Next Home Base Maintenance Window

The next Home Base maintenance window is scheduled to begin April 16, 2021.  Currently, PowerSchool is the only known application that will undergo maintenance.  All other Home Base applications will remain available.

The PowerSchool application will be brought down for one night only, Friday, April 16 at 7 p.m. and returned to service by 7 a.m., Saturday morning, April 17.  The application will be made accessible to all users once maintenance is complete.

Note:  Each year, a list of scheduled maintenance windows are published by NCDPI.  This is published in advance to help teachers and administrators better prepare for temporary outages and loss of access.  Please review the 2020-2021 maintenance schedule and put these dates on your calendar. In most cases, the entire window is not necessary and we can return systems to service earlier than listed. If emergency maintenance is required in addition to these scheduled dates, all users will be notified in advance.

Disabling EDDIE Feed to PowerSchool 

We anticipate turning off the Educational Directory and Demographical Information Exchange (EDDIE) feed to PowerSchool this maintenance weekend. All changes made in PowerSchool for the current year, before EOY and after the EDDIE feed is disabled, must be updated in EDDIE manually until the EDDIE data feed is restored. If the data is not accurately reflected in both PowerSchool and EDDIE when the feed is enabled, these changes will be overwritten by what is in EDDIE, since it is the authoritative source.

Contact Update - 04/05/2021

In January, the move to Core Contacts was delayed due to the push of relationship types and to ensure that all users understood the impact of these changes to the ECATS system. When NCDPI delayed implementation, PSUs were given the opportunity to utilize a plug-in that would turn off the NC Contacts screen as we worked through these issues. 

To date, the relationship types have been pushed to all PSUs. Additionally, NCDPI has created a file on 3/5/2021 containing the contact information from Core Contacts and NC Contacts. The file is located in the EMFTS file location. This file will help users by displaying each contact in Core Contacts and the matching or not matching contact in NC Student Contacts.
 

Users may review these fields and the informational message associated with each contact (MATCHING_CONTACTS_LABEL) to determine if corrections need to be made and what those corrections are. In the “Contacts in ECATS” section below are the conditions which ECATS will use to determine if a contact should load into the ECATS system. Contacts not matching these conditions in Core Contacts will not load. The file will contain a line for each contact. Review the document and make changes as necessary. 

Be aware that records with the following informational message will load into ECATS as-is:

• Parent/Guardian Exists In NC Student Contacts and Contacts  - These are matches where the ECATS conditions passed and Core Contacts will be loaded/updated in ECATS.
• Parent/Guardian with ECATS Specific Relationship Exists in Contacts and Missing in NC Student Contacts – These Core Contacts will be loaded as new additions to ECATS. 

All other informational messages contain reasons for records to be reviewed and corrected in Core Contacts.

The file provided by NCDPI is a .txt file and it is best to import this file into Excel. This will allow users to see the fields more clearly and filter as needed.

ECATS will switch to the new Core Contacts on April 19, 2021. Any necessary changes should be completed in Core Contacts before this date to avoid issues within the system. 

Contacts in ECATS

The EC process must adhere to a timeline.  A student contacts file is pulled nightly and sent to ECATS. These contacts are used to alert relatives of upcoming meetings, to gain consent for various processes, and for notification of outcomes as a student progresses through the EC process.  The PowerSchool Core Contact screen must contain certain criteria for a contact to be included in the nightly file. These criteria are as follows:

1. The student must be enrolled in the current school year.
2. The contact must be checked as 'Active' if the contact is a current contact for the student.
3. The contact must have a First Name and a Last Name.
4. The contact must have a Relationship type.
5. The Relationship type must be one of the contact types listed below:

• Aunt
• Father
• Grandfather
• Grandmother
• Mother
• Uncle
• Foster Parent
• Guardian
• Stepfather
• Stepmother

Based on the data in the record for a contact, ECATS will make updates to its list of contacts. The system looks for an existing record that is an exact match to the First Name and Last Name of the contact in the nightly file.

