead, use our Duplicate feature. You can duplicate any school year, past, active, or upcoming. Duplicating a school year brings over the same schedule with dates (+ 1 year), terms, and lunch waves. For an indepth guide on how to duplicate schedules, click HERE.
Editing for Corrections / Changes
If an error was made in your initial setup or your school has made last minute schedule changes, follow the instructions provided below to edit your schedule:
Go to your Admin menu and click Bell Schedule.
Click on your school year to the right to open the school year editing tool.
In the About tab, click Edit in the Start and End Dates section.
Adjust the name or dates as needed.
Click Save.
Adding and Editing Terms
If your school has classes that switch at marking periods such as a quarter, trimester, or semester you will want to ensure you have added these terms in SmartPass. The correct term dates is what allows SmartPass to know where a student is based on their class roster data.
💡Best Practice Tip:
When adding and editing terms, it is a best practice to divide your schedule into the smallest possible terms. For example: If you have 2 semesters and 4 quarters, you would want to add your 4 quarters. You will not need to add the semester terms, as a teacher can select quarter 1 and quarter 2 if they have a semester class.
➕Adding New Terms
If you need to add a new term to your school year, follow the steps below:
Click Bell Schedule on the left-side navigation.
Click on your school year to the right to open the school year editing tool.
In the About tab, click Edit in the Additional Terms section.
Click Add Term.
Add your new term's name and dates.
Click Save.
Notes for Adding Terms:
You cannot add an overlapping term. If you are prompted with this message you will need to edit the dates for the term overlapping your new term before you can make your new one. If your schedule requires overlapping terms please see the section below on adding overlapping terms.
To prevent overlapping in dates, consider adjusting them in a certain order. For example:
Quarter 1: August 18th - November 23rd
Quarter 2: November 26th - Febuary 12th
If quarter 1 now ends later in the year on November 27th and quarter 2 now starts on November 30th, you will receive an overlap message preventing you from proceeding. To change the dates, edit the start date for quarter 2 first. Then, you can edit quarter 1 since there will no longer be any overlap.
✏️Editing Existing Terms
‼️Note: You cannot edit a school year start date that has passed.
Click Bell Schedule on the left-side navigation.
Click on your school year to the right to open the school year editing tool.
In the About tab, click Edit in the Additional Terms section.
Locate the term that needs to be edited and click the pencil to the right.
Edit the name and / or dates.
Click Save.
Notes For Editing Terms:
If you need to adjust a date for a term be sur that you adjust it in an order that results in no overlapping terms. If you set dates that are overlapping you will be prompted with the following message. If your schedule requires overlapping terms please see the section below on adding overlapping terms.
To prevent overlapping in dates, consider adjusting them in a certain order. For example:
Quarter 1: August 18th - November 23rd
Quarter 2: November 26th - Febuary 12th
If quarter 1 now ends later in the year on November 27th and quarter 2 now starts on November 30th, you will receive an overlap message preventing you from proceeding. To change the dates, edit the start date for quarter 2 first. Then, you can edit quarter 1 since there will no longer be any overlap.
Adding Overlapping Terms
Adding overlapping terms is not currently supported. This helps keep data clean, and class approval easier. If you have a mix of classes that are year long, semester long and quarter long you would only need to add your quarters, as a teacher would be able to select only quarter 1 and quarter 2 if they have a semester class.
If your school operates with overlapping terms such as trimesters and quarters and you need assistance in breaking down how to best add these terms into SmartPass, reach out to our support team for assistance.
What Happens When a Marking Period Changes?
If everything is set up properly and all classes were already accepted, there is no action to take when your marking period changes. SmartPass will begin displaying the new class roster information on the first day of the new term. There is no need to delete or archive last term's classes.
1) If your new term's classes were just synced to SmartPass:
On the Bell Schedule page, confirm the correct terms are added. You can find this by clicking on the desired school year to the right. If terms are not correct please add / edit your terms as shown above.
Staff will need to edit the terms on their existing and prior term's classes if you just now added terms.
Staff will need to accept the new classes. Click HERE for a how-to guide.
2) If all classes were synced to SmartPass at the start of the year:
If everything is setup properly, no action is needed, but this is a great opportunity to confirm your setup:
On the Bell Schedule page, confirm the correct terms are added. You can find this by clicking on the school year. If terms are not correct please add / edit your terms as shown above.
Staff will also need to edit the terms on their existing and prior term's classes if you just now added terms.
Check your Classes page to see if everyone has accepted classes, if not remind them to do so.
FAQ
I understand it is best practice to avoid overlapping terms, but my school's master schedule has classes with overlapping terms, how can I add these?
Reach out to our live chat support team, they can help explain the best way to break down your terms.
I added semester terms but I need to edit my terms to quarters instead, how do I do this?
You will want to start by editing the semester terms to reflect the quarter data by making Semester 1 into Quarter 1, and Semester 2 into Quarter 2. Once the dates are corrected you can add the 2 new terms following the steps above. Be sure to have teachers edit the terms for their classes to reflect your edits.
I am trying to delete a term or school year and it will not let me, why?
You cannot delete a school year or term with classes associated with them. You will want to edit these to make them fit your needs. If you need assistance please reach out to us, we can help.
Do I have to edit an existing school year schedule or create a new one for every school year?
No. Use our Duplicate feature. You can duplicate any school year whether it's past, active, or upcoming. Click HERE for more information.