INFORM Magazine - Spring 2019

SPRING 2019

INFORM Digital Magazine

C NNECT Connecting you with Technology

INFORM

1

A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Welcome to the Spring 2019 edition of “INFORM” – Connect’s digital magazine.

We will be bringing news to you in the fall, winter, and spring of each school year. I would like to share with you some of the significant projects and work underway within our organization.

Our Fiscal/State Software Service Team is incredibly appreciative of the diligence and dedication of our USAS/USPS Redesign pilot sites.

North Royalton City Schools went live on the Accounting and Payroll State Software Redesign March 1.

Brooklyn City Schools, Highland Local Schools, and Rocky River Schools are also working through the implementation process. More details are available under the Fiscal Updates on pages 6-7. In addition, staff are providing much guidance as schools prepare for fiscal year end closing and reporting.

Within our Fiscal/ERP Services area, Olmsted Falls City Schools will be Connect’s first customer to go live on eFinancePLUS on July 1, 2019. Also in July, our four Munis sites will be part of a major upgrade to version 2018.1.

This is a popular time of year to inventory and maintain your school’s library collection and our Library Services Team is supporting schools through the inventory and database cleanup process. They are also training new customer,

2

Lutheran West High School, as staff catalog materials.

The Student Services and Technology Systems Teams are working together to prepare for the upgrade to PowerSchool 12, which will include a student contacts data migration as well as the upgrade to ProgressBook Suite 19 which will occur over the summer. In addition, the Student Services Team has been busy helping customers with scheduling, PowerSchool student contacts migration, Civil Rights Data Collection, and Value-Added Roster Verification.

Multiple schools are working through exciting but challenging construction projects and our Managed Services staff have been on hand to provide expertise and assistance. The summer is also a popular time for deploying new servers, switches, access points, and cabling.

Our Technology Networking Team plans to host a summer meeting for districts to learn about new cloud filtering solutions and will also be performing site visits at our network maintenance customer locations to perform annual maintenance.

At an organizational level, Connect’s development team has met and will continue meeting with district leadership to identify ways in which Connect can improve our services by refocusing our initiatives around the following areas: Customer Communications & Engagement, Services & Solutions, and Staff & Support.

Our administrative and leadership

teams are working together more closely than ever to put this Connect Refocus Plan into action.

As related to these objectives, you may have received requests for input around items such as new software solutions, communication preferences, and training needs.

Your voice is critically important in helping Connect to meet our goals of exceeding your expectations.

Also in connection with these goals, our staff have been participating in a series of Lean Six Sigma sessions presented by Steven Pereus, President of Enlit, LLC. We have identified ways in which our processes and support can be improved in order to deliver the best possible service to our customers.

And…while our professions are a key part of all our lives, it is also important to have fun…whether that is relishing in some good eats around town, learning something fun, or discovering new ways to enjoy a great book or movie. Check out our Staff Picks section for ideas on ways to spend your summer!

As always, if you have ideas on future stories that you would like us to cover, please contact any of our Connect staff or me.

- John Mitchell, Executive Director, Connect

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Fiscal

Student

Library

May 1 9:00AM-11:00AM New Contract Training-Classic Connect West - Elyria

May 2 9:00AM-3:00PM PowerScheduler Lab Connect West - Elyria

May 2 9:00AM-11:00AM New Contact Training-Classic Connect East - Valley View

May 10 10:00AM-3:00PM Scheduling Lab Connect East - Valley View

May 8 8:30AM-3:30PM Library Liaison Meeting Westlake Porter Library Westlake

May 8 9:00AM-11:00AM Munis Fiscal Year End Meeting Connect West - Elyria

May 10 9:00AM-11:30AM EMIS Exchange-PowerSchool Connect West - Elyria

May 8 9:00AM-12:00PM Fiscal Open Lab Connect East - Valley View

May 15 9:00AM-11:00AM ProgressBook SI Elementary Scheduling Connect East - Valley View

May 9 9:00AM-12:00PM eSERS Session Connect East - Valley View

May 22 1:00PM-3:00PM PowerSchool Final Staff/Course Collection (student side) Connect West - Elyria

May 16 9:00AM-11:00AM Treasurers’ Advisory Committee Connect East - Valley View May 22 9:00AM-12:00PM Fiscal Open Lab Connect East - Valley View

Technology May 17 1:30PM-3:30PM Connect Tech Advisory Connect East - Valley View

For a full listing of all upcoming events at both Connect East (Valley View) and Connect West (Elyria), please visit https://events.ohconnect.org.

