Kaya Leitner ’19

PowerSchool is finally up and running! Wait what? Access was lost again? When is it supposed to open… tomorrow at 4 p.m.?
In the opening of the 2017 school year, the significant technological renovation in the software systems from eSchool to PowerSchool left students anxiously waiting to check their grades. Similar to eSchool, PowerSchool dictates all functions from attendance and grading to scheduling. However, the release date wasn’t immediate, and the date for students to access the app was postponed from Sept. 4 to Sept. 20.
The district’s contract under eSchool expired over the summer, requiring the administration to evaluate the advantages and flaws of the system. Ultimately, they decided in favor of the easy-to-use grading program, PowerSchool.
“From my understanding the contract with eSchool was up, so the district had to make a decision whether to continue with eSchool or to look for another product,” Principal James D’Amico said. “We’re always looking for something better or something that runs smoother. Additionally, very few school districts use eSchool.”
While D’Amico foresees a positive future with the new grading system, initial student reactions were unfavorable because of the multiple set backs in the applications release date. PowerSchool was initially set to release on Sept. 4 but was postponed on multiple occasions until Sept. 20. Staples is highly regarded as a blue ribbon school and students are notoriously concerned with their academic success, therefore, setbacks in student accessing abilities resulted in notable student angst.
“Senior year requires so much, so I need to be really on top of my grades. It’s so frustrating that we don’t have access yet,” Ella Jarvis ’18 said prior to the PowerSchool release date.
“They’re tricking us. They’re never going to actually show us our grade,” Amanda Samuels ’19 added.
Following the release date, student frustration remained due to the inability for students to constantly access GPA, a significant difference between eSchool and PowerSchool. While this might not have been by design, D’Amico believes it will be beneficial to the well being of students and school climate.
“I’m hoping that we are re-training our brains a little bit to know you can do okay without having access to [GPAs] every couple of minutes. We hope to concentrate on the bigger picture,” D’Amico said.
While administrators wish for stress to be reduced with restrictions to GPA, Christina Brittis ’19 believes it will be counterproductive
“In the midst of my most important year at Staples, not being able to have constant access to my GPA is counterintuitive as it will add stress rather than remove it,” Brittis said. “Especially being new to AP courses, not being able to measure the weight of that course is incredibly nerve racking.”
Student Outreach Counselor Ed Milton is in agreement with D’Amico and believes that the GPA restrictions will alleviate anxiety and better the school climate.
“I’m really excited by PowerSchool. I think it’s going to be really emotionally and academically beneficial to students. It’s really user friendly and constantly watching GPA can be really destructive to a kids well being,” Milton said.
Now that PowerSchool access is confirmed, Grace Roseme ’19 weighs the advantages and downfalls of the new application.
“I think PowerSchool is a lot easier to navigate but the fact students don’t have access to their GPA’s can be really detrimental to a students stress levels,” Roseme said.
Regardless of the obstacles that came with the transfer to PowerSchool, D’Amico anticipates the best for the new system in the grand scheme of things.
“There will be bumps in the road throughout the year[…] [but] we need to figure things out and in the long run [PowerSchool] will be better for the whole district.”