Teacher Scheduling Information

On this page:

You must enter and define scheduling setup information for every teacher who instructs at least one course at your school. In addition, you can assign teachers to the courses they will be teaching. 

Teacher Scheduling Setup

To set up teachers for scheduling, set teacher scheduling preferences and view teacher constraints to determine if the constraints need to be modified.

Set Teacher Scheduling Preferences

When you set teacher scheduling preferences, there are a few fields that lend themselves to mass updating, such as Use for Scheduling. However, because the majority of the information needs to be set individually, it does not make sense to use the Update Selections tool in this area in most cases.

Repeat this procedure for every teacher at your school who will be instructing at least one course the next schedule year.

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. 
3. Click the name of the teacher you want to work with from the teacher's menu.
4. Choose Preferences.

5. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:

   Field	Description
   Department	Click Associate to select this teacher's department.
   Preferred Room	Click Associate to select this teacher's classroom. The system always attempts to schedule courses assigned to this teacher in his or her preferred classroom first.
   Maximum Consecutive Periods	Use the pop-up menu to choose the maximum number of periods this teacher can teach in a row (according to his or her contract).
   Schedule This Teacher	Select the checkbox if you want the system to include this teacher when scheduling. Note: If you deselect the checkbox, the system will not include this teacher in the schedule build process.
   Is Always Free?	Select the checkbox to allow this teacher to be scheduled for an unlimited number of courses during the same period. For example, some special education teachers teach different subjects to different students in the same room during the same period.
   Schedule For Lunch	Select the checkbox if you want this teacher to be scheduled for a lunch period. For more information, see Scheduled Lunch.
   Building Code (optional)	Click Associate to select this teacher's building.
   House Code (optional)	Click Associate to select this teacher's house.
   Team Code (optional)	Use the pop-up menu to choose the team to which you want this teacher to belong. Note: If there is a number to the right of the blank Team Code pop-up menu, the teacher was previously associated with a team at a different school. You must clear the Team Code field using the Update Selections function.
   Maximum Student Load	Enter the maximum number of students that a teacher can have per day. This overrides the value of the Teacher's Maximum Daily Student Load, which is set at the district level. For more information, see Miscellaneous District Settings. Entering a value in this field does not prevent the teacher from being over-scheduled but only allows for reporting on the teachers whose schedules exceed the specified maximum student loads.

6. Click Submit. 

View Teacher Constraints

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. 
3. Click the name of the teacher you want to work with from the teacher's menu.
4. Do one of the following:
   
   • Choose Constraints from the pop-up menu.
   • Click the Constraints tab.
   Note: For information about how to add, modify, or delete a teacher's constraints, see Build Constraints.

Teacher Assignments

Creating teacher assignments is a very important part of the scheduling process. Teacher assignments define which courses and how many sections of each course a teacher will instruct.
To enter teacher assignments, use one of the following methods:

• Select a teacher, enter all of his or her assignments, and go to the next teacher.
• Select a course, enter the teachers who will be teaching it, and go to the next course.

If you enter or edit an assignment for a teacher or course, the system automatically updates the information in both places.

Assign Teachers to Courses

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu.
3. Click the name of the teacher you want to work with from the teacher's menu.
4. Do one of the following:
   
   1. • Choose Assignments from the pop-up menu.
      • Click the Assignments tab.
5. Click New. 

6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:

   Field	Description
   Course Number	Click Associate to select a course from the active course catalog.
   Section Type	If appropriate for the course you selected, use the pop-up menu to choose the section type you want to assign to this teacher, such as Spanish or SPED. If you use section types, you must indicate which teachers teach what section types. For example, if Teacher A teaches the Spanish section (section type) of course 100, choose Spanish and enter 1 in the Number of Sections field. If Teacher B teaches two sections of course 100 with only one of the two being a Spanish section type, you need to create two teacher assignments. For one, choose Spanish for the section type and enter 1 in the Number of Sections field; for the other, leave the Section Type field blank and enter 1 in the Number of Sections field.
   Number of Sections	Enter the number of sections of the course this teacher will instruct.
   Schedule Term Code	Use the pop-up menu to choose the schedule term in which this course is taught. Note: This field only applies to courses that are not full-year courses. For example, assume one teacher is instructing three sections of a single semester course. If you want two sections to meet Semester 1 and one section to meet Semester 2, enter two teacher assignments for the course. For one assignment, choose S1 in this field and enter 2 in the Number of Sections field. For the other, choose S2 in this field and enter 1 in the Number of Sections field. If you do not choose a term, the system decides in which term to schedule the course.

