School Maestro III FAQs
- Can my confidential student information be viewed by others
on the Internet when I upload my data to your server?
Your data is stored locally on your computer or on the school database
server. When you upload student data, it is encrypted and
then compressed to minimize upload time. The data cannot be
intercepted or decrypted by others. It is uploaded to a secure
directory on a dedicated server and then stored in a secure database.
Alternatively, you may upload data to your school's web server.
- If the data is not on our school server, how can it be secure?
The database is located on a secure server that has 24/7 monitoring
and physical security.
- Can student codes, passwords, and reports be viewed by others
on the Internet?
Student codes and passwords are sent to the server via an SSL (secured
sockets layer) connection. Reports are sent back to the browser
via SSL. SSL is an encrypted communication that is typically
used for protecting credit card information on the Internet.
- Where do the student codes and passwords come from?
School Maestro automatically assigns student codes for each student.
It can also automatically assign unique passwords. If a password
is compromised, you can enter a new one or delete it and have School
Maestro assign a new one.
- If a student has several teachers using School Maestro, does
he need to have a different code and password for each teacher?
If you are using the multiple user version, the student would only
have one code and password. The student/parent can then obtain
all of their reports using a single code and password. They
are given a class list to select the class they want a report for.
They can then just click the Back button in their browser and select
a different class without having to enter a code or password.
- Do parents need to have cookies turned on in my browser?
Yes. The student code is saved in a cookie - if a family has
more than one student, all the student codes are saved. Parents
do not need to enter the student code after the first access. They
can just select the appropriate code from a list. Windows
will also offer to save the password. The parent can do this
if no one else has access to their computer. However, if students
are sharing computers at school, they should not have Windows save
their password.
- How long is the data maintained on the web site for retrieval?
Report data is kept on-line for 60 days. If you want a shorter
period, you can delete your on-line data at any time. If you
want a longer period, you can resubmit your data to get a fresh
60 days.
- I do not want to use all your sample reports or include all
the data that your sample reports do.
You can elect to upload just the reports you want to use. The reports
use the same options that the printed reports in School Maestro
use. Each report has numerous settings that allow you to select
what data you want to include.
- I teach 5 classes but have only entered scores for two of
them today. Do I need to upload data for the other classes?
You only need to upload data for classes that have new data.
- I work at home and school. Can I upload data from either
location?
Yes, as long as both locations have Internet access.
- How do I know if my upload was successful or if my students/parents
can get their reports?
You will receive a confirming email within minutes of uploading
data. You will also receive a daily email that will list all
of your classes and which students/parents have retrieved their
reports for each class. Master users have access to comprehensive
usage data for both instructors and students/parents.
- I have my own web page. Can I upload the data to my
web server instead of to yours?
You do not need to use the Russ & Ryan EdWare server. However, your
web server must be a Windows 2000 or 2003 server with IIS, must
have a digital certificate to support SSL connections, must have
access to a SQL Server 2000 or MSDE database server, and you must
have administrative rights to install the necessary software. Typically
individual users would not meet these requirements but a school
web server would. If you do host your own Internet reports you can
customize the appearance of the web pages that the parents log on
to.
- I don't want parents and students to have to click through
a bunch of targeted advertising in order to get their reports.
The report pages do not have any banner ads or advertising.
- I have one parent who believes that nothing on the Internet
has any security and does not want their student's reports posted
on the Internet.
You can configure any student to not allow Internet reporting.
Data for those students is not uploaded.
- The status email only says that a student's reports were
accessed. How do I know if the student accessed them or his
parents accessed them?
You could furnish the student code and password to only the parent(s).
Or, you could include a comment on the report that has a place for
the parent to sign. They can print the report from their browser,
sign it, and have the student return it to you.
- Can I include different comments on each student's report
that only apply to that student?
Yes, you can use the School Maestro task comments, progress report
comments, letter grade based comments, and attendance comments.
- Some of my parents cannot access their reports via the Internet?
This is usually caused by entering the student code or password
incorrectly. To make this easier, the Student Codes and Passwords
report has all the information a parent needs to access their reports.
Reports are pdf files. Parents need to download and install the
free Adobe Acrobat pdf reader. They may also have a problem if they
have configured their browser security settings to not allow pdf
file downloads.
- If I send email, do I need to send it to all students?
You can send email to any subset of students or parents. You
can enter an email address for each student and 2 different parent
email addresses.
- Can the email be customized for each student?
Yes - you can enter any standard boiler plate text and any data
for that particular student such as his current average, letter
grade, attendance summary, class rank, etc.
- Can the emails have attachments?
Yes - you can attach any of the School Maestro reports that you
have uploaded. Attachments are fully formatted pdf files.
- How do I know what the email will look like?
You can elect to send a test email to yourself prior to sending
out the actual emails.
- Do teachers need an email account?
Teachers do not need an email account to use School Maestro to send
email to parents and students. The email is sent by the Russ & Ryan
EdWare server or optionally, by the school web server. An email
account is recommended so that parents can reply. Email accounts
are required to use the Internet reports as the server must send
emails to the teacher to confirm uploads and daily status emails.
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