A new school year is on the horizon, and you're looking to make sure you are prepared with Otus to have a seamless start to the school year. Here are some things to keep in mind as the school year begins
Understanding the Rostering Timeline
✅ In order for your classes to populate in Otus, rostering has to take place. This involves the district sharing rostering information with Otus through various methods, depending on the district's integration setup.
✅ Each district is different as far as when their rostering takes place; if you are unsure of when you should expect to see your classes, or if you think you should be seeing classes and you aren't, reach out to your administration or those in charge of your SIS (student information system). They will likely be able to share when your classes will be available.
✅ You may see your last year's classes, even late into the summer. This is all dependent on when we receive your district's new rostering information. If you are still seeing last year's classes when you think you should be seeing your new classes, reach out to your administration or those in charge of your SIS (student information system). They will likely be able to share when your classes will be available.
✅ If you have confirmed that your district has been rostered and you still aren't seeing classes, reach out to use using the Otus Chat feature, and we can help!
Grade Levels
Once rostering has taken place, if you notice that you do not have grade levels on your classes, you'll want to manually add those as soon as possible. Many Otus functions depend on the grade levels; without them, some functions may not work as expected.
If your class tile has a dash (-) in the Grade row, that means there is not a grade level assigned. 
To assign a grade level, select the class tile, navigate to Class Info, and choose a grade level from the Grade dropdown menu.
 Don't forget to select Save at the bottom of the page! You now have a grade level assigned to your class. |
Assessments and Lessons
Drafts:
All of your draft lessons and assessments will be saved from previous years. They will stay located in your drafts until you deliberately delete them.
Previously Assigned Assessments:
Assigned assessments are based on actively rostered classes. Any class that is no longer active will not have assessment data in Assigned Assessments or in the Gradebook
Assessment data from previous years is available in Analytics. Head over to Assessment or Standards Analytics to find data from assessments given in previous years; just make sure to adjust the date range to include the dates you would have graded that assessment.
Parent/Family Communication
Confirm with your district on how they may be sharing Otus information with current and/or new families to the district. Ensuring families have the proper Otus information will help with a seamless transition into the new school year! Questions to consider:
Do families know how to create an account?
Do they know how to link their students?
Do they know the expectations for the use of Otus in your district? What can they expect to see in their parent account, once created?
Add family contact information to your students in order to begin using the Otus Mailbox. Sending parents a welcome message through the Otus Mailbox is a great way to kick off the new school year.
Student Guides
Especially if Otus is new for your students this year, it may be helpful for you to have access to the resources written for students. Here is a link to our entire collection dedicated to students.