Customizations, Plugins and Integrations

jasonbengs.com/powerschool/Customizations

PowerSchool allows users to customize the product to meet their needs much more than other SIS applications. Because of that, users that leave one institution for another might have vastly different experiences at each place of employment.

My goal is to make our version of the product as user friendly as possible and anticipate any needs the various end users might have. We also strive to keep the data as clean as possible so our reporting internally and externally is as accurate as possible.

We utilize many of the resources below to accomplish that task.

Each of the categories below is an area that can be adapted to the needs of your institution.

Customizations

Free & Paid
In-house, Community, Vendors
Pages, Reports, Table Extensions, Plugins

YPS PowerSchool Customizations

This list is far from complete and is a project I am working on between other more pressing responsibilities. Most of the items on the list include our current plugins and custom reports, but I will be adding custom pages as well. The goal of this page is to provide a brief explanation of the customizations and include any applicable screenshots.

Pages and links

There are several options available depending on your need and skill set. If you have migrated to the EUI creating links is easier than ever.

Custom Student Screens & Custom Staff Screens

Quick method utilizing PS Fields and Extensions. Not all fields are readily available and you are limited in how you can set it up. These pages contain two columns, the label and the input.

Custom Pages

You can modify stock pages but this is discouraged as it may prevent you from accessing page updates. To modify stock pages it is recommended you use page fragments and insertion points.

You can also build custom pages if you are comfortable with the coding or know where to "borrow" the code from. I use a combination of methods when I work on customizations.

Recent updates have made it easier to customize and secure pages based on group permissions.

Custom Page Manager (CPM) is the built in tool available inside of PowerSchool.

Blue Steel CPM found on the PowerSource Exchange is an alternative that offers a few extra features to make the process easier.

A sandbox server is also a good option when modifying current pages so you don't break anything unintentionally.

PowerSchool uses a number of coding languages including one they made up PSHTML.

Plugins

Plugins can be developed by vendors and users and serve a variety of purposes within PowerSchool. We utilize numerous free and paid plugins.

Plugin Report

This file has a list of many of the plugins we use and they are grouped by the developer. Several of the prominant developers are highlighted.

Integrations

We currently integrate with several software applications using AutoComm, AutoSend, API and other plugin options. These can be District or School level settings.

AutoComm Records are imports, AutoSends are exports. Both will require a Managed Connection to be set up first.

TransFinder Plus

We have a district level AutoSend that runs nightly sending over updated student information
- - Student_Number
  - Last_Name
  - First_Name
  - Middle_Name
  - SchoolID
  - Grade_Level
  - Street
  - Zip
  - Mailing_Street
  - Mailing_City
  - Mailing_State
  - Mailing_Zip
  - dob
  - Home_Phone
  - Gender
  - Emerg_Contact_1
  - Emerg_Phone_1
  - Emerg_Contact_2
  - Emerg_Phone_2
  - Ethnicity
  - OK_DisabilityCode
  - Home_room
  - U_StudentsUserFields.outofdistrict_transfer
  - U_StudentsUserFields.housing_addition
  - ^(*contact_info;max-pers=all;which-pers=1;cat=dem;which-val=1;val=firstname;)
  - ^(*contact_info;max-pers=all;which-pers=1;cat=dem;which-val=1;val=lastname;)
  - ^(*contact_info;max-pers=all;which-pers=1;cat=phone;type=mobile;which-val=1;val=phone)
  - ^(*contact_info;max-pers=all;which-pers=2;cat=dem;which-val=1;val=lastname;)
  - ^(*contact_info;max-pers=all;which-pers=2;cat=dem;which-val=1;val=firstname;)
  - ^(*contact_info;max-pers=all;which-pers=2;cat=phone;type=mobile;which-val=1;val=phone)
  - U_StudentsUserFields.ridebus
- Daily AutoComm that imports/updates bus routes/numbers in the SIS. (Currently having issues with the nightly import and working with support to correct it.)
- Worked with our TransFinder Rep to create the file on their end to import via SFTP connection created in Remote Connections.

Hero

Student Check-in Kiosk used by our High School for tracking tardies.
Daily AutoSend to update Courses, Students and Teachers
Three daily AutoComms scattered throughout the day to import Tardies into PowerSchool

SafeArrival

Connected through School Messenger.
Notifies parents of absences, allows them to provide reasons and writes back to PS-SIS.
Times & frequency of calls and write backs vary by site

SafetyShield

Still working with the vendor to set this up properly.

Panic Button Software-Autosends with attendance info along with other rostering information pulled from PS-SIS multiple times throughout the day.

LinkIt

Datawarehousing-Just finished the connection and it requires three different autosends per site.

The easiest integrations are those where the developer/vendor has taken the time to create a plugin to manage the connection via API, etc. We have run into both ends of the spectrum in this area over the past 6 months.

Potential Issues

As PowerSchool continues to upgrade, some of your customizations may not function as intended.

Another potential problem can occur when there are conflicts between different customizations. This happens more often with plugins that aren't well maintained.

Check to see how often the plugin has been updated and if it is compatible with the SIS version you are running. Some plugins were developed by people that are no longer working with/use PowerSchool and no one has taken over maintaining them. Some developers are very responsive to suggestions and bug reports. While others won't even upload a screenshot when requested.

PAX Plugin Link

Recommended Resources & Where To Find Them

PowerSource Exchange- https://support.powerschool.com It does require an account and is the home of many of the free plugins, custom pages, and reports created by other users and community members.

PSUG.io and the OKPSUG group. You will usually get a faster response in this group than you will get from tech support. It is comprised mostly of PowerSchool administrators and they are willing to share their expertise when they can.

PowerSchool Community-https://help.powerschool.com It is available to users of multiple PowerSchool owned products and users of all varieties including parents, students, teachers, admins, developers and Vendors. Many of the active members of the PSUG groups are also in Community. In addition to the community moderators (PS Staffers), you also have Champions & Mentors that make their experience available to users in the forums.

PowerSchool SIS Oklahoma Knowledge Bases-https://help.powerschool.com/t5/PowerSchool-SIS-Oklahoma/ct-p/PowerSchool_SIS_Oklahoma_Knowledge_Bases

PowerSchool Developer Site- https://support.powerschool.com/developer/#/page/home

Marcia Brenner Associates (MBA) https://mba-link.com/ They have several free and paid plugins.

Start with these free plugins to help in your customization processes.

- MBA Data Reference Resource
- MBA Customization Reference

PSCB Dev- https://pscbdevelopment.com/ They have 45 plugins, paid & free, that contain almost 300 custom pages and reports.

Aurora Ed Tech (AET)- https://www.auroraedtech.com/ They offer a few free plugins that are available on PowerSource Exchange and several subscription based plugins.
NickTech-https://nicktech.org/powerschool PowerSchool Admin that offers several of his customizations on his site. Several of his object reports could easily be adapted to suit your needs.

We take advantage of most of the Free plugins from MBA and PSCB Dev. We also subscribe to several from each.

In House Resources

We have developed a help site that houses our How-To files and almost monthly newsletter. We have it linked inside of PowerSchool for easy access and I also include it in my email signature.

YPS PowerSchool Help Site

Many of our walkthroughs are still being updated for the EUI.

We also use Tango to create our walkthroughs. It inserts a screenshot for you with every click and all you have to do is add details and clean up the draft when finished. Sample Tango

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