January 16, 2012

Parents or guardians and students in the Albemarle County Public School division will have new online opportunities to participate in the educational process as the result of a new feature being piloted this year.

Called Parent Portal, the new online program provides secure, real-time information on attendance records, grades and course selection. The feature is moving into a second pilot phase on Jan. 25, involving students at Albemarle, Western Albemarle and Monticello high schools and Jack Jouett middle school. Beginning next August, all high schools and middle schools in the division will offer access and elementary schools will begin a pilot program.

All schools in the division will offer Parent Portal access by the beginning of the 2013-14 school year.

In addition to the three high schools and Jouett middle school, four other middle schools, Jackson P. Burley, Joseph T. Henley, Mortimer Y. Sutherland and Leslie H. Walton, will offer Parent Portal access for attendance records and in some cases, course selection.

“Our Parent Portal has been a priority of our school board, consistent with our goal of improving two-way communications with our stakeholders,” said Dr. Billy Haun, Assistant Superintendent for Student Learning. “It is a powerful way to connect parents or guardians and students with teachers, to manage the needs and progress of students and better ensure higher quality educational achievement.”

Access to the Parent Portal will be through a key that will be provided to parents and guardians by the school. Access can be gained through any computer with an Internet connection. Parents or guardians without access to an Internet connection can contact their local school office for assistance.

Account holders will be able to see attendance records, grading practices and results and make course selections for the next school year. During this pilot phase, the information available from each school will vary and parents and guardians are asked to review the letter they will receive from their school that will outline the information that will be available to them.

The division piloted a smaller version of the system this past fall. “We had very useful and positive feedback from participants, “ Dr. Haun said. “Typical was the comment of one parent who said it was helpful to see how a teacher calculates a student’s grade and because teachers were updating grades real-time, it provided a better understanding of student progress.”

During the pilot phase, the division has been reviewing the plans and operations of the Parent Portal with its advisory councils representing parents, teachers and students and with the Albemarle County Education Association.

Dr. Haun said that to safeguard the security of the data, principals at the participating schools are sending letters to parents and guardians with instructions on how to participate in the system. Access keys only will be provided in person at the school.