• If ECATS does not find a match, it will add the contact and its associated information.
• If ECATS finds a match, it will update the other contact information like address, telephone number, etc.
• If ECATS finds that it has a contact that PowerSchool has not included in the nightly file, that contact will be removed from ECATS.
  
  

Additionally, contact records must contain valid data. The Lives With field should be checked appropriately, Phone Type should be selected (work, home, or cell for inclusion in ECATS), and Street Address should be entered. Also, a contact record will not load to ECATS if the Email Address is invalid. These types of data errors will cause contact records to reject and not load into ECATS. If they are existing records in ECATS, but are rejected in the load, these records will not update the existing contact information in the system.

Form for Questions If you have any questions, please enter them here.

The Spring Legislative Class Size Report Window is Open

The Spring Legislative Class Size (LCS) reporting window is open. Pursuant to §GS115C-301 this data is collected two times a year and captures data from the end of October and end of February of each school year.  Each local board of education, through the superintendent, shall file a report, based on information provided by the principal, for each school within the local school administrative unit with the Superintendent of Public Instruction.  

The due date for the approval of the Spring LCS Report and affidavit submission is April 30, 2021.  

There are two parts to complete this process: 

1. Reporting the legislative class size in PowerSchool 

• In PowerSchool, the submission window for the report will remain open through April 30, 2021.

2. Submitting a signed affidavit 

• Each local superintendent completes a sworn affidavit (form) attesting that the superintendent has complied with the maximum class size requirements and the reporting requirements. Affidavits should be sent to classsize@dpi.nc.gov.
• Class size AFFIDAVIT 2020 Update.pdf

If there is a need to also submit an individual class size exception waiver use the form supplied by the Division of School Business. Waivers should be sent to StudentAccounting@dpi.nc.gov.

PSUs should begin running these reports as soon as possible to allow ample time to have discrepancies reviewed by the PowerSchool Support team. Cases submitted to PowerSchool Support will be escalated and reviewed on a daily basis with the Home Base team.  

Again, the window to complete this process ends April 30, 2021. 

2021-2022 Home Base Opt-in Process is Scheduled to Begin in May

Please share with District Finance Officers and Charter School Directors/Principals

The NC DTL Home Base team is preparing to open the 2021-22 Home Base Opt-in Process during the month of May. District finance officers and charter school directors will receive further information as to when the system will be taken offline and returned to service for the opt-in process to begin.  Please ensure all finance officer and charter principal information in EDDIE is up to date.  This information is used to identify who is eligible to opt in for the districts and charter schools.

EOY Pre-Validation (EPV) Reports

During the last maintenance window, a new set of reports were added to the North Carolina state reporting dashboard. These EOY Pre-Validation (EPV) reports are to assist users identify items that need corrected or reviewed prior to running EOY. Schools will have the ability to run these reports through June 28. Districts should continuously run these reports throughout the reporting window to capture any erroneous records that have been created since the last run date. These reports can be unapproved and rerun at any time to ensure the schools are ready for EOY. 

PowerSchool is developing a second series of reports that will be considered as the “Final EPV Report” and will have a submission window of June 28 – June 30. Once that report is moved to production, the existing reports will be renamed to “Preliminary EPV Report”. The Final EPV will be an exact copy of the Preliminary EPV,  but will only be available at the district level, not at the schools. The purpose of the Final EPV is to capture any last minute errors that exist on the day of EOY. More details will be released once the final package is ready for production.

Governor Morehead School for the Blind (GMS)

Contributor: Sara McManus, Director |Digital Learning

1. Attention to Social, Emotional, and Physical Needs to Help the Whole Child. It has been important to focus on more than just academic instruction. Students participate in events such as:
   • bi-weekly Charger Connect meetings led by the school social worker and psychologist (“Chargers” is our school mascot);

• weekly Charger Workouts,
• virtual pep rallies, graduations, holiday parties, and celebrations of life, and
• motivational speakers such as Lex Gillette a gold medalist Paralympian and Jason Brown, former NFL player and local farmer.

