Crete-Monee School District 201-U Your Guide to Family Access
TABLE OF CONTENTS Crete-Monee School District Family Access... 1 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)... 1 Family Access Quick Access Guide... 2 District Issued E-Mail Account... 7 Activate your e-mail account:... 7 Setup your e-mail account... 8 Forward all incoming messages to another e-mail address.... 9 District E-Mail Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)... 11 Training Dates and Times November Monday, November 14, 2011 Wednesday, November 16, 2011 Friday, November 18, 2011 Wednesday, November 30, 2011 December Tuesday, December 6, 2011 Wednesday, December 7, 2011 Monday, December 12, 2011 Thursday, December 15, 2011 January 2012 Tuesday, January 10, 2012 Thursday, January 12, 2012 Tuesday, January 17, 2012 Thursday, January 19, 2012 12:00 PM - Web Session 7:00 PM - Hands on Training Session 1:00 PM - Web Session 7:00 PM Web Session 9:00 AM Web Session 7:00 PM Hands on Training Session 7:00 PM Web Session 9:00 AM - Hands on Training Session 7:00 PM Hands on Training Session 9:00 AM Web Session 1:00 PM - Web Session 7:00 PM - Web Session 9:00 AM - Hands on Training Session 9:00 AM - Hands on Training Session 12:00 - Web Session 7:00 PM Web Session All Hands on Training Sessions will be held in room 35 at the Crete-Monee School District Administration Building at 1500 Sangamon St. Crete, IL. Parent Resources Page 1 Crete-Monee School District CM201U
Crete-Monee School District Family Access The Crete-Monee School District recognizes important role active parents play in their child s education and is continuously looking for ways to help parents stay connected. This secure, web-based application will provide parents access to real time information including grades, homework, attendance and more. If you do not have login and password for information, please contact your child s school office to obtain that information. Family Access is currently available to all parents in the district to view the Message Center and Attendance. Only parents and guardians of students that attend the Sixth Grade Center, Crete-Monee Middle School, and Crete-Monee High School are able to access Schedules, Grades and other information as well. Beginning in January 2012, parents and guardians of students in grades 3-5 will be able to view grading information through Family Access as well. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Family Access General Information What is Family Access? Family Access is a web-based service that allows parents (legal guardians) to view school-related information on their students. Information available online includes: o Attendance records by date and type of absence o Schedules o Assignment grades and course averages o Progress reports and grades o School calendars Will a Family Access account cost me money? How do I get a Family Access account? I have children at three different schools, do I need a login for each child? URL (Web) Address We ve moved to a new address or I have a new phone number, how can I update my information? I forgot my password I cannot see all of my children when I log in. Can other people see my Family Access is provided as a free service. There is no additional fee required in order to utilize the service A Family Access is automatically generated for you at registration if you did not already have one. The district sent out letters at the beginning of the school year that contained Family Access login and password information. If you do not have or know login and password for information for Family Access, please contact your child s school office to obtain that information. No, one Family Access user ID and password will provide you access to all your students, no matter what school they attend. The URL (or Web Address) for CMSD Family Access is www.cm201u.org. Please contact the school staff directly to update telephone information. *It will be necessary to contact Student Affair and schedule an appointment to update new address information. Please call (708) 367-8390 to schedule an appointment If you have entered your e-mail address into the system, you can click on the Forgot Your Login/Password link on the log-in screen and retrieve your information. If you do not have an e-mail address in the system contact the Family Access campus contact at your child s campus and work with that person to get your e-mail setup. Please contact the CMSD Support Desk at 708.367.2930. Family Access is password protected. Your child s information is only Parent Resources Page 1 Crete-Monee School District CM201U
Family Access child s personal information on Family Access? I received a Family Access Account and password last year. Do I have to apply for a new account every school year? My child is now going to a different school from what he/she attended last year. Do I need a new Family Access Account at the new school? How can I setup Email notifications from Skyward? General Information available to authorized parents or guardians that are associated with your child s student records in our administrative system. No. Once you have an active account in Family Access it remains active into the next school years until you no longer have students attending a CMSD school. No. Your account is assigned to you and is not associated with a particular school. Your active Family Access account is good at all schools within the Crete-Monee SD, even if your child changes or is promoted to a new school. District generated e-mail accounts have been created for all primary guardians. (For information about this, please see the district e-mail section of this document) Login in to Family Access, click on EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS from the left side of the window. Click on the CHANGE MY NOTIFICATIONS button. A new window will open where you can make your selections. Click SAVE. Family Access Quick Access Guide Using Family Access Begin by going to the CMSD website at www.cm201u.org Click on the Parent Services tab and select Family Access Click on the Log into Skyward Family Access link. When the login screen opens, type in your login and password, and click on the Sign In button. Parent Resources Page 2 Crete-Monee School District CM201U
Using Family Access The Skyward Family Access defaults to open to the Calendar page. From this screen, you will have multiple navigation buttons. At the top of the screen is where you can use a drop down menu to select which child s information to view if you have multiple children in the district. On the right side of the screen is the Account Info button. Click here to change your password. The Language pull down can be selected to translate the site into many different languages. The Print button is located to the right of the Account Info button. When you have finished viewing information, use the Logout button on the right to exit. At the top of the calendar on either side of the month name are Previous and Next Month navigation buttons. You can choose what options to view on the calendar by checking the boxes at the bottom of the screen. Dates that have assignments, events or absences will appear as a blue numbered date. On the left side of the screen under General Information are navigation/link options for different areas to view. Parent Resources Page 3 Crete-Monee School District CM201U
