Foundations of Focus
#1: Bell Schedule / Periods
#1: Bell Schedule / Periods
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The Periods screen is used to set up the periods of the school day. Periods need to be set up in Focus, regardless of the school type. The periods allow for courses to be set up and linked to the attendance module. Periods are also used in scheduling.
To get started, you need to know your bell schedule. In Focus, the bell schedule is called Periods. You can have more than one bell schedule (Ex: Full Day, Half Day, Early Release, Odd Periods, Even Periods, Testing Day, etc.). Review the “Bell Schedule Templates” document for completing the bell schedule template. Before building your master schedule, you must know the number of instructional minutes you have in your schedule. What is your start and end time? How many periods will you have? Will you be on a rotation? If you are on a rotation, do you have the correct number of rotations to account for attendance based on possible scheduling or testing requirements?
Develop a bell schedule and get approval from the appropriate level director. Know your time restrictions in regards to Transportation. Once approved, submit a copy of your bell schedule template as a support ticket to ithelp@ecsdfl.us so it can be uploaded into FOCUS for documentation.
(Note: The entire purpose of completing the template is to know what your total instructional minutes are for the day as well as for each period of the day. This information helps you plan out the instructional design and flow of the school day.)
(Note: For ES, the HR period start and end times will span the entire school day to allow for attendance with the kiosk for students checking in and out of school since attendance is only taken in a single period for Elementary.)
(Note This is an example of a Middle School on a 7 period day with no rotations.)
(Note: This is an example of a High School with a rotating block schedule for Periods 1 to 6 and a daily 7th period.)
(Note: Below are examples in Focus of a High School Bell Schedule. The first is showing the default "1" bell schedule. The second is showing a modified bell schedule for a testing day. Schools can have different bells for different days. This is important to account for accurate attendance each day.)