These events were all virtual when students were remote, but students are now able to participate in person or remotely.

2.  Teachers’ Abilities to Learn Quickly, Stay Nimble and Embrace Changes in Instructional Delivery and Manage Classes. During remote and blended instruction, teachers have been able to adapt their instruction and class management by

• using Microsoft Teams to provide direct instruction,
• using Canvas to provide lessons and activities that students can access 24/7,
• sending packages of materials and instructions for students to engage in hands-on offline activities.
• designing creative ways for students to demonstrate learning such as a Facebook live performance of a Spanish play where students performed from home,
• utilizing large screen TVs in classrooms to provide instruction to students in person and to those who remain remote,
• using OneDrive to share and collaborate on student profiles to ensure all needs are documented and addressed, and
• using PowerSchool to take remote and in-person attendance.

While there have been challenges, the teachers are quick to help one another and share lessons learned.

3.  Innovative Scheduling to Address the Individualized Education Plan Goals and the Expanded Core Curriculum for VI Students. Prior to the pandemic, students could be pulled from classes to participate in physical therapy, orientation mobility, Braille, and AT support, and many of the independent living skills were addressed by the Student Life staff during the evening program. The scheduling team and staff worked together to

1. involve the 2^nd and 3^rd shift Student Life Staff in the teaching of ECC skills during the day,
2. make Braille and AT support available before school and during push-in and pull-out instruction,
3. have Orientation & Mobility lessons provided virtually, at the students’ home, or during special sessions on campus prior to all students being offered in-person instruction
4. time was available for weekly staff meetings to address student needs, and time allocated for Professional Learning Team meetings biweekly to focus on instruction and collaboration.
   
   

4.  Addressing the Technology Gap by Going 1:1 and Providing Mobile Hotspots. Using CARES Act money, donations from HP, and the NC Student Connect, all students and staff can receive the technology they need to engage in remote instruction. This technology includes mobile hotspots, iPads, laptops, Braille displays, screen reading software, and magnification software.

5.  Overall Willingness and Desire of Staff to Collaborate and Communicate to Plan for Next Steps and Evaluate Implementation. Staff met in small and large groups to coordinate and plan for safety measures, develop toolkits and communication that aligned to the DHHS and DPI guidance, and meet student instructional and wellness needs. Information was provided in meetings, on the website, and through letters, email messages, and phone calls to the students, staff, and families. Groups met often to evaluate decisions, determine changes, identify additional resources needed, and support one another. For example, staff coordinated to travel across the state to deliver meals, technology equipment, band instruments, instructional materials, and some social distance instructional support when it was determined students and families needed additional support to meet all their instructional and wellness needs. The School Improvement Team continued to move goals and planning forward. On-campus projects continued to get completed such as our reorganizing the library space, cleaning classrooms, and auditorium renovations.

Please help NCDPI give a shout out to the Governor Morehead School for the Blind for their awesome work!

GDV Webinar - April 15 @ 1 p.m.

On April 15 at 1:00 p.m., the NC Home Base Team and the Accountability Services Division will host a webinar on the Graduate Data Verification process in PowerSchool. This webinar will explain the processes for including graduates on the annual reports in the student information system. Additionally, information will be provided on how these data are shared with Accountability Services.

Please use the following link to register for the webinar:  GDV Webinar Registration.

Spring 2021 Course Code Webinar Series

Please join the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) for a Spring 2021 course code webinar series. PowerSchool Data Managers, PowerSchool Coordinators, School Counselors, Career and Technical Education Directors, Career Development Coordinators, CCP Coordinators, and Curriculum and Instruction/Academic Leaders are encouraged to join the conversations. Please see details below and we look forward to seeing you (virtually) soon! 

