The bumpy transition to the new grading system
In addition to new classrooms, new buildings and new teachers, the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year also ushered in a new grading software program. And as with many new routines, the transition to Aeries, the district’s new student information system, has not been without its bumps.
The transition was a surprise to students who have been using the old grading portal, Illuminate, throughout their middle school and high school years. However, Bertha Roman, SMMUSD Director of Education Technology Service, conveyed at the Sept. 22 Board of Education meeting, that the district began planning for the change when Illuminate officials announced in a 2019 email that the company would no longer support its student information systems. Instead, it would focus on functions related to student achievement such as interim assessments.
Principal Antonio Shelton attributed some of the problems with Aeries to the immense amount of trouble faculty had in transferring student information from Illuminate to Aeries.
“They're (Illuminate and Aeries) not necessarily wanting to work together because we gave up one contract to get a new one, and it's like the old girlfriend doesn’t want to have to help the new girlfriend with the relationship,” Shelton said.
The decision to transition also slowed down students' access to their accounts. Jessica Garrido, a Samo advisor for I house, explained the reason behind the slow transition.
“As for accounts, when the information transferred over from Illuminate to Aeries some of the smmk12 emails were not correct… as well as parents’ [information]. This was district-wide so they had to go in and hand correct all the emails,” Garrido said.
No Samo students had access to their grades until Sept. 17, two weeks before the end of the first grading period. During the first month of school, the inability to check grades stressed many students, such as Tia Hansen (’24).
“It was very stressful. I didn’t know which class I needed the most help on. I don't understand why they changed it from Illuminate because everyone was just getting the hang of it then they changed it,” Hansen said.
Now students can now access grades by using their given smmk12 accounts and passwords. From there, the dashboard displays classes, grades, missing assignments and attendance records. When a specific class is selected, students are able to see class details, where they are able to find exact test scores and missing assignments.
One feature not offered on Illuminate allows students to ”play” with assignments where they can determine what score they need on an upcoming assignment in order to increase their class average.
The attendance section shows a calendar that can alert students of absences, suspensions, truancies and tardies. To see a record of tardies or absences, students scroll through the calendar and look for the highlighted sections. The letter “T” under specific classes represent tardies, while “X”s represent absences. On Illuminate the attendance feature wasn’t widely used by students.
For the future, Samo students and faculty have to adapt to the new aspects of the program. Samo Principal Antonio Shelton said that the training the faculty received before the beginning of the school year was just the beginning of understanding the potential of the Aeries program.
“It has its quirks, but anything has its quirks when it's new because we’re used to the old system and I know how to work the old system… versus now I got a figure how to manipulate what I don’t know, “ Shelton said.