May 22 3:30PM-4:30PM EMIS Exchange-PowerSchool Connect West - Elyria May 23 9:00AM-11:00AM ProgressBook SI Elementary Scheduling Connect East - Valley View May 29 1:00PM-3:00PM ODE ITC EMIS May/June Training Face to Face) Connect East - Valley View June 14 1:00PM-3:30PM PowerSchool Final S Collection Connect West - Elyria June 14 3:30PM-4:30PM EMIS Exchange-PowerSchool Connect West - Elyria

INFORM

3

STAFF MEMBER FEATURE

CURT VIGG

Curt Vigg is a Systems Analyst in System Services for Connect.

Curt has served Connect customers since 1997. He has a Bachelor of Science in Physics with a concentration in Computers from Kent State University. He provides technical and system management support for the Financial systems, Sirsi Library system, and MS Exchange/Spam filters.

It’s been amazing seeing how much we’ve grown over the years and how technology has changed. All the way from dumb terminals to smartboards, and I’ve been very fortunate to be a part of it all. Everyone is all connected now in some way to technology.

- Curt Vigg

Prior to working at Connect, Curt worked as a technical specialist at several companies including Horsburgh & Scott in Cleveland, Key Bank in Cleveland, and Aztech Corporation in Lorain.

Curt and his wife live in Brunswick, Ohio.

Curt enjoys playing guitar/singing/piano and has played for more than 21 years in his Neil Young tribute band and done many benefits. He also enjoys playing golf, Cleveland sports, and spending time with his family and friends.

Curt is always ready to learn new technologies or tackle new problems. We know that he can be relied upon to identify a solution for any issue that might come up.

From figuring out an obscure problem with the VMS system, to building new servers for a project roll out, or managing the implementation of a new fiscal package, Curt can always be counted on for success.

- Steven Foster, Lead Systems Analyst, Connect

You can reach Curt at: Phone: Email: Address:

4

216-520-6900 x5243 Curt.Vigg@ohconnect.org 5700 West Canal Road Valley View, OH 44125

An Update From . . .

MANAGED SERVICES

By Gary White, Director, Connect Managed Services

Managed Services can help provide technical assistance and solutions to your existing school environment. We can help with various projects, from planning to roll out Chromebooks, to forklift switch replacements...and anything in between. We have solutions in place to enable our technicians remote access to your Windows servers and Windows machines. We have antivirus and remote backup solutions that we can offer schools, as well. We also engage with schools to provide one-time or ongoing consultant services. Some examples of current consulting services are: ongoing server and network consulting, and new building layout consulting. If you have any questions on how we can serve your school, contact Gary.White@ohconnect.org.

KEYSTONE LOCAL SCHOOLS

DISTRICT SPOTLIGHT Perspectives on Reading is a quarterly online magazine published by OverDrive, focusing on the world of reading. ‘Point of View’ is a regular feature of that publication.

Click here to watch a special OverDrive ‘Point of View’ video featuring our own Lynn Gagnon, Keystone District Media Specialist, as she discusses what it means to be a Librarian in an ever-changing educational environment. Learn how Lynn provides students with equity of access to quality resources and endeavors to make her students life-long learners, all the while instilling the joy of reading with a good dose humor!

INFORM

5

An Update From . . .

FISCAL SERVICES

By Julia Rozsnyai, Lead Fiscal Support Specialist, Connect Fiscal Services

An Update on State Software Redesign for Accounting and Payroll If you are asking “How is it going?” with USXS_R, we will give you the same response we received from Treasurer Biagio Sidoti of North Royalton City Schools...“It’s going well.”

We certainly have come a long way since our last newsletter in the spring of 2018. North Royalton City Schools is the largest ADM district in the state to switch to Redesign on March 1 after more than three months of dual processing.

The software has made great strides over the past year and we are looking forward to working closely with our districts to make the transition a success.

Although it is still a work in progress, we have to keep in mind that the current Classic Software was developed over a period of 30+ years and the Redesign software will continue to develop over time.

