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Entering Student Course Requests
There are three methods of entering course requests:
1. Entering Individual Course Requests Manually in PowerScheduler
2. Enter Course Request in Mass for Groups of Students
3. Entering Course Requests Through the PowerSchool Student Portal
4. Entering Course Requests Directly Into PowerSchool
Students, parents, and/or administrative staff members enter course requests using the request screens. Students and their parents enter course requests in PowerSchool’s Student and Parent Portals, and administrative staff members enter course requests using the Modify Future Requests student page in PowerSchool or the Requests page in PowerScheduler.
Note: It is important to preview and activate the request forms for each grade level so students, parents, or administrative staff members can enter requests.
Method 1: Entering Individual Course Requests Manually in PowerScheduler
Course requests can be entered manually for individual students in PowerScheduler.
1. On the Start Page, click PowerScheduler
2. From the PowerScheduler menu, below Resources, click Students
3. Search for and select a student
4. Click Requests > New Request > Associate
Note: To select multiple courses, click the courses while holding the Command key on a Mac or the Control key on a PC.
5. Click Submit
Note: Courses cannot be edited in the text box. If changes are needed, click Associate again.
6. Click Submit
7. Click the Note icon to view prerequisite information
8. Enter E in the Code field for all elective courses. Identifying elective courses is optional, but elective course requests are scheduled after required courses to optimize student schedules.
9. Check Alt next to any alternate elective course requests to mark the course requests as alternates for any elective courses that can’t be scheduled
10. Use the Priority field to define alternate requests further.
Note: Defining a course priority identifies an alternate course that needs to be scheduled before another alternate course. Enter 1 for the first alternate course, 2 for the next alternate, and so on. The higher the number, the lower the priority.
11. From the Section Type menu, choose an option if the course uses section types
For example: Journalism has an honors section and a regular section. Choose Honors so the student won’t be scheduled in the regular section of the course.
12. Click Associate to select an alternate for a course
Note: If PowerScheduler can’t schedule the course, it will attempt to schedule the alternate. Selecting an alternate this way ensures the alternate course will replace only one specific course.
13. To delete requests, check the box(es) on the right, then click Delete Selected
Note: To delete all requests at one time, check the box in the header next to Alternate 1, and then click Delete Selected.
14. Click Submit
Method 2: Enter Course Request in Mass for Groups of Students
You can enter a course request for a group of students using the Mass Add Requests function in PowerScheduler.
1. On the Start Page, click PowerScheduler
2. Below Resources, click Students
3. Search for and select the students for whom you want to enter the course request, such as the entire 9th grade
4. On the Selected Students page, click Functions
5. On the Student Scheduling Functions page, click Mass Add Requests
6. Click Associate to select a course, then enter information in the fields
7. Click Submit
8. Click Back
9. Repeat steps 5–7 as many times as needed
Method 3: Entering Course Requests Through the PowerSchool Student Portal
Students and/or parents can enter course requests online using PowerSchool Student and Parent Portals.
1. Enter your school’s URL for PowerSchool Student and Parent Portals in the address field of your web browser
2. Enter your username and password, and click Sign In
3. Click Class Registration
4. Select your course requests
5. Click Submit
Method 4: Entering Course Requests Directly Into PowerSchool
You can enter, edit, or delete course requests for a student on the live side of PowerSchool using the Request Management student page. Do not modify requests on the Modify Current equests student page. Requests on the Modify Current Requests page apply to the current school year. Instead, use the Modify Future Requests page to edit student requests for the future scheduling year.
1. On the Start Page, search for and select a student
2. Click Request Management > Modify Future Requests
3. Select, edit, or delete the student’s course requests. Click Submit
Managing Requests
Finding and Resolving Invalid Requests
Student requests may be identified as invalid for a variety of reasons. For example, you may define some prerequisites based on the assumption that students will complete or pass the prerequisite course. If students don’t complete or pass the prerequisite courses, their requests for those courses become invalid. Additionally, students who change schools during scheduling season may have course requests at their old school and/or requests for courses that are not offered at their new school. You can use functions on the live and scheduling side to find and resolve invalid requests.
Invalid Requests Group Function
After mass adding requests or manually adding requests, perform the Invalid Requests group function on the live side. The Invalid Requests function collects all the requests a selection of students has made for the specified school year and re-evaluates each request against the course prerequisites and recommendations.
1. On the live side of PowerSchool, on the Start Page, select a group of students
2. Click the Select Function arrow and, from the Scheduling section, choose Invalid Requests
3. Select Re-evaluate and display new results
4. Select the future scheduling year
5. In the Courses area, choose to evaluate requests for all courses, courses in a given department, or for a certain course
6. Click Submit
7. Click Make these students the current selection
8. Select the first student and navigate to his or her Request Management page
9. Click Modify Future Requests
10. Make the necessary changes to the student’s requests and save the changes
Resolve Invalid Requests Function
When students change schools during scheduling season, their requests may become invalid because the requests are associated to the wrong school or the wrong course. Use the Resolve Invalid Requests function to replace these requests and avoid validation errors.
1. Navigate to the scheduling side by clicking PowerScheduler
2. On the PowerScheduler menu, under Tools, click Functions
3. Click Resolve Invalid Requests
Note: Optionally, you can use the Filter section to filter the requests by course name, course number, status, school, and/or student name, and then click Apply. Sort the requests by clicking the name of a column.
4. Resolve the invalid requests by deleting the requests, changing an invalid school, or changing an invalid course
To remove the invalid requests, check the requests, then at the bottom of the page click Delete Requests. Then click Confirm Delete Requests.
To resolve requests that are invalid because of a change in school, check the requests, then at the bottom of the page click Change School.
To resolve requests that are invalid because they apply to an invalid course, check the requests, then at the bottom of the page click Change Course. Assign a new course to the requests.
Managing Recommendations and Prerequisites
Unfulfilled course prerequisites stop a student from requesting a course. Course requirements include taking or passing a prerequisite course, having a teacher
recommendation, or a combination of these requirements. Define course requirements in the Course information found in School Setup or District Setup (Step B).
When students select from a course group on the request screens, they check the classes they want to take. However, students cannot check classes if they haven’t met the prerequisites. For example, a new 10th-grade student wants to take Speech. However, he can’t select the course because he hasn’t met the English teacher recommendation requirement. You can contact the English teacher for a recommendation for the new student, then enter a recommendation on the teacher’s behalf on the student’s Request Management page. On the student’s Request Management page, click Manage Recommendations > Create New Recommendation.