7. Click Submit. 

Assign Courses to Teachers

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Courses from the PowerScheduler menu. 
3. Click the name of the course you want to work with from the courses menu.
4. Do one of the following:
   
   1. • Choose Assignments from the pop-up menu.
      • Click the Assignments tab.
5. Click New. 

6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:

   Field	Description
   Teacher	Click Associate to select the name of the teacher to whom you want to assign this course.
   Section Type	If appropriate for the course you selected, use the pop-up menu to choose the section type you want to assign to this teacher, such as Spanish or SPED. If you use section types, you must indicate which teachers teach what section types. For example, if Teacher A teaches the Spanish section (section type) of course 100, choose Spanish and enter 1 in the Number of Sections field. If Teacher B teaches two sections of course 100 with only one of the two being a Spanish section type, you need to create two teacher assignments. For one, choose Spanish for the section type and enter 1 in the Number of Sections field; for the other, leave the Section Type field blank and enter 1 in the Number of Sections field.
   Number of Sections	Enter the number of sections of the course this teacher will instruct.
   Schedule Term Code	Use the pop-up menu to choose the schedule term in which this course is taught. Note: This field only applies to courses that are not full-year courses. For example, assume one teacher is instructing three sections of a single semester course. If you want two sections to meet Semester 1 and one section to meet Semester 2, enter two teacher assignments for the course. For one assignment, choose S1 in this field and enter 2 in the Number of Sections field. For the other, choose S2 in this field and enter 1 in the Number of Sections field. If you do not choose a term, the system decides in which term to schedule the course.

7. Click Submit. 

View Teacher Assignments

Use this procedure to view teacher assignments for a specific teacher.

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. 
3. Click the name of the teacher you want to work with from the teacher's menu.
4. Do one of the following:
   • Choose Assignments from the pop-up menu.
   • Click the Assignments tab.

View Teacher Assignments by Course

Use this procedure to view all teacher assignments for a specific course.

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Courses from the PowerScheduler menu. 
3. Click the name of the course you want to work with from the courses menu.
4. Do one of the following:
   • Choose Assignments from the pop-up menu.
   • Click the Assignments tab.

Teacher Schedule

View a teacher's schedule, including courses, sections, and enrollment per section. You can add or delete sections from a teacher's schedule. In addition, you can modify a section, such as locking it to prevent the section from being changed when the system rebuilds the master schedule.

Add a Section to a Teacher Schedule

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu.
3. Click the name of the teacher you want to work with from the teachers menu.
4. Do one of the following:
   
   1. • Choose Schedule from the pop-up menu.
      • Click the Schedule tab.
5. Click New. 

6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:

   Field	Description
   Teacher name	The name of the selected teacher appears.
   Course Number	Click Associate to select a course from the active course catalog.
   Term	Choose the term for the course from the pop-up menu.
   Schedule	Select the checkboxes for the expressions for the appropriate days on which the staff member teaches this section. Note: The schedule expression is the combination of periods and days.
   Room	Click Associate to select a room in which the staff member teaches this section.
   Section number	Enter a unique section number for this section. Select the Locked Section checkbox if the section should not be rescheduled during the next build.
   Close section at max	Identifies whether to enroll students into the section even if the maximum enrollment has been reached. If this is selected, no students will be enrolled if the current enrollment is equal to or greater than the maximum enrollment. Select the checkbox to not accept more enrollments than the maximum number of enrolled students.
   Section type	Identifies the section as open only to be filled by students whose course requests are designated as the same section type. Choose the type of section, such as Bilingual, from the pop-up menu (optional). Note: For more information, see Add a Section Type.
   Grade Level	Enter the grade level of this section.
   Current enrollment	The current enrollment of students in this section appears.
   Maximum enrollment	Enter the maximum number of students that can enroll in this section.
   Team	Choose the team associated with this section from the pop-up menu.
   House	Click Associate to select a team to which this section belongs.
   Where Taught	Enter the school ID if the section is taught at a different school.
   Dependent sections	Enter any dependent sections for this section. Separate multiple sections with commas.
   Exclude From Attendance	Select the checkbox if you do not want to include this section in the student ADM/ADA counts.
   Grade Scale	Choose the grade scale from the pop-up menu.
   Maximum Load Status	Use the pop-up menu to indicate whether the section should be exempt from counting towards a teacher's maximum student load: Exempt: Students enrolled in this section do not count towards a teacher's maximum student load. Lab: Same as non-exempt. Non-Exempt: Students enrolled in this section count towards a teacher's maximum student load. Note: At this time, the Non-Exempt selection is not saved on this page. Use Direct Database Export to set sections as non-exempt. In the Sections table, set the Max_Load_Status field to Non-Exempt. For more information, see Teacher Maximum Load. Note: For existing non-exempt sections and for all new sections, no values are stored for this field unless they are set to Lab or Exempt on this page, or they set to any of the three status types using Direct Database Export. Sections with no values are ignored when calculating the teacher maximum load.
   Exclude from GPA?	Select the option to either include or exclude the grade from the GPA calculation.
   Exclude from class rank?	Select the option to either include or exclude the grade from the class rank calculation.
   Exclude from honor roll?	Select the option to either include or exclude the grade from the honor roll calculation.