Highland Local Schools delayed the move to Redesign and suspended dual processing in midFebruary. Main concerns were the speed of the system and the timing of the workload for dual processing. They are planning to resume dual processing after fiscal year end and to go live in Redesign during calendar year 2019.

Rocky River City Schools started dual processing on Monday, March 25, and are planning on going live around May 1.

6

Please find the statewide involvement in Redesign reflected in the picture below:

REDESIGN STATUS 29 Sites Live on Redesign

39 Total Wave 3 Sites

14 Participating ITCs

63 Total Districts Participating

In order to accomplish a smooth transition period for our districts, we are working closely with the SSDT team and the following committees and groups: State Software Advisory Committee Last October, the newly formed State Software Advisory Committee met for the first time to define its purpose/mission as an advocate for State Software users. This group is comprised of the SSDT senior staff, two ITC Directors, a representative from each ITC—either an ITC or district fiscal professional, a representative from the User Acceptance Testers, and the Redesign Project Manager. Connect is represented

by Treasurer Biagio Sidoti of North Royalton City Schools. Committee members formed three working groups that will help prioritize development work, assist with reporting needs, and collaborate on training, support and documentation. Biagio Sidoti is a member of two of these workgroups: Prioritization and Reports.

An Update from Fiscal/ERP Services

By Amy Wesley, Support Specialist, Connect ERP Services

Prioritization Working Group This group meets monthly with the SSDT USPS-R and USAS-R Project Managers to discuss completed work issues and, more importantly, to discuss new issues and establish a priority ranking for upcoming software releases.

Reports Working Group The Reports Working Group’s main purpose is to focus on efforts to satisfy Redesign reporting needs. The group meets monthly and is currently in the process of reviewing uploaded report definitions in order to publish them to a public site so Redesign users can import them and use them at their districts.

Support, Documentation and Training Working Group Communication efforts is a huge priority for this working group as well as providing software documentation materials and training to ITC Fiscal staff and district personnel. This newsletter is one way of reaching out and communicating to districts on the status of the Redesign as well as provide helpful articles on the latest enhancements or features made to the software. The working group has come up with the idea of a ‘Shared Training and Implementation Documents’ repository for ITC Fiscal Support Staff that allows them to share implementation or training checklists, guides or materials their ITC has created with other ITCs in order to help aid in the migration effort.

So you’ve decided to join the eFinancePLUS (eFP) community, but what now? To help be successful in eFP, there are numerous resources available to users. The MCOECN and community of eFP users want to see all eFP districts successful and happy. To ensure that users get the most out of their software, there are resources available on the following website: community.mcoecn.org Community.mcoecn.org is essentially a knowledgebase.

It contains resources to help with conversion, howto documentation, and an ample amount of video tutorials. In addition to these great resources, the site acts as a message board for fellow users to ask and answer questions and provide their own how-to articles they have created themselves.

Community.mcoecn.org users should have no problem finding information from the website’s various sources, including, but not limited to: • Conversion templates • How-to documentation • Tutorial videos • User generated Q & A The community.mcoecn.org website is available at your fingertips 24/7. Perfect for workaholics, night-owls, insomniacs, early-birds, and weekend warriors!

In addition to the community website, there are also user group meetings for eFP focused on report writing and software training sessions. The meetings are hosted by the eFinancePLUS Advisory Committee, which is made up of ITC personnel from all over the state. Many district users also participate as presenters or host discussion panels. These meetings are open to eFP users in Ohio and are great for networking as well as learning new tips and tricks from ITC members and district peers.

INFORM

7

AN UPDATE FROM . . .

SYSTEM SERVICES

By Steven Foster, Lead Systems Analyst, Connect System Services

With the variety of services schools are required to implement today, no single software package will suffice. Every district most likely manages at least a handful of software solutions that must all communicate with each other. Over the years Connect has worked with many vendors to develop and integrate data transfers between systems.

Here are a few tips for any district looking to bring on a new vendor.

1. Assign a person to take the lead on the new vendor implementation. We have seen many new projects fail or face significant delays because multiple people were each handling a different part and there was no central communication between who was doing what or coordinating the roll out of the new product to the district.

2. Have a backup to that lead person. On more than one occasion the lead person on a new vendor project left, perhaps because of the stress of the new project, and as a result no one had any idea on where to go next, so the project died and the project funds were wasted.

