GENTRY — Gone are the days of filling out report cards by hand once a quarter. Ozark Adventist Elementary School in Gentry has a new system-wide electronic grade book and attendance register that will make tracking grades and attendance more efficient for staff and parents.
Small School Minder, by Hunter Systems, provides a full range of report options for teachers, according to Stephen Burton, Superintendent of Schools for the Arkansas-Louisiana Conference of Seventhday Adventists. Teachers were taught how to set up the program, called Small School Minder by Hunger Systems, at their annual teachers’ convention.
“This tool will enable teachers and administrators to manage and evaluate data in real time,” said Burton.
Parents can view students’ grades online through the local school’s Web site. Parents can pay tuition online as well.
“When teachers enter the grades in their grade book, they are immediately available for viewing by parents,” Burton says.
This program was developed especially for the Seventh-day Adventist school system under the direction of Larry Blackmer, North American Division vice president of education. All 755 elementary schools across the United States and Canada are mandated to use SSM for the 2010-2011 school year.
Also, the 109 secondary schools, like Ozark Adventist Academy, are using a more elaborate program called iNow to manage their data electronically. The digital management systems will collect data from over 5,000 teachers and 53,000 students in the U.S. and Canada.