Courses and Sections

1. Navigate to Scheduling, then Courses & Sections.

The Courses and Sections screen is used to set up the subjects/programs, courses, and sections offered at the school.

Subjects and Courses are set up at the district level. Existing courses can be added by contacting the Applications Help Desk. New courses must be approved by Curriculum using this form.

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Sections can be added, marked inactive, or adjusted once student requests are submitted.

Subjects, courses, and sections are organized similarly to a filing cabinet. Think of the subjects as the drawer chosen, courses as the folder chosen, and sections as the specific paper needed.

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Subjects are a way to organize courses for quicker navigation. Secondary schools may want to organize subjects according to general subject areas.

Courses are added based on the Course Catalog.

Sections are added to courses as needed. This is the level where teachers, rooms, periods, meeting days, seats, and grading scales are assigned.

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Courses and Sections

• Making Courses Inactive

Navigate to Scheduling and Courses & Sections

Select the Subject, Course, and Section to open the Section Information. When a section is no longer needed it can be marked inactive. **Because of state reporting, sections are to be marked inactive, NOT deleted.

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To make a section inactive, select the section and uncheck the box for Active.

View/Edit

Courses & Sections

• Navigate to Scheduling, then Courses & Sections

• Select the Subject, Course, and the Section to be viewed/updated.

• Update Section information as needed

The section information displays at the top of the screen. Make any necessary changes, then click Save.

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Note: Any field with a blue dotted underline can be edited. Any field grayed out is set in the Course Catalog and cannot be changed from this screen.

Section Fields:

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1. Teacher - Select the teacher assigned to the section. The teacher’s staff number displays next to the teacher name. Any teacher that shows as Inactive is no longer an active teacher on your campus and will need to be changed.
2. Room - Select the room number. If rooms are set up in Setup>Rooms, select the room from the drop down menu. If the Homeroom Number field is set in the Teachers tab of the user’s record, the room number will auto-populate in the Room field on the section when the teacher is selected.
3. Period - Select the period the section will meet. If the system preference “Enabling Ending Period” is turned on in Setup>System Preferences> Scheduling tab, select the beginning period in the Beg field and the ending period in the End field.

View/Edit

Courses & Sections

• Update Section information as needed, continued

Section Fields, continued

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• Bell Schedule - Select the bell schedule the section will follow if there is more than one bell schedule set up for the school in Setup>Periods. If the school only has one bell schedule, this field will not display on the section.
• Rotation Days - If the school uses rotation days, select the rotation days the section will meet. If the section meets on all rotation days, select all the checkboxes; do not leave them blank. If the schedule does not use rotation days, this field will not display in the section.
• Meeting Days - Select the days of the week the section meets (for state reporting). If rotation days are used, do not modify the meeting days.
• Marking Period - Select the full term of the course (full year, semester 1, semester 2, quarter 1, etc.). This indicates the seat time of the course.
• Seats - Enter the maximum number of students who can be enrolled in this section. The automatic Scheduler will not exceed this value when scheduling students unless the Overfill Sections option is selected on Run Scheduler. Administrators with permission can override the seat maximum when manually scheduling students.
• IEP Seats - Enter the maximum number of IEP students that can be enrolled in this section by the Scheduler. If this field is left blank, there is no restriction. IEP Students are identified as those who have an entry in the ESE Exceptionalities logging field marked as Primary.

