Northeastern Regional Information Center
NERIC SchoolTool Team

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Did you miss our 2024 Virtual User Group?  No problem!  Check out the documents and replay here:

• 2024 Virtual User Group

NEW NERIC SchoolTool New Grade Book and Grading Screen Information

• NERIC now recommends districts begin phasing in all the New Feature Access options, including the new Grade Book (found under Maintenance > District > District Options > New Feature Access) during the remaining portion of this year.

Right now, there are eight (8) feature flag choices to provide teacher access (At the District Level - can't be turned on at the building or group level) to the New grading screens.  We recommend you make all the access options the same (if you use "Allow User Choice (Default to Legacy)" for Grade Book, choose the same for the rest of the New Features). 

Legacy Grade Book and Grading areas are all being phased out of SchoolTool late this summer and will not be available in the 24-25 school year.  Update your New Feature Access sooner rather than later so your teachers have a chance to use and provide feedback on the New Grading areas before next school year.

• See the New Grade Book FAQ page for all the latest information about this important update.

XML Files - Attendance/Discipline Letter Issue

Recently, Microsoft released a Windows Update that appears to have modified how Attendance and Discipline letters work on PCs (XML files). For any staff who run these letters from SchoolTool, they may be opening in Microsoft Edge web browser instead of Microsoft Word as intended.  You need to re-associate XML files to open with Microsoft Word. Please click HERE to view steps we sent on 12/14/23 or work with internal IT for help.

Science Investigations User-Defined Assessments

Mindex has provided the ability for you to enter Science Investigations User Defined Assessment screens for entry by teachers or staff.  

Please select HERE to view a how-to document.

Mindex video on the NYS Science Investigations (Entry of scores for teachers starts at 2:12 - 5:08) HERE  password = Science (w/ capital S)

2024-2025 ERC Deadlines

Custom ERC - New or Updates

For the 2024-2025 school year, any Report Card Customization needed before the end of the 1st grading period must be submitted to NERIC by May 1st, 2024 to meet the Mindex deadline of 5/31/2024. This is to build in lots of time to finalize the details before the Mindex deadline. 

Canned ERC - New or Updates

For the 2024-2025 school year, any New Canned or changes to a Canned Report Card needed before the end of the 1st grading period must be completely submitted to NERIC by June 30th, 2024. Be sure to involve teachers in the project as needed before the end of the school year.

If you are considering a new or updated Canned OR Custom ERC for the next school year, please contact NERIC SchoolTool Support as soon as possible so we can provide documents and guidance.

SchoolTool Version 21.1 - 07 

There are several anticipated but highly sensitive new features in this release installed on 12/27/23. NERIC recommends that districts DO NOT start using any of these options below in SchoolTool until there's been discussion and clear internal guidance at your school as to if and how these will be utilized. All of these options are optional, and to be used as schools see fit. 

Please also know that NERIC will work with Mindex to provide additional documentation to help districts understand the options in SchoolTool and the ramifications. We also highly recommend you test optional scenarios on your Training Site in coordination with a NERIC SchoolTool staff member. 

Assigned Sex at Birth: 

This reflects the student’s sex (male, female, or intersex) that a doctor or midwife uses to describe a child at birth based on their external anatomy. By default, this value will not be specified and will be set to “Select One” unless a user has explicitly modified it. 

Preferred Pronouns:

The new Preferred Pronouns field is an optional, free-text field. This may be used to specify the student’s preference regarding pronouns (for example, “he/him/his/Mr.” or “they/them/their”) or simply to indicate that the student prefers the use of their name rather than any pronouns at all.

Student Affirmed Name and Legal Name:

A new ability to indicate that a student’s affirmed name is not the same as their legal name and the ability to allow districts to store both affirmed and legal names separately if they wish. It will also allow districts to specify whether a contact should see the student’s affirmed name or legal name when accessing the Parent Portal, though it is critical to note that not all screens will be updated to respect that setting in this release.