3. Don’t underestimate the time required for the new vendor implementation. Too often the case, districts underestimate the amount of time that will be required by them to implement a new software project roll-out.

New student registration packages and alert calling systems are notorious examples where estimated staff hours needed to implement is wildly underestimated.

freepik

8

4. Assume everything the vendor salesperson says regarding integration has an asterisk next to it saying “probably, but not always”. This could probably apply to any salesperson in general, but in the case of a product integrating with another product, you should ALWAYS verify for yourself. If you are evaluating a vendor and that vendor says they can integrate with X software package, then contact X software package and confirm with them. If X software package is something Connect hosts, feel free to give us a quick call or contact us in some way and we can confirm for you.

5. Talk to other districts that have implemented the software you are evaluating. Feel free to contact Connect and ask us if we have had any experiences with a vendor, or if we know any districts that have implemented the particular product you are evaluating. The Connect mailing lists are also an option to seek input from your peers.

6. When in doubt, contact Connect. We love talking about the work that we do and the custom vendors we have integrated with so if you have any questions, just give us a call or contact us however is best for you because we are here to share the information and keep everybody functioning as smoothly as possible!

AN UPDATE FROM . . .

NETWORK SERVICES Using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to secure Email Spam, spoofing, phishing, and other email abuse have been a problem on the Internet for a long time. As the number of people and devices have increased over the years, so has the email abuse. The big email hosting services like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL have their in-house tools and algorithms to determine whether an email is spam or not. They have their own internal black lists of potential spammers and it works for the most part although they do flag valid email as spam on occasion. In the last 4 or 5 years, entities like large corporations, small businesses, universities, and schools have implemented some tools that help secure their email. They are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC and are implemented as a DNS text record.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a list of email server IP addresses and third-party domains that are authorized to send email for your domain. The fact that the owner of the domain manages this list helps verify the authenticity of the email. SPF is the most common tool that is used and is required by most email providers if you want to send email to their hosted accounts.

By Jeff Opincar, Network and Systems Analyst, Connect Network Services

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) verifies the authenticity of an email message using public and private keys. The DNS text record contains the public key so when your organization sends an email with the private key, it is verified by the receiving email server using the public key. This guarantees that the message wasn’t hijacked or tampered with during delivery and is trustworthy.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) is another tool to help prevent spam, spoofing, and phishing. It allows a domain administrator to create a policy that determines what a remote email server will do if an email doesn’t pass the SPF and DKIM checks. It can reject or quarantine (which sends the message into the junk folder of the receiver), or it can monitor and then send a report to the email or domain administrator. The DMARC is designed to minimize false positives and reduce the spam and phishing delivery via a policy.

The battle with email abuse will go on for a long time but these tools can help minimize the amount of bad email messages that are traversing the Internet.

It not only helps your organization, but the Internet community as a whole. SPF text records are pretty much a requirement now, but DKIM and DMARC are worth a look to further secure your email.

INFORM

9

AN UPDATE FROM . . .

LIBRARY SERVICES

By Josh Pease, Support Specialist, Connect Library Services

OPEN SPACE...OHIO’S PREMIER OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Open Space is Ohio’s premier OER (Open Educational Resources) creation and collaboration space for Ohio PreK-12 educators to create and share open educational resources that promote innovative and collaborative learning. Licensed and supported by INFOhio, Open Space has been designed to meet the unique needs of Ohio’s educators. Open Space was built on the OER Commons infrastructure and features all of the tools one can find in the OER Commons, ISKME’s digital library and collaboration platform.

Educators will have the ability to join and build groups with other educators statewide; you can create your own group, make it either public or private, and can invite other educators to join,

10

whether they are active Open Space users or not. Allowing this type of collaboration amongst educators is one of Open Space’s most important features; granting educators the ability to edit, search for, organize, and collaborate on lesson plans, online textbooks, and student-created materials statewide.

INFOhio encourages you create a login for Open Space and begin contributing resources, lessons, and modules. Feel free to add yourself to a group or create a group focusing on specific topics important to you. You can create an account at this link: https://openspace.infohio.org/.

INFORM

11

AN UPDATE FROM . . .

STUDENT SERVICES

By Matt Zenobi, Lead Support Specialist and Systems Analyst, Connect Student Services

ABSENCE HOURS ON REPORT CARDS ProgressBook and PowerSchool developers scrambled to produce new screens, functions, and reports to implement a solution for Ohio’s HB410 hours-based absence tracking requirements implemented beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. Public schools’ demand for absence hours on reports has continued to increase after nearly two full school years of HB410.