SAVE THE DATES! 

Time:  2 - 3 p.m. EST

Platform:  Webex

Dates and Registration Information:

• April 16th:  Generic CTE Course Code Implementation (Join the Webinar Here)
• April 30th:  Generic Course Code Scheduling (Join the Webinar Here)

Completed Webinars and Slides can be viewed at SIS Resources

• Course Codes General Overview - Part A
• Course Codes General Overview - Part B
• CAA vs. Non-CAA Courses

Questions? Please enter your questions in the Question Collection Form.

Canvas PD Mini-Course - Crafting High Quality Feedback in Canvas

Our next Canvas mini-course is now open for self-registration in NCEES. Learn all about the different ways you can give high quality feedback in Canvas.

This course is designed to be completed in one hour, and upon course completion, 0.1 CEU of Digital Learning Competency Credit will be applied to your transcript in NCEES (within 48 hours).

Register here (must login to NCEdCloud): https://bit.ly/3nxtogw

New Self-Paced Course on Curating Content in #GoOpenNC

We are so excited to try something new with our monthly webinars for #GoOpenNC. The webinar is now available on-demand in a mini Canvas course (you will need to login to NCEES via NCEdCloud to register).

The course is designed to be completed in one hour and NCEES will apply 0.1 CEU of Digital Learning Competency Credit to your transcript within 48 hours of completing the course.  The course is available until May 31, 2021

New Mini-Course: Remix and Add Your Own Content to #GoOpenNC!

Our next #GoOpenNC mini-course is now available for self-registration on NCEES. Learn how to remix and add your own resources to #GoOpenNC.

Each mini-course is designed to take one hour to complete and within 48 hours of course completion, 0.1 CEU of Digital Learning Competency Credit will be applied to your transcript!

Register here (must login to NCEdCloud): https://bit.ly/3amydp9

NCWiseOwl EBSCO Webinars 2020-2021 

PSUs, please share this message with your teachers.

Want to love and utilize NCWiseOwl even more?  Attend the upcoming webinars available from our database vendors! 

Britannica School: REGISTRATION and RECORDINGS

• Britannica School for Remote Learning 
• Britannica School for Parents 
• Britannica Basics for Elementary Educators 
• Britannica Basics for Secondary Educators 
• Sharing Britannica Content on Google Platforms 
• Preparing Digital Content Sets for Instruction 
• Britannica Tools to Support Reluctant Readers 
• Britannica School - STEAM in Focus 
• Britannica School - Arts & Humanities in Focus 
• Britannica Tools to Support English Language Learners 
  
  

EBSCO: REGISTRATION and RECORDINGS

• EBSCO Reference Center Exploration 
• EBSCO Online Classroom Tools and Integration Tips 
• EBSCO Accessibility and Usability Features within EBSCO Resources
• EBSCO Working with EBSCO eBooks
  
  

Please visit the NCWiseOwl  Toolkit  professional learning section for detailed descriptions and registration links.  www.ncwiseowl.org

Follow Us on Social Media!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and begin receiving "Did You Know" tips featuring each Home Base product. 

These messages will include upcoming changes, tips, and even hidden treasures within each product to make your job easier.  If you are not following us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, click on the links below and begin today!  Make sure you share this information with other staff within your school.

Instagram:  @nchomebase         Facebook:  @nchomebase       Twitter:  @nchomebase

NCDPI Technology Support Center

NCDPI's Technology Support Center continues to meet your support needs for:

• Schoolnet 
• NCEES/Unified Talent 
• Staff & Student UID (eScholar)

Support availability:

Web (NEW URL):  https://ncgov.servicenowservices.com/sp_dpi   -  24/7

Phone:  919-716-1840, Monday - Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. (excluding state holidays)

Technical support for SIS needs is handled directly by PowerSchool support using chat, phone, or by opening a case ticket.