Can I get teacher and homeroom information imported to speed the set process?
ClassroomParent provides several upload formats. This make getting your school set up and ready to use a simple as filling out a few spread sheets.
Homerooms and Teachers
The building blocks on which all other CP data stands are the homerooms. In CP, these are referred to as Classrooms. With the teachers_classrooms.xls import format, you can provide a single file that sets up your school’s grades, homerooms, and initial set of teachers (you can always add additional teachers, grades, homerooms separately).
The import is used to create the homerooms (and possibly an associated grade), add teachers, and assign them to homerooms. Each row in the file can have homeroom information, teacher information, or both. A row with no homeroom information (class_code, class_room, grade) but with teacher information will add the teacher but not assign them to a homeroom. A row with no teacher information but with homeroom information will create a homeroom but no teacher will be assigned to it. A row with both teacher and homeroom information will create the homeroom, add the teacher, and assign the teacher to the homeroom.
Homeroom information can be repeated on multiple rows with different teachers. This will assign multiple teachers to a homeroom.
In the sample spreadsheet linked to above, there are two tabs. The first, called teachers_classrooms is a sample of what a completed teachers_classrooms import file looks like. You can use this to start your import file by deleting all but the first row.
The second tab, called Column Descriptions lists what each column in the import format means, and whether or not it is a required format. The information in that tab is also listed below:
| Field | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
| year | The school year to apply the record to. The format is YYYY-YYYY, eg 2008-2009 | Yes |
| class_code | The identifier for the classroom/homeroom. Each classroom/homeroom must have a unique class_code. Examples of class_codes are 1-001, 3-A, K-early, etc. Typically, they include the grade, but don’t have to. This identifier is used on the student import file to place the student in a particular homeroom/classroom. If your school uses a code to identify a homeroom, you should use the same code. | No – You can include teachers in the file that are not assigned to homerooms. If class_code is blank, class_room and grade must also be blank. |
| teacher_role | A text description of the role the teacher will play. In most cases this will be “Teacher” but could be “Assistant Teacher”, “Substitute Teacher” etc | No – Teachers can be assigned to a homeroom/classroom after it has been created |
| salutation | Teacher’s salutation (Ms., Mr., Mrs., Dr. etc) | No – Teachers can be assigned to a homeroom/classroom after it has been created |
| full_name | The full name of the teacher (i.e Janet Smith, Earl Jones, etc) | No – Teachers can be assigned to a homeroom/classroom after it has been created |
| grade | The name of the grade associated with the home/room. All classrooms in the same grade must use the same grade name. The grade name is used to create a grade, if a grade with the same name doesn’t exist, or look up the grade if one with the same name already exists. | No – You can include teachers in the file that are not assigned to homerooms. If grade is blank, class_room and class_code must also be blank. |
| class_room | The room number or other descriptive text that is associated with the classroom/homeroom | No – You can include teachers in the file that are not assigned to homerooms. If class_room is blank, grade and class_code must also be blank. |
| street_address | Teacher street address | No – Teachers are not required to have addresses |
| street_address2 | Teacher’s street address 2 | No – Teachers are not required to have addresses |
| city | Teacher’s city | No – Teachers are not required to have addresses |
| state | Teacher’s state | No – Teachers are not required to have addresses |
| postalcode | Teacher’s zipcode | No – Teachers are not required to have addresses |
| home_phone | Teacher’s home phone number | No – Teachers are not required to have phone numbers |
| work_phone | Teacher’s work phone number | No – Teachers are not required to have phone numbers |
| cell_phone | Teacher’s cell phone number | No – Teachers are not required to have phone numbers |
| Teacher’s email address | No – If the teacher name is included, it is suggested that the teacher email address also be included so the teacher can be included in class/grade emails and can log into Classroom parent to send their own messages |