While most schools continue to print the sum of the student days absent and tardy occurrences, some schools are beginning to implement reporting student absence hours on report cards instead. This comes as no surprise as HB410 requires schools to contact parent guardians when

a student reaches certain hourly absence thresholds, for instance a student missing 42 hours of school without a legitimate excuse in a single month. Some schools elect to send early warning letters home once a student crosses a set threshold – noting the hours of school the student has missed so far.

Between the software vendors and the student services team at Connect, recent developments now allow for these hours to be presented on student report cards. Below are just a few examples. Contact the student services support team for assistance with adding this ability to your report cards.

Attendance hours sub-report example on a StudentInformation R700 report card formatter.

One of many of the new standards-based ProgressBook report card attendance templates.

Example of excused, unexcused, and present hours on a PowerSchool object-report student report card.

12

PROGRESSBOOK NOTIFICATIONS Did you know The ProgressBook Suite offers user notifications within StudentInformation and GradeBook?

New this school year, the notifications feature offers a way for schools to communicate student events within both applications for custody alerts, discipline incident & referral alerts, medical alerts, and when a student submits a quiz in VirtualClassroom.

These are one-way messages that are automatically generated and viewable to those with access.

Users eligible to receive these notifications must be configured with one of the following staff job functions in ProgressBook: Teacher, Counselor, Principal, Secretary, or Nurse. Notification rules are set at the district or school level and determine which notifications are available for users, as well as if they are required, optional, or unavailable. Users may signup to receive email notifications and choose whether to subscribe to any notifications set to optional. For more information or assistance, please contact student-cherwell@ohconnect.org; or, access the Notifications product guide from the Help icon within StudentInformation.

INFORM

13

ASK CONNECT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

If you believe you have a question that could help yourself and others, please submit it via email to info@ ohconnect.org and include ‘Ask Connect’ in the subject line. We will publish the most common and relevant questions along with an answer from your trusted Connect staff. Please don’t be shy about submitting a question; we will ask your permission before including your name. You provide the content topic and we’ll provide the information. We hope you will contribute!

FISCAL:

QUESTION:

Will Redesign migrate all “archived” data from the Classic system?

SUMMARY ANSWER:

No. The USxS Redesign migration process will only extract from the district’s current operational data files (i.e. “live files”). These files typically contain between two and ten years of historical data (depending on local ITC policy). The Redesign projects will import all relevant data from the current files. But it can not import data from historical copies of data files being used as archives.

DETAILED ANSWER:

Typically, most ITCs maintain historical copies of USxS (and other systems). These “snapshots” of the data are generally taken at the end of the fiscal or calendar year. Users at each ITC have a method of “switching” into a particular archive, either by menu option or an alternative username. Because these are complete snapshots, they contain a complete copy of all current and historical transactions at the time of the snapshot.

QUESTION:

Which third party software vendors are compatible with USAS-R & USPS-R?

ANSWER:

All known third party vendors listed on page 15 have been contacted by the SSDT and provided with details concerning the SOAP bridge and other points of potential integration for both USPS-R and USAS-R. Each of these vendors was also offered a test instance maintained on SSDT servers to facilitate the verification of their applications’ compatibility with the redesigned projects. The redesign status column tracks the status of this testing as currently known by the SSDT. Connect’s Fiscal Team will reach out to your third-party vendors before we start your district’s migration planning, to make sure they will integrate with Redesign.

See chart on page 15 or navigate to this page for a current listing: https://wiki.ssdt-ohio.org/display/RPAS/Thirdparty+Vendor+Software+Integrations

14

The USAS and USPS columns below refer to USAS-R and USPS-R.

FISCAL/ERP SERVICES:

QUESTION:

How do I get updates on Tyler Community posts without inundating my inbox?

ANSWER:

You can modify your account settings to receive one daily digest email with all Community updates for each of your groups. You can also set up rules in your inbox to divert all emails from the Tyler Community to separate folders to keep things even cleaner.

INFORM

15

LIBRARY:

MANAGED SERVICES:

QUESTION:

QUESTION:

We are in the process of weeding MANY nonfiction books at our school. Is there a way to print a list of titles that have a “weeded” shelf location for a specific date range (we would also need to capture the ISBN number as well). We are trying to alleviate having to manually key all of these items on a materials discard list once we remove them from Workflows.

