The system automatically changes all school grades (K-12) on the date indicated in the Next Grade Switchover Date field under System Preferences (System > System Preferences). Note: This date is set once at the beginning of a district/program's implementation and is generally not changed as it impacts all modules.
Some districts prefer the Next Grade Switchover Date to be after the end of the school year so the grade the child will be entering in the coming Fall will be considered when the child is registering for Summer Child Care or youth enrichment Courses.
Other districts prefer the Next Grade Switchover Date to be near the end of the summer season so that the grade the child has just completed in the Spring will be considered when the child is registering for Summer Child Care or youth enrichment Courses.
For example, if it is currently school year 2019-20 and the Next Grade Switchover Date is set for 6/10/2020 (the end of the school year), if a student is currently in 4th grade, they will be able to register for classes that have a grade limit of incoming 5th grade (Fall 2020) requirement )provided the class starts after 6/10/20).
The only time the system won't recognize that a student has met the requirement is if the class happened to start before the switchover because when they tried to enroll, it will still see them as 4th grade. But if the class is to start after the switchover, it will automatically recognize their incoming grade.
There are other options that can be used to ensure that students in certain grades are either considered eligible or not for specific enrollments.
In the Courses module, there is an option in the Catalog settings to set an Age/Grade Limitation Check Date. That check date can be based on either the start date of each course section or a single date can be set as for all course sections in that Catalog. These options would apply to the specific Catalog. There is not a way to set a Category specific check date.
If a person has not entered any grade in the child's profile or it is not already in the system, when requesting a contract or completing an enrollment online, they will be instructed to edit the profile and add the necessary information.
To indicate the Next Grade Switchover Date:
- Point to System.
- Select System Preferences.
- If General is not highlighted on the left, select General.
- Scroll to Next Grade Switchover Date toward the bottom and add the desired date.
- Select Save.