7. Click Submit. 

Edit a Section on a Teacher Schedule

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. 
3. Click the name of the teacher you want to work with from the teacher's menu.
4. Do one of the following:
   
   1. • Choose Schedule from the pop-up menu.
      • Click the Schedule tab.

5. Use the following table to filter information:

   Field

   Description

   Filter

   Enter search criteria in the Search field. To filter by columns: Click +. From the first pop-up menu, choose one of the following: Course Expression Max Students Room Section # Section Type Team Term From the second pop-up menu, choose the appropriate comparator: contains contains all contains any does not contain is empty starts with starts with any Enter search criteria in the search field. Note: Use a comma-separated list for multiple values. If contains is selected, only one value may be entered. If is empty is selected, no value may be entered. Click Apply. The page refreshes and display filtered results. Note: The Filter (0) header refreshes and displays the number of applied filters. In addition, the header displays the fields being used to filter results. Click the name of a column to sort by that column in ascending order. Click again to sort in descending order. To add another filter, click + and repeat Step 1. Note: The + appears shaded if all filters have been added. To delete a filter, click - next the filter. Click Apply. The page refreshes and display filtered results. Note: To remove all filter selections, click Clear.

   Note: Click the arrow to expand this section. Click the arrow again to collapse this section.

6. Click the number in the Section # column for the section you want to edit. That teacher's Edit Section page appears.Note: Click the number in the Students column to view the class roster for the section.
7. Edit information as needed.
8. Click Submit. 

Delete a Section From a Teacher Schedule

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. 
3. Click the name of the teacher you want to work with from the teachers menu.
4. Do one of the following:
   
   • Choose Schedule from the pop-up menu.
   • Click the Schedule tab
   Note: Click the number in the Size column to view the class roster for the section.
5. Click the number in the Section # column for the section you want to delete. 
6. Click Delete. 

Teacher Schedule Matrix

The teacher matrix function creates a visual, graphical representation of a teacher's schedule. This schedule can be printed, though not for more than one teacher at a time.

View the Teacher Schedule Matrix

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. 
3. Click the name of the teacher you want to work with from the teacher's menu.
4. Choose Matrix from the pop-up menu. Click the Matrix tab.
   The Teacher Schedule Matrix page displays the teacher's schedule for each period and day in each term. Identical colors on the schedule indicate the same section. A blank block means that nothing is scheduled for that block in that term. If all matrix preferences are selected, each block includes the following information:
   • Name of the course
   • Course number
   • Section number
   • Room number
   • Expression, which is the combination of periods and days
   • Year term
   • Number of students scheduled for this section
   • Maximum enrollment of this section
5. To change the matrix preferences, see Set Teacher Schedule Matrix Preferences.

Set Teacher Schedule Matrix Preferences

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Resources, choose Teachers from the PowerScheduler menu. 
3. Click the name of the teacher you want to work with from the teacher's menu.
4. Do one of the following:

   • Choose Matrix from the pop-up menu.

   • Click the Matrix tab.

5. Click Matrix Preferences.

6. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:

   Field	Description
   Course Name	Select the checkbox to display the course name.
   Course Number.Section Number	Select the checkbox to display the course and section numbers.
   Room	Select the checkbox to display the room number.
   Expression Term	Select the checkbox to display the expression, which is the period and day combination.
   Enrollment	Select the checkbox to display enrollment information, which is the number of students enrolled and the maximum enrollment.

7. Click Submit. 

Scheduled Lunch

To schedule time for lunch or teacher-supervised breaks in your school's master schedule, create lunch sections. Lunch sections are sections of a course that have been designated for lunch periods. To schedule students for lunch, a lunch course request must exist for each student before loading student schedules.

Start by creating a lunch course in PowerScheduler, indicating that it will be used exclusively for scheduled lunches. Then, create sections for that course. Select the periods that each section of the lunch course will span and the days on which it occurs. For more information about specifying that a course is used for scheduling lunch, see Course Scheduling Setup.

For each section of a lunch course, PowerScheduler can assign a teacher to supervise during lunchtime. If supervision is not necessary, scheduling teachers for lunch ensures that the teachers will have time set aside for their own lunch break. Teachers can be assigned to only one lunch section per day, though that section can span several periods. Teachers are scheduled for one section of the lunch course for each day combination and term specified by the lunch course.