ANSWER:

To get this kind of data, you will want to run the CAT: Shelf List report under the INFOhio tab. Here is how you will want to set up the report: • Under the Item Selection tab you will enter XXXX (your library code) in the Library field • You will need to populate both the Shelf location and Current status field with WEEDED • In the Date modified field, you will choose Range on the popup and select the dates that you were weeding materials • Under the Output Option tab, you will select the report type to be Spreadsheet (it defaults to Brief) • Further down the screen, you will see four check boxes under the heading Bibliographic Field Selections, and it is here that you can check ISBN to have it included in your results • Click Run Now

Can a phone get hacked?

ANSWER:

Yes. While some platforms are harder than others to get root access to, it can and does happen. The best thing to do is to only download apps from trusted sources you know of. Downloading that latest game or flashlight app that is new and looks flashy may not be the safest thing to do.

QUESTION:

Should I really have different passwords for every website I login to?

ANSWER:

Yes. Though it can be challenging, using one or two passwords for each site is not safe. As soon as a service is breached, the bad actors now have your email address and password. They will try common services with the set of credentials they have stolen. If you have a different password for every site it makes it more difficult for a bad actor to steal everything from you. A few recommendations for password managers include: 1Password, LastPass, DashLane, RoboForm, and KeePass

TECHNOLOGY:

QUESTION:

Every day I have to download data from our SIS, manipulate it, and then send it out to various staff members. I have to spend time each day doing this and it really adds up. Is there a better way?

ANSWER:

In most cases, yes! We can work with you to help automate the process and in many cases require no interaction from the district at all. The files are just sent to the various staff members every day on schedule.

16

STUDENT:

QUESTION:

How can I find EMIS reports and submissions from closed collections in the Data Collector?

ANSWER:

Once collections are closed and no longer available through the Collection Requests tab or Archives tab, you can search for those from the Reports tab under the Received Files link.

ODE names the files using the fiscal year and collection request abbreviation. Enter this code into the “File name includes” box for the closed collection you are searching for (e.g., 2017AGOFL). Remove any dates from the “Received on or after” box and click List Files to display the results.

Refer to the EMIS Data Collection Calendars for a list of collection request codes: http://education.ohio.gov/ Topics/Data/EMIS/Reporting-Responsibilities/EMISData-Collection-Calendars.

QUESTION:

I stored grades in PowerSchool for Q3 but forgot to use Exclude/Include Class Enrollment dates. Now I’m seeing Q3 historical grades stored for students who dropped a class very early in the semester or recently enrolled in the district. I tried storing grades again using correct enrollment and drop dates to exclude those grades from being stored, but the grades remain for those students. How can I identify and remove these incorrect grades that were stored for Q3?

ANSWER:

Permanently storing grades will create new historical grade records or update existing records, but will not completely delete historical grade records. This is why you still see the incorrect grades for those students,

even after correctly storing the grades a second time.

We recommend reaching out to us for assistance.

We can identify your stored grades for Q3 and massdelete those so all erroneous records are deleted. Then you can store grades again using appropriate class enrollment and drop dates. We’ll also want to ensure any manually entered historical grades for the term in question are not deleted. If you suspect this occurred for only a small group of students, you could identify those students who dropped classes in Q3 or enrolled into classes late in the term, view their historical grades screen, and manually delete any incorrect or duplicate historical grades.

QUESTION:

We had a transfer student enroll in my school and I manually entered course history in StudentInformation for their quarter 1 grades based on the report card the previous school sent to us. When I run the student’s R700 report card I only see the grades the student earned in our school’s classes for quarters 2 and 3. How can I include their quarter 1 transfer grades from the previous school on our report card?

ANSWER:

Note the option on the R700 screen for “Show Required Marks Only”. Select NO for this option. This will include manually entered marks on the report card in addition to any scheduled class marks. If your report card’s layout includes the teacher’s name, you might want to add the previous school name on each manually entered mark’s teacher name field to indicate on the report card those classes and quarter 1 marks are from the previous school.