View/Edit

Courses & Sections

• Update Section information as needed, continued

Section Fields, continued:

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• ESOL/ELL Seats - Enter the maximum number of ESOL/ELL students that can be enrolled in this section by the Scheduler. If this field is left blank, there is no restriction. ESOL/ELL students are identified as those who have an LY in the English Language Learner field.
• Short Name - This will auto-populate with the next increment but can be edited as needed. Short names must be unique for all sections within a course.
• Course History Term - This field designates when grades should be sent to Course History. (e.g., at the end of each quarter, at the end of each semester, or at the end of the school year).
• Takes Attendance - Select the checkbox to designate this section takes attendance.
• Graded - Select the checkbox to designate this section is graded.
• Affects GPA - Select the checkbox to designate this section affects GPA.
• Active - Select the checkbox to designate this section is an active section. Deselecting the checkbox will prevent students from being enrolled in the section. Only sections that do not have currently enrolled students can be marked as inactive. Inactive sections do not display on the Teacher Schedules Report. Attempting to add an inactive section to a student’s schedule in Student Schedule or Mass Add Course will display an error message. Students cannot be scheduled into inactive sections.

View/Edit

Courses & Sections

• Update Section information as needed, continued

Section Fields, continued:

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• Gender Restriction - If enrollment in the section is limited based on gender, select the appropriate gender.
• Grade Levels - If enrollment in the section is limited based on grade level, select the appropriate grade level(s).
• Team - If your school uses team scheduling, select a team to restrict enrollment in this sections to only students assigned to the team. If teams are not setup in Scheduling>Teams, this field will not display on the section. (See setup instructions later in this document, under Team Scheduling).
• Grading Scale - Select the grading scale used to post grades for the course.
• Standards Grading Scale - Select the grading scale used to post standards grades for standards assigned to the course, if applicable.
• Grading Posting Scheme - Displays the grading posting scheme, which designates how semester and full year grades are calculated for the section.
• Calendar - Select the calendar this section will follow, if there is more than one calendar setup for the school.
• Parent Section - Select a Parent section for the section, if applicable. Sections are packaged for the purpose of linking the sections together for scheduling. (This functionality is presented later in this document).

View/Edit

Courses & Sections

Add New Sections

If no sections exist within a course or a new course is added, a new section can be created.

• Navigate to Scheduling, then Courses & Sections
• In the Section column of the selected course, click the plus symbol.

• Complete Section Information at top of screen

Complete fields at the top of the screen; select teacher, room, etc. Complete all available fields.

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Note: Some fields may auto-fill from the Course Catalog and will by grayed out.

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Add New Sections

• Complete the Ohio tab

Use the Ohio section to edit any of the state-specific fields, such as the Class Weekly Minutes, Scheduling Method, and/or Primary Instructor.

• Click Save

Copy Sections

The Copy feature is used when additional sections are needed within the same course for the same or different teacher; this process may be faster than adding a new section and is generally recommended over creating a new section, unless starting from scratch.

• Navigate to Scheduling, then Courses & Sections
• Select the Subject, Course, and Section to be copied.
• Click the Copy button in the upper right corner

• Click OK in the pop-up confirmation.

• Change Section information (when applicable)

Update any necessary fields: Teacher, Room, Period, etc. Click Save when all changes are made.

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Note: The Short Name (Section #) must be unique for each section. Focus automatically assigns the smallest three digits available for the Short Name. If schools/districts have a specific naming convention to identify teacher sections, adjust the section number.

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View/Edit

Courses & Sections

• Navigate to Scheduling, then Courses & Sections

• Select the Subject, Course, and the Section to be viewed/updated.

• Update Section information as needed

The section information displays at the top of the screen. Make any necessary changes, then click Save.

​

Note: Any field with a blue dotted underline can be edited. Any field grayed out is set in the Course Catalog and cannot be changed from this screen.

Section Fields:

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• Teacher - Select the teacher assigned to the section. The teacher’s staff number displays next to the teacher name. Any teacher that shows as Inactive is no longer an active teacher on your campus and will need to be changed.
• Room - Select the room number. If rooms are set up in Setup>Rooms, select the room from the drop down menu. If the Homeroom Number field is set in the Teachers tab of the user’s record, the room number will auto-populate in the Room field on the section when the teacher is selected.
• Period - Select the period the section will meet. If the system preference “Enabling Ending Period” is turned on in Setup>System Preferences> Scheduling tab, select the beginning period in the Beg field and the ending period in the End field.

