Parents Begin Learning New Student Database System

Parents of school district students are in the process of getting themselves on the new parent database system Genesis which allows them to monitor their child’s grades, assignments, schedule and absences.

The system is said to be not much different than Renweb, the previous system used by the district, however administrators say it is more user friendly and the majority of other districts are now using it. 

Wednesday night the district hosted a community forum to go over the uses of the database with parents and walk them through any problems and answer questions. Technology staff members were on hand to help troubleshoot as parents could test out the sytsem in the high school media center following the discussion.

The idea behind hosting the seminar a week before school starts was to help parents troubleshoot problems now with the goal of getting everyone on the system by the middle of next week, Dr. Mark Porto, school superintendent explained. If needed the district will host another forum for parents on the new system.  

A parents manual is accessible via the school’s website or attached to this article. Porto went over some of the features of the new system which includes a color coding system for attendance.  

Porto pointed out that this feature makes it easy to see the different reasons for absences via the color codes  however parents should be prepared that, especially in the early stage of using the system, there may be some mistakes caused by confusion of colors that are quite similar but mean different things. If a parent should note such a mistake, he or she can simply report it to the board office and they will correct it.

Porto told parents to also make note that this system logs students absences per class at the middle school and high school level so if for example a student left school for a field trip for the last three periods of the day, he or she will have one more day marked absent in those three classes as opposed to the rest.

Students assignments will be found under the grading tab and can be viewed by day or week. Parents will be able to view the details of the assignment however because space is limited teachers will likely use abbreviations such  “wkbk” for workbook, Porto explained. He said that developing a standard of abbreviations for input of assignments on Genesis is something he wants to develop so that it is the same district wide.

On Wednesday prior to the forum, all parents were sent emails from the new system with login information however many said they did not receive it. A possible reason for this is that the email may have gone into spam folders, Porto said and advised parents to check. If they did not receive it the district will be sure to resend it.

Parents who access the system for their child or children will find that the gradebook tab will be empty currently as teachers are beginning to return to the schools to prepare for the first day and will be in the process of putting their gradebooks into the system in time for next time.  

Porto confirmed that like Renweb, Genesis will send out notifications to parents if a students grades are below 70 or if they fail to turn in homework assignments. Entries under the discipline tab will only be entered by administrators, Porto explained, and it would be for issues parents are already aware of through previous calls to home from a teacher that are still found to be unresolved. The entries won’t be visible to other teachers as well.

Also parents should be aware that the new alert system for emergencies or school closings will be run through Genesis using a program called school messenger. Parents will get text messages, emails and phone calls regarding such events.

Earlier this year the Board of Education made the decision to move over to Genesis prior to the district receiving word that RenWeb would no longer support New Jersey school districts.