The Student data managed by the system includes all the information you see on the Student Information screen. The name, address, city, state and ZIP fields are pretty much self explanatory except that the City, State & ZIP can be parameterized so that when adding new students, these fields will be filled in with the most used information. Most fields on the screen are optional.
The functions list in the row at the bottom of the screen allow student information to be Added, Edited & Deleted here. When Adding or Editing data, it is not necessary to tab or cycle through the entire record if all you are doing is changing the phone number or address. When you have made all your changes, simply hold down the CTRL key a press "W", and the whole record is saved with all your changes. For convenience, all data manipulation screens are set up the same way, except for the employee info screen and that one will be changed to this format in the near future.
A key feature of the Delete function,found in the bar at the bottom of the page, is if you accidently delete a record, you can retrieve it again by pressing the "D" key again before moving away from the record. Even if you have deleted a record and move off the record and the record no longer appears in the list, you can still bring the record back. At Northwoods Computer Software, we feel all your data is YOUR DATA. You will have an additional stand-alone program to allow access to any data. This is used primarily for support work and just such a situation.
The Grade is maintained as a numeric field, allowing census info to be held as a minus number for the years between birth and entering school. A child in kindegarten will have a 0 in the grade level and a "K" in the Kindeg. field. The Grade Year is used when upgrading students to the next grade. Students can be entered into the system at any level.
The School Year Start and End dates are used if a student enters or leaves school during the normal school year. These fields are used for determining the number of students in school at any given time. Some state reports also are developed using this information.
The School code in the Student record is selected from a school list. The Miles is the distance the student lives from school. The Route, Bus and Time information can be entered here but is normally controlled by the Routing functions. Students parent/guardian information is handled as well. Very shortly, a free format word processing window will be added to the student record to help handle the split home, student custody/living arrangements situation.
The List function at the bottom of the screen will put up a list of all students. You can page up and down through the list to find the student your looking for or just begin entering the first characters of the students last name. With each character, the list is positioned closer to the name of the desired student. Usually, about 4 characters of the students last name are all that's needed to position the list.
A highlighted bar will show which student record is current in the list. When the appropriate student is highlighted in the list, pressing the ENTER key will immediately remove the list and display that students record on the full screen.
The Student List also shows the phone number for the student, so when only looking for a phone number, it is not necessary to go any farther than the list of students.
When Editing a Student record or Adding a new Student record, manual entry into the School field is not permitted. As you enter the field, and if the field is empty, a School list will be presented for you to select from. By highlighting the school you want and pressing ENTER, the School field of the student record is loaded. If as you enter the field, the field already has a school in it, you can bypass the fiel or by pressing F5, the School list will be presented for your selection.
Page updated: 4/14/2006