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By Jaime Thomas
Ever wish you could track your child’s weekly performance at school? The Parent Portal on the Granville Central School District website allows parents to do just that.
Parents who sign up for a free account have unlimited access to their child’s schedule, attendance, up-to-date grades, progress reports, report cards, assignments, and other information.
“I find it very handy because I can go to my child and say, ‘What’s going on here?’” said Bridget Liebig, high school guidance secretary and mother of two children in the system.
The Parent Portal is part of eSchool, a web-based communication tool Granville utilizes for keeping track of grades and other important information.
“All parents have access to it — I recommend it often for parents to check on their children,” said Sue Kenyon, an earth science teacher at Granville High School. “It’s valuable as a communication tool and an easy way for parents to keep up-to-date.”
She said accessing the system is not a hard procedure at all.
“Once they get used to it, they find it to be quite a good tool,” Kenyon said.
Liebig agrees and she said once parents are set up with an account, they can even access the portal through their mobile devices. She said parents often call her to ask for updates about their children that could easily be answered through the website.
Kenyon also experiences parents who contact her regularly to find out how their child is progressing, what their homework is, or why their grades are what they are. She thinks the Parent Portal puts accountability not only on the parents but especially on students.
“It should be the student who keeps track. (Grades) should not come as a surprise to anyone at the end of the year,” she said. She thinks using the website leaves no excuses for parents or students when it’s time for report cards or tests.
Liebig agrees that the program holds students accountable and she said she asks her own son for explanations whenever she sees something amiss.
Kenyon sees the website as a good management tool.
“I think students are more successful when they take responsibility for themselves. It’s very important that each student maintain a way of keeping track of assignments,” she said.
Jim Donnelly, High School Principal, believes the tool is useful like any technology.
“It can be an outstanding opportunity for parents to keep in touch with students’ teachers and watch student progress,” he said.
While some parents are currently set up with Parent Portal, Liebig hopes more will follow suit. She also wants more teachers to keep their records current.
“It’s only as good as what the teachers put in,” she said.
Anyone interested in starting an account on parent portal can visit granvillecsd.org and look under the ‘parents’ tab, or call Liebig at 642-1051, ext. 2308.
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