INFORM

17

STEVEN FOSTER:

I often find myself writing scripts and just wanting to test a specific statement or code block isolated and by itself. Previously this meant spending time getting basically a brand new program just to test a short piece of code. Not anymore! Now that I have discovered the Fiddle websites, I can test out my various code segments quickly and easily. No more having to fire up Visual Studio and create a new project just to test the results of a function. No more having to recompile -> test -> recompile because I didn’t get a regex correct. Definitely a time saver for anyone who works with one of these languages...

JavaScript: https://jsfiddle.net/ Regex: http://refiddle.com/ SQL: http://sqlfiddle.com/ .NET: https://dotnetfiddle.net/ PHP: http://phpfiddle.org/ KEN DAVIS:

If you or anyone in your family enjoys learning about dinosaurs, check out ‘Discovering Dinosaurs’ at Miller Nature Preserve in Avon.

Miller Nature Preserve is one of the many excellent parks in the Lorain County Metro Parks system. The display is for all ages and includes a variety of fiberglass and painted dinosaurs, replicas, real fossils, and more. The display is open daily thru May 27. http://www.metroparks.cc/dinosaurs.php

18

DIANE KOSKI:

I’m looking forward to trying the Cleveland Zoological Society’s new Tails & Cocktails Speaker Series, which discuss a variety of topics impacting health and welfare, wildlife conservation and science education.

It’ll be a nice way to unwind after work and learn something new. https://www.clevelandzoosociety. org/events/tails-cocktails.

LORI SLINGERLAND:

Free Movies and More!!!

Did you know that your local public library probably has apps for streaming movies and much more? For example, at the Cuyahoga County Library, download the app, sign up and stream movies with Kanopy, access digital copies of your favorite magazines from Flipster, listen to music from Hoopla and much, much more. Check it out, it’s free - all you need is your library card! https://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/Borrow/Digital-Collection.aspx

PATIENCE MOODY RUSH:

Looking for an Italy experience in Ohio? Gervasi Vineyard is a premier destination winery resort located in Canton, Ohio that provides guests with fine Italian dining, indoor and outdoor wedding venues, conference center, beautiful grounds, fullservice hotel suites and so much more. https://www.gervasivineyard.com/

JOSH PEASE:

Delicious donuts, bold flavors, and a constantly evolving menu. This is the standard fare found at Brewnuts, located at 6501 Detroit Avenue in the Gordon Square Arts District. Check ‘em out at https://www.brewnutscleveland.com/

JON AXE:

I enjoy eating a good, fresh and affordable breakfast at First Watch in Mayfield Heights. https://www.firstwatch. com/

INFORM

19

MEETING ROOMS AVAILABLE Are you having a large meeting or retreat for your staff and need a room that can accommodate your group? Are you tired of meeting in a cafeteria or gym? Do you want to meet offsite so staff stay present and don’t disappear back to their office?

Do you need an affordable solution?

Worried about contingency planning?

If you are a Member district, facilities are available free of charge in the event of a disaster, local network outage, or other business disruption.

We may have a space for you!

To check the availability of a room please contact:

Connect has meeting rooms at both our East and West locations that are available for rent at reasonable rates that will fit your budget. Our facilities are open from 8:00 am – 4:30 pm with rental costs of $100 for a half day or $150 for a full day. At West, we can accommodate up to 32 people. At East, we can accommodate up to 56.

See the table below for room details.

East Rooms – Diane Koski at diane.koski@ ohconnect.org or 216-520-6900 ext. 5233 West Rooms – Linda Moore at linda.moore@ ohconnect.org or 216-520-6900 ext. 5169

*Shared resources available at East facility for use in any East room upon request: • 1 Computer Microphone • 1 Polycom • 1 Whiteboard • 1 TV/VHS/DVD • 20 Laptops

20

Providing support and leadership that enables local schools, agencies, governments, and communities to achieve their objectives through innovative and cost-effective shared technology solutions.

Increased strength • Unwavering service Reduced costs • Effective & Efficient Information Technology • Greatest educational experience possible for your students

INFORM

21

A Strong Alliance to Serve our Members ESC of Northeast Ohio ESC of Lorain County ESC of Medina County Ohio Schools Council

There is no wrong door to enter when you need service!

5700 West Canal Road Valley View, OH 44125 216.520.6900 1885 Lake Avenue Elyria, OH 44035 440.324.3185 www.ohconnect.org

22

C NNECT Connecting you with Technology