The New Year has arrived, and this is the time when schools need information about the new student onboarding process, Application & Enrollment, and semester-end processes. This article outlines tips and best practices that will be useful at this point in the school year.
Resource Center
New Training Topics and Webinars: Are you sending report cards? Do you have new staff or students? Are you working on next year’s schedules? Click the “?” at the top of any FACTS SIS page to explore live trainings, on-demand sessions, and on-screen learning opportunities. Need to learn about Family Portal, FACTS LMS, Scheduling, or Application & Enrollment? Want to refresh your SIS knowledge and skills? Check out the Training area in the Resource Center (?) for our newest training topics.
System Status Page: This page is available from the home screen of the SIS or at status.factsmgt.com and is the quickest way to confirm if problems accessing the SIS or related products are due to system issues or if they’re internet connection related. Make it your first stop if you’re experiencing problems using the system, and then call if we can help.
Best Practices
Running enrollment reports and family directory reports at the end of each term is a good practice so that you have this information for future use. Since students enroll, graduate, and withdraw throughout the school year, it can be challenging to retrieve this information later. Saving these reports as a PDF file or exporting to a spreadsheet could save you time in the long run.
Archiving student report cards places a copy in the student’s portfolio as a document trail in case you have questions later, and will provide a report card that matches exactly what the parents receive. Many schools find it beneficial to archive student report cards each term and semester, making it easier to retrieve a student’s record if they should happen to transfer away from the school mid-term. If your school places grades onto the transcript each semester, archiving at the semester’s end is another good practice. Follow the step-by-step process for report card archiving found in HubHelp. 
The recent addition of the FACTS SIS Custom Reporting Inquiry Form has simplified the process for requesting new, or making changes to existing custom reports, including progress reports, report cards, transcripts, and others.
In Report Manager > Products & Services > FACTS SIS Custom Reporting Inquiry Form, you’ll find a web form that allows you to inquire about custom items and request a quote for programming that item. Once submitted, this inquiry goes directly to our customizations team, reducing the time it takes to receive custom forms.
Hopefully, these tips will help as we move forward with the school year. And, we’re always here to help with these or any other issues!