View/Edit

Courses & Sections

• Update Section information as needed, continued

Section Fields, continued

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• Bell Schedule - Select the bell schedule the section will follow if there is more than one bell schedule set up for the school in Setup>Periods. If the school only has one bell schedule, this field will not display on the section.
• Rotation Days - If the school uses rotation days, select the rotation days the section will meet. If the section meets on all rotation days, select all the checkboxes; do not leave them blank. If the schedule does not use rotation days, this field will not display in the section.
• Meeting Days - Select the days of the week the section meets (for state reporting). If rotation days are used, do not modify the meeting days.
• Marking Period - Select the full term of the course (full year, semester 1, semester 2, quarter 1, etc.). This indicates the seat time of the course.
• Seats - Enter the maximum number of students who can be enrolled in this section. The automatic Scheduler will not exceed this value when scheduling students unless the Overfill Sections option is selected on Run Scheduler. Administrators with permission can override the seat maximum when manually scheduling students.
• IEP Seats - Enter the maximum number of IEP students that can be enrolled in this section by the Scheduler. If this field is left blank, there is no restriction. IEP Students are identified as those who have an entry in the ESE Exceptionalities logging field marked as Primary.

View/Edit

Courses & Sections

• Update Section information as needed, continued

Section Fields, continued:

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• ESOL/ELL Seats - Enter the maximum number of ESOL/ELL students that can be enrolled in this section by the Scheduler. If this field is left blank, there is no restriction. ESOL/ELL students are identified as those who have an LY in the English Language Learner field.
• Short Name - This will auto-populate with the next increment but can be edited as needed. Short names must be unique for all sections within a course.
• Course History Term - This field designates when grades should be sent to Course History. (e.g., at the end of each quarter, at the end of each semester, or at the end of the school year).
• Takes Attendance - Select the checkbox to designate this section takes attendance.
• Graded - Select the checkbox to designate this section is graded.
• Affects GPA - Select the checkbox to designate this section affects GPA.
• Active - Select the checkbox to designate this section is an active section. Deselecting the checkbox will prevent students from being enrolled in the section. Only sections that do not have currently enrolled students can be marked as inactive. Inactive sections do not display on the Teacher Schedules Report. Attempting to add an inactive section to a student’s schedule in Student Schedule or Mass Add Course will display an error message. Students cannot be scheduled into inactive sections.

View/Edit

Courses & Sections

• Update Section information as needed, continued

Section Fields, continued:

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• Gender Restriction - If enrollment in the section is limited based on gender, select the appropriate gender.
• Grade Levels - If enrollment in the section is limited based on grade level, select the appropriate grade level(s).
• Team - If your school uses team scheduling, select a team to restrict enrollment in this sections to only students assigned to the team. If teams are not setup in Scheduling>Teams, this field will not display on the section. (See setup instructions later in this document, under Team Scheduling).
• Grading Scale - Select the grading scale used to post grades for the course.
• Standards Grading Scale - Select the grading scale used to post standards grades for standards assigned to the course, if applicable.
• Grading Posting Scheme - Displays the grading posting scheme, which designates how semester and full year grades are calculated for the section.
• Calendar - Select the calendar this section will follow, if there is more than one calendar setup for the school.
• Parent Section - Select a Parent section for the section, if applicable. Sections are packaged for the purpose of linking the sections together for scheduling. (This functionality is presented later in this document).

View/Edit

Courses & Sections

Add New Sections

If no sections exist within a course or a new course is added, a new section can be created.

• Navigate to Scheduling, then Courses & Sections
• In the Section column of the selected course, click the plus symbol.

• Complete Section Information at top of screen

Complete fields at the top of the screen; select teacher, room, etc. Complete all available fields.

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Note: Some fields may auto-fill from the Course Catalog and will by grayed out.

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