Using Family Access On the left side of the screen under General Information are a number of navigation/link options. The first one listed is Calendar, which is the screen that automatically displays when you login to Skyward Family Access. CALENDAR In the Calendar, if you have assignments visible, place the mouse over the assignment title for more information. CALENDAR You can also get information about assignments by clicking on the blue calendar date. Here you will find a list of all assignments sorted by course and class period, along with the grade of the assignment if one has been entered. Parent Resources Page 4 Crete-Monee School District CM201U
Using Family Access GRADEBOOK The second option under General Information is Gradebook. The gradebook will open to the Progress Report tab. You can view the class period, course number, course description, whether the course is a full year (Y) or semester (S1, S2) course, the teacher name, the progress report grade The view defaults to the current term. You can change this by using the Prev and Next buttons. GRADEBOOK Clicking on the teacher s name in blue will open an email correspondence with that teacher. The email address you have listed in Skyward is the email address it will default to. By clicking on the blue grade listed in the term column (T1), you will be able to view detailed information about the assignments for that specific term. MESSAGE CENTER The Message Center Tab will display any messages sent to your district provided e-mail address. Messages can also be posted here by school administration as well as individual teachers. Parent Resources Page 5 Crete-Monee School District CM201U
Using Family Access NOTES The notes area is for your person al use. ATTENDANCE The next option listed under General Information is Attendance. Clicking here will give you the option to view your child s attendance totals by month (Calendar tab), By Day, or by Term Totals. Use the tabs at the top of the screen to select the view. SCHEDULE The fourth option under General Information is Schedule. The tabs at the top of this screen will allow you to view either the Current Term or Current Year-All Terms. Parent Resources Page 6 Crete-Monee School District CM201U
District Issued E-Mail Account In an effort to increase communication with parents, the Crete-Monee School District implemented a parent email access program during the 2010-2011 school year. All parents/guardians received a district-generated email account where they could receive important announcements from their child's school as well as the district office. Through this account, parents will receive information such as: Event Notices Crisis Communication School Cancellation Information School Newsletters PTO Information Parent Volunteer Opportunities District & Board of Education News The parent email access initiative was developed so that parents could have direct and immediate access to important school and district announcements with the click of a button. Providing parents with a district email address ensures that all email accounts remain valid for each household throughout the school year. The initiative also works in tandem with District 201-U's effort to "go green" and reduce the amount of paper used. Sending information electronically will reduce the amount of paper sent home through your child s backpack and the amount of standard mail that you receive. This will, in turn, reduce postage costs for the district. New families to the district will receive their login information via US mail within (3) weeks of registering. Activate your e-mail account: To activate your new district e-mail address, follow these steps: 1. Visit www.cm201u.org; under the Parent Services tab, click on the link entitled Email. This will take you to the login page. OR 2. Go to www.live.com 3. Log in to your account by entering the assigned user credentials. Your username will be your new email address (i.e. parentname@cm201u.net) and your temporary password is 123456. 4. Click on the Sign In button. Parent Resources Page 7 Crete-Monee School District CM201U
After your first sign in, you will be required to change your password from the default password (123456) to a unique password of your choosing. (At the bottom of this screen, there is a checkbox labeled Make my password every 72 days. It is not necessary to check this box.). 1. Click on the Sign In button. Once you click Submit you will be prompted to Sign In again. Click Sign in to Windows Live You are now able to sign in using your account name that was provided to you and your new password. Setup your e-mail account 1. At the top of the screen you will see a couple of options. Place your mouse over Hotmail and click Inbox. Parent Resources Page 8 Crete-Monee School District CM201U
2. Once you click on Inbox you will be asked to set your Time Zone. We are in GMT 6 Central Time. Set the time zone accordingly and click on OK. Once you click OK you will now be in your district provided email account. On the left hand side you will see options for your Inbox, Sent Items etc You will also see the Create a new email just above your email window pane. Once you have finished checking your email please remember to logout of the account. Simply click Sign Out. Forward all incoming messages to another e-mail address. You may wish to forward your Outlook Live email to another account. *Please note that if your other e- mail account is unavailable or becomes full you may miss important messages from the district. To forward district messages to another account, follow these instructions: 1. Login to your account be visiting www.cm201u.org; under the Parent Services tab, click on the link entitled Email. This will take you to the login page. OR 2. Go to www.live.com 3. Log in to your account by entering the assigned user credentials and your password. 4. Click on the Sign In button. Parent Resources Page 9 Crete-Monee School District CM201U
5. Click on the Options button. 6. Click on the Organize e-mail link, or click the Forward your e-mail using Inbox rules shortcut. 7. On the Inbox Rules tab, click New. 8. Under When the message arrives, select Apply to all messages. 9. Under Do the following, select Redirect the message to. *NOTE ~ Messages that are redirected will appear to come from the original sender. 10. Enter the e-mail address in the To field. 11. Click OK to save your selections and return to the new rule window. Parent Resources Page 10 Crete-Monee School District CM201U
12. Click Save to save your rule and return to the Inbox Rules tab. District E-Mail Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Question Answer I have Internet Explorer 6. Yes. You need to have Internet Explorer 7 or later in order for your e- Will I have any problems mail to forward. If you have IE6 and need to upgrade, click on the having my e-mails flowing link or open IE6 and type this address to download the latest forwarded? version of Internet Explorer. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx I use Mozilla Firefox. Will I have any problems having my e-mails forwarded? I use Google Chrome. Will I have any problems having my e-mails forwarded? I have a Mac. Will I have any problems having my e-mails forwarded? No. Mozilla will automatically update any time there is a software update No. No. For login issues or technical problems with your district email account, please contact the Technology HelpDesk at (708) 367-2930. Parent Resources Page 11 Crete-Monee School District CM201U