For example, a five-day, quarterly schedule where lunch can be periods 3, 5, or 7, set up the lunch course with a frequency of five, valid terms for each quarter, and valid start periods selected for 3, 5 and 7. Each teacher can be scheduled for one of 20 lunch sections (one for each day and term) that will start in either period 3, 5, or 7 in the respective day and term combination. 

Students can also request lunch courses. Each student must request the lunch course for each day combination and term. Students will be loaded into lunch sections that have no assigned teacher. Using the earlier example, students also have 60 sections in which they can be scheduled (three per day per term).

Though PowerScheduler schedules lunch courses in the same manner as other courses, you can filter lunch courses for certain reports and functions. When defining course scheduling preferences, specify that the course is excluded from report cards and transcripts. The course will not appear on those object reports. Also, lunch courses are not included in functions such as splitting year-long courses.

If you use the lunch functionality for any other teacher scheduling purpose, remember that you can only have one lunch course and that it must follow the same rules as scheduled lunch. That is, there should be only one period of time each day of the year in which teachers are assigned to this activity.

Automated Study Hall

The Automated Study Hall function provides study hall periods to students with incomplete schedules. Automated Study Hall creates a study hall course and sections into which students, teachers, and rooms are scheduled.

Run the Automated Study Hall Function

Perform this function only after you build and load a master schedule. Also, set up a Study Hall course before creating study hall sections. For more information, see New Courses.

To set up study hall for a selected group of students, first select a group of students.

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Processing, choose Automated Study Hall from the PowerScheduler menu. 

3. Use the following table to enter information in the fields

   Field	Description
   Run For	Choose whether you want to set up study hall sections for all students or only for the selected students.
   Terms	Click Associate to select the terms in which you want to set up study hall sections. The terms available include only those terms in the active scenario.
   Course	Click Associate to select a course from which you will create study hall sections. The courses available include only those courses in the active catalog.
   Rooms Allowed	Click Associate to select the rooms that can be used for study hall sections. The rooms available include only those that are selected to be scheduled and are associated with the selected school. Select the Allow Multiple Sections Per Room checkbox if there can be more than one section in a particular room at the same time.
   Teachers Allowed	Click Associate to select the teachers that can be scheduled for study hall sections. The teachers available include only those that are selected to be scheduled and are associated with the selected school. Select the Allow Exceed Max-in-a-Row for Teachers checkbox to override the maximum number of periods in a row on a teacher's schedule.
   Max Number of Students per Section	Enter the maximum number of students that can be scheduled into a study hall section.
   Periods Allowed	Click Associate to select the periods in which study hall sections can be scheduled. The periods available include only those in the active scenario.
   Day Pattern List	Click Add and select a day pattern on which study hall sections can be scheduled. That way, PowerScheduler can be more efficient by setting up study hall sections that span multiple days, if possible. For example, a five-day schedule could include the day patterns MWF, TR, and MTF. PowerScheduler would first find the students that have free periods that fit a given day pattern. Then, for each period in the master schedule, it creates the appropriate number of study hall sections that occur on each day in the day pattern. Assuming the maximum number of students per section is 25, the day pattern MWF would produce study hall sections as follows: Period 1: Two sections each on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Period 2: Zero sections Period 3: One section each on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Click Add for each day pattern you want to identify. Click Modify or Delete to edit or remove a day pattern. Note: The default day pattern, if none is entered, is one that reflects all the days in the schedule. In this case only those students who have an unscheduled meeting period that occurs on all days in the schedule will be enrolled in a study hall. For example; if a student is unscheduled during period 3 on both days of an A/B schedule, then the student will be enrolled. If a student is unscheduled during period 3 on only Day A, then the student will not be enrolled in a study hall.

4. Click Create. 

View the Automated Study Hall Results Log

After setting up study hall parameters, you can view the results of the study hall setup.

1. On the start page, choose PowerScheduler under Applications in the main menu. 
2. Under Processing, choose Automated Study Hall from the PowerScheduler menu. 

3. Click View last results log. 

   The following information appears in the Results section of the Automated Study Hall - Results Log page:

   Field	Description
   Students found with schedule holes	The number of students whose requests were fulfilled but whose schedules have open periods.
   Total students fully scheduled	The number of students who had all unscheduled time filled with study hall sections as a result of the last Automated Study Hall run.
   Total students not fully scheduled	The number of students who did not have all unscheduled time filled with study hall sections as a result of the last Automated Study Hall run.
   [Study Hall Sections]	For each study hall section created, the following information appears: Section # Expression Term Teacher Room Size

4. Click Back to return to the Automated Study Hall Parameters page.

   Note: If a "Warning Page Expired" message appears, click the PowerSchool logo to return to the start page.
   .