Northside Parent Connection:
Website allows parents access to student data

Four secondary schools will journey into a technical portal to create a better partnership and dialogue between Northside parents and teachers. The “Northside Parent Connection” will allow parents to explore their child’s grades and attendance in the first of a three-phase deployment.

The four schools that will pilot Phase I of the technology are Stevenson MS, Rawlinson MS, Warren HS, and Clark HS. “It is important that we pilot the technology before we fully deploy it to all secondary schools," says Kelly Smith, Assistant Superintendent for Technology Services.

“Once the school year is over, the staffs from the four schools will discuss what worked and what didn’t. We will make any adjustments and then extend the technology to the parents in ALL the District’s secondary schools in Fall 2005,” Smith says. “We hope to add elementary schools in the future as soon as a standard electronic gradebook for them is implemented.”

“We are excited to be among the first four schools to bring parents this technology to enable them to better monitor their child’s progress in school,” says Patty Denham Hill, principal of Warren HS.

“The Northside Parent Connection is like having a daily progress report from each teacher,” says Smith. “This is a secure website that the parents use to contact teachers, check grades, and view attendance. We will be adding more options periodically.”

Phase II of the Northside Parent Connection is to add the curriculum management system “outreach” module, which will allow parents to view longitudinal assessment data (such as TAKS, SDAA, AP, PSAT, etc.), benchmark assessment data, demographic data, teacher web pages, and class calendars for their own student. This is expected to be launched in Spring 2006.