New School Year Setup
Overview
This guide will cover the seven steps required to set up Scheduling for the new school year as well as the steps required to set up the School Settings for the new year.
AE-Connect does not have a way to set a default year at this time. The school year defaults automatically based on the current date.
Scheduling Set Up
STEP 1: Add New School Year
Users can initiate a new school year in the Scheduling area by navigating to Scheduling and utilizing the Select School Year drop-down to Start New Year.
Upon selecting this option, the Add New School Year flyout will appear, providing the opportunity to specify a start and end date for the school year. The system will then generate the school year based on these dates. After the dates are set, users should proceed to click the "Save and Exit" button located in the upper right corner of the screen.
Once saved, the new school year will be available in the Select School Year dropdown menu, allowing users to commence the creation of terms for the new year.
STEP 2: Add TERMS
Users should navigate to the scheduling terms section. To create a New Term, they should utilize the action menu (yellow +) located on the left-hand side. Upon doing so, the New Term flyout will open. The user is required to provide a Name for the Term (e.g. Quarter 1, Quarter 2, Semester 1) and specify the start and end date for the term. Once this information has been entered, they should select Save and Exit. This process should be repeated until all the terms have been created for the selected school year.
Additional Resource: Edit Terms
STEP 3: Update/ Edit Day Templates (If needed)
The Day Templates will automatically clone from one year to another when the new year is created. The user should navigate to Scheduling Day Templates to update existing day templates and add additional templates if needed. To update an existing Day Templates the user uses the gear to open the Edit Day Templates flyout.
Please see this Create Day Templates guide for additional information.
Step 4: Update School Days
The user should navigate to Scheduling > School Days. Users will utilize the action menu to Bulk Edit Days. The user should choose the specific day(s) and assign a Day Designation to the chosen days. The school can choose from Day Templates or Non-School days. Every day in the School Day Calendar should be assigned a Day Template or designated as a Non-School day. The available days should be zero.
Once the school has finished assigning Day Templates and Non-School designations, the user will need to manually review the School Day Calendar to assign holidays and other day exceptions.
Additional Resources:
STEP 5: Clone Class Schedules from Previous Year
DO NOT MAKE CLASS SCHEDULES FOR ALL QUARTERS!
ONLY MAKE A CLASS SCHEDULE FOR Q1.
You should make the other quarter schedules as you get to the end of each quarter. Example: toward end of Q1 you can make Q2 Class Schedule. This is because if you make all your schedules first then any changes made in Q1 WILL NOT be reflected in the following quarters.
NOTE: User can clone Class Schedules from previous year. Class Schedule will clone classes without students. User can edit classes as needed.
YOU MUST UPDATE THE DAY TEMPLATES IN ALL CLASSES THAT ARE CLONED!
The user should navigate to Scheduling > Class Schedules in order to create the Quarter 1 schedule for the new year. Next, the user should go to the action menu and select "Create New Class Schedule." When creating the new class schedule, the user should name it (e.g. Quarter 1), add an abbreviation, and choose which class schedule from the previous year to clone from. After completing these steps, the user should select Save. Subsequently, the user can navigate into the class schedule to edit classes, add additional classes, or delete classes if necessary.
Additional Resources:
Step 6: Enroll Students into AE-Connect for the new school year
Schools cannot official enroll students into AE-Connect until July 16. The schools need to wait until the NAD Student ID Manager has switch to the upcoming school year.
After July 16, users are required to navigate to the NAD Student ID Manager and choose either "Enroll for 2025-2026" or "No Longer Enrolled" for each student in the Last Year Student List. Users should then proceed to add new students to the NAD Student ID Manager. Once the NAD Student ID Manager list contains students enrolled for 2025-2026, the user can proceed to AE-Connect > Admissions > Enrolled Students and use the action menu to Sync Students. Students in the NAD Student ID Manager will be synchronized with AE-Connect. Subsequently, the school is able to update student grades and homeroom teacher assignments, as well as enroll them in classes.
Additional Information:
Step 7: Enroll Students into Classes
User will need to enroll students into classes when the majority of the students are enrolled in the school via the NAD Student ID Manager. See Enroll Students into Classes guide for help.
School Profile Setup
The school user is advised to access the School Profile section in order to update the Grading Scale and GPA.
Step 1: Grading Scales
The user should navigate to the School Profile > Grading to update the grading scale for the new school year. Users can modify the letter grades and minimum percents for all grade levels. The letter grades and minimum values are edited by deleting what value in text box and replacing it with the new values.
The NAD allows E, S, N or I, P, NT for Grades TK-K & 1-2. Grades 3-8 and 9-12 are graded using an A-F scale. Learn More about NAD Grading Scales.
Grading Scale Video Guide
Step 2: GPA (if school uses one)
When navigating to the School Profile section and selecting GPA, utilize the yellow plus sign to "Add New Scale." The next step involves naming the GPA scale (Standard, High School, AP, etc.) and selecting the Type (Letter or Number). It is recommended that the school opts for the Number type. Use Add Row to add rows to the GPA scale. When done use the Save button.
Elementary School GPA
Schools with elementary students can activate GPA for grades 6, 7, and 8 by using the "Enable GPA for the following grades" feature. This feature will appear above the GPA scale in School Profile > GPA. Schools can select which grades they would l
Elementary School who want to show GPA on Grades 6-8 report cards should first reach out to the AE-Connect support for the support team to activate Elementary courses for the school.
