As of July 12, 2021, this "Learn Veracross" site has been deprecated. It will remain live through December 2022, but will no longer be updated. All knowledge content has moved to the new Veracross Community. Please update your bookmarks.
Overview
There are many administrative and academic tasks that need to be performed in Veracross at different times of the year and can be roughly broken down by season. This article serves as an overview of managing the school year. The School Year Management documentation category is also helpful to review, and many of the “Read More” links below direct to articles in that category.
Managing the Seasons of the School Year
The following tables provide an overview of the different required tasks throughout the school year. Summers are broken down month by month, as these processes run on a tighter timeline for most schools. Then are listed periodic processes that occur throughout the year (often in tandem with the start and end of grading periods), and then processes that tend to occur in the fall, winter, and spring.
Summer Processes
| June | ||||
| Area | Item | Notes | ||
| Sched | Copy athletic events | Athletic events must be copied prior to running the close school year process. Read more. Classes must also be copied to next year prior to closing the school year, but those are typically copied well before June (so you can schedule classes for next year). | ||
| Admin | Close school year (required) | Talk to department leaders, review your data, and run the self-service Close School Year procedure in Axiom. Read more. | ||
| Sched | Hide schedules in portals | Next year’s schedules and classes can be hidden from the Parent/Student Portals. Recommended while working on them. Read more. | ||
| Sched | Change grading periods? (14 day lead) | Changing grading periods (e.g., from quarters to trimesters) can be done, but needs to be considered carefully and incurs additional cost. Read more. | ||
| July | ||||
| Area | Item | Notes | ||
| Sched | Teachers can copy assignments and resources as needed | Teachers can use the Class Migration Assistant to do this directly in their portal. Read more. | ||
| Sched | Prep for class schedule and roster uploads | If using the Veracross Excel template or a 3rd party scheduler, make schedule data is complete before sending to Veracross. Read more. | ||
| Sched | Import classes and/or class enrollments | Rather than using the Veracross Excel template, the Veracross Import tool is available. Read more. | ||
| Sched | Upload class schedules and rosters (14 day lead) | If using the Veracross Excel Template or a 3rd Party Scheduler, send data to Veracross 14 days in advance to import into your school’s database. Read more. | ||
| Sched | Make student schedule changes | Use Class Enrollment Manager to make schedule changes. Read more. Also see the Student Scheduler | ||
| Cal | Decide on next year’s calendar events (required) | Decide whether to copy school calendar events from last year, upload using the Veracross Importer, or manually enter events. Read more. | ||
| August | ||||
| Area | Item | Notes | ||
| Admin | Roll the Portal School Year Forward (required) | At some point over the summer, the school year needs to be rolled forward in portals. Read more. | ||
| Admin | Prep for start of school year (required) | Before starting the school year, make sure that grading period dates are correct, classes/schedules are in Veracross, and that school events and holidays are present. Read more. | ||
| Admin | Start School Year (required) | Starting the school year will change future parents & students to parents/students, populate ‘entry date’ for new students, set classes to ‘active’, and promote grade levels. Read more. | ||
| Sched | Configure rotation day calendar (required) | Configure your schools rotation day calendar after school calendar events have been uploaded. Read more. | ||
| Accounts | Prep for new parent/student accounts (required) | It is necessary to configure welcome emails, test sample accounts, and decide the best time to create new parent/student accounts. Read more. | ||
| Accounts | Create new parent/student accounts (required) | Creation of parent/student accounts is possible after the school year is closed and after the necessary prep work above. Read more. | ||
| Admin | Copy transportation schedules | If using the Transportation Module, copy transportation schedule records to the next year, if desired. Read more. | ||
| Sched | Publish student schedules | Publish schedules to the parent/student portals. Read more. | ||
| Admin | Configure or update portals and portal membership | Review and update portal configuration and membership as needed. Read more. | ||
| Admin | Configure Directories | Configure directories as desired. Read more. | ||
| Admin | Configure communication channels | Configure communication channels as needed for email and portal display. Read more. | ||
| Admin | Launch portals | It is best to launch or re-open Portals access after all information (e.g., schedules) are ready and published. Read more: | ||
| Admin | Import locker assignments | Import locker numbers and combinations, if needed. Read more. | ||
Periodic Processes Throughout the Year
The following tasks occur throughout the year, weekly or monthly as needed.
| Area | Item | Notes |
| Accounts | Enable and disable portal accounts | Parent and student accounts can be enabled and disabled throughout the year as needed. Read more. |
| Admin | Manage logistics requests | Manage logistics requests as needed. Read more. |
| Admin | Manage HPU updates | Manage HPU updates requiring approval. Read more. |
| Admin | Manage data integrity issues | Dedupe and manage data integrity regularly. Read more. |
| Sched | Make student schedule changes | Use Class Enrollment Manager to make schedule changes. Read more. |
| Sched | Transfer students between classes | Transfer students to different classes or sections as needed. Read more. |
| Sched | Withdraw/late enroll students | Withdraw and late enroll students as needed. Read more. |
Periodic Processes Associated With Grading Periods
The following tasks occur in conjunction with the close and end of grading periods. All are required at some context, but often will be determined by the specific practice at a school. All are initiated and managed by the school.
| Area | Item | Notes |
| Admin | Manage parent/teacher conferences | Manage parent/teacher conferences as needed. Read more. |
| Admin | Grades and Comments Review | After teachers enter grades, they can be reviewed. Read more. |
| Admin | Move to the next grading period | Certain steps need to be taken when moving ahead to the next grading period. Read more. |
| Admin | Post and lock grades | Grades should be posted and locked in order to be considered “finalized” in Veracross. Read more. |
| Admin | Publish academic documents | Publish your progress reports or report cards. Read more. |
| Admin | Post and lock transcript grades | Only certain grading period grades will be posted to transcripts. Read more. |
Fall Processes
Several tasks typically occur in the fall.
| Area | Item | Notes |
| Admin | Configure GPA | GPAs needs to be configured before documents are published that display them. Read more. |
| Admin | Troubleshoot email deliverability | Monitor delivery/open rates and manage the spam/bounce list. Should be checked periodically, but it is helpful to attend to bounced emails right away in the year. Read more. |
| Admin | Upload student and staff profile photos | Upload and manage student and staff photos using the photo management tool, typically after fall school photos are taken. Read more. |
Winter Processes
Several tasks typically occur in the winter.
| Area | Item | Notes |
| Admin | Begin Online Re-Enrollment | Schools typically start the re-enrollment cycle between December and March. Read more. |
Spring Processes
Several tasks typically occur in the spring.
| Area | Item | Notes |
| Sched | Copy classes and schedules | Create copies of the classes/schedules from one school year to the next. Read more. |
| Sched | Decide class scheduling options | For each school level, decide on the best scheduling option. Options include: Veracross Schedule Builder, Homeroom, Excel Template, Manual, Imports, and 3rd Party Scheduler. Read more. |
| Admin | Submit documents to be built | Submit any documents that need to be built in the spring, well ahead of summer (when it gets very busy with other tasks). Schools should reach out to their account manager. |
| Admin | Manage new courses | Create and manage any new courses for the following year (ahead of the summer rush). |
| Sched | Manage course requests | Some schools manage course requests and scheduling manually, and others use the Veracross Scheduler. Read more. |
| Sched | Use the Scheduler to build next year’s schedule | Schools can use the Veracross Scheduler to build a schedule and enroll students. Read more. |
Webinar: Closing the School Year
Click here to access directly.
Prezi: Closing the School Year
This Prezi is used in the above “Closing the School Year” webinar.