Cloud-Based School Administration Software
Automatic Report Cards and Transcripts. Fast to Deploy. Uniquely Easy-to-Use.
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Custom report cards and transcripts can be printed or emailed.
Online portal for students and parents.
Features integrated gradebooks for all teachers.
Web-based, cloud computing platform for easy deployment.
Manage assignments and collect homework online.
Messaging and emailing provides powerful communication.
Affordable pricing, even for small schools.
Upload Assignments and Handouts Online
ThinkWave software for school administration enables distance learning by allowing teachers to upload homework and handouts in an integrated environment. Uploaded files can be up to 25MB each and 100 GB online storage is included. More is available if needed. Many file formats are supported including .pdf, .doc, picture files, movie files and others. Homework is available for students and parents to download online.
The upload function can also be used to organize handouts in one place. No need to email files between home and school - everything is available online from any computer.
Collect Homework from Students Online
ThinkWave offers the powerful ability to collect homework from students online. Students upload their homework files with an easy-to-use upload function. Files are immediately available to the teacher in the grading interface within the teacher communication app. Uploaded files are organized for the teacher by assignment and date.
Student Administration and Grades
Final grades are instantly available to administrators, students and parents in the student communication app. Teachers and administrators can assign grade overrides and write comments as long as 5,000 characters. GPA and Credits are automatically calculated, and can even be configured with custom calculations. Subterm (quarter) grades can be combined into Term (semester) grades. Administrators can define multiple final-grade scales to use with different courses.
The school administration system can combine multiple grade scales in one school: elementary classes can use a elementary marks, high school classes can use standard letter grades, and other classes can be graded with percents.
Messaging and Group Emailing
ThinkWave school administrator software includes the ability to post and email messages and announcements. Through the school communication app messages can be directed to all students and parents, particular groups of students or specific classes. Files can be uploaded with blog posts. Messages can be sent by email to the entire group with one click.
Custom Report Cards and Transcripts
ThinkWave Administrator is a web-based school administration system that automatically collects grades, comments and attendance from teachers, making it easy to produce consolidated student report cards and transcripts. Data from multiple sources is automatically combined to generate reports that can be printed or emailed to students and parents. Report cards can be fully customized using standard data blocks, as well as custom fields such as citizenship, awards, test scores, or any other data type a school requires.
Classes can have multiple final grades. For example, an elementary Math class can have an overall grade and additional marks for standards such as "Spatial Thinking" and "Problem Solving". Transcripts contain results from all the years in a students academic history. A transfer history feature even lets schools record previous years' historical data to produce consolidated graduate transcript reports.
Integrated Gradebook for All Teachers
ThinkWave school administrative software includes a web-based online learning toolkit for teachers that can be accessed from home or school without installing software. Student names, courses and enrollment are automatically populated into the grading interface.
Teachers can use an all-points grading system or flexible grading options that combine points, letter grades, pass-fail, check, and custom grading scales. Teachers can create their own assignment types and use assignment type weighting, for example making Tests 30%, Homework 40%, Projects 15% and Participation 15%. Scores are instantly calculated when marks are recorded. If a class is re-assigned from one teacher to another, an automatic function allows the teacher's class, including all assignments and attendance, to be transferred to the new teacher. Assignments and handouts can be copied from previous terms automatically, saving setup time for classes taught on a regular basis.
Learning Portal for Students and Parents
ThinkWave student administration system improves communication by providing individual password-protected accounts for students and parents to access classroom information. Detailed, day-to-day summary of student progress includes overall results, graded assignments and upcoming assignments.
Grades Online can provide improved student achievement by improving organization and allowing for early intervention. ThinkWave parent communication app displays information automatically, without any additional action by teachers or administrators.
Manage Attendance for Your School
Attendance marks and comments are instantly shared between administrators and teachers. The administrator can verify and change attendance marks from within the school admin software, if necessary. Attendance types can be customized and recorded on a daily or period-by-period basis.
Flexible scheduling handles standard schedules, cyclical (A/B) scheduling, and weekly (M,T,W,Th,F) schedules. Average daily attendance (ADA) and average daily membership (ADM) values can be calculated by the school management system according to customizable calculations, such as the number of periods, percent of periods, or minutes a student is present (or absent) in the day.
Fast, Reliable, and Easily Deployed
ThinkWave is completely web based. This means there is no software to install and no servers to maintain, unlike other softwares for school administration. This saves thousands in IT and personnel costs. A single non-IT person can deploy our solution for the entire sis school by simply adding in administrators, teachers, students and parents. Deployment is done by emailing access codes to teachers, students and parents who simply log in with a web browser.
The interface is intuitive and multiple videos help to get started. ThinkWave is hosted on a cloud-computing platform with multiple computers at secure hosting facilities across the US, providing responsive software with reliable up-time. Grades, attendance marks and custom fields can be exported at any time in .csv format. ThinkWave school info system can be used with any modern web browser, including Chrome, Firefox and Safari running on PC, MAC and Linux, iPad, Android, and more.
Clear Pricing
Pricing of the school administration software is based on the number of students in a school and charged by monthly or yearly subscription. Unlike other student administration systems, there are no long-term contracts, setup fees, cancellation fees, or other hidden fees. A free 30-day trial lets schools get started with the software. All features are available and data is maintained. Return on investment appears quickly with saved administrative time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do teachers connect with their gradebook?
Integrated teacher gradebooks are a required element of a school management system. Administrators invite teachers with a link, and classes, terms, and students are set up and ready to go. Attendance and grade data are automatically integrated into progress reports, report cards and transcripts. Students and parents can access assignments, messages and final results from their own custom online views. Teachers select their own online username and have access to only their own data.
What gradebook features are most important?
Ease-of-use, pre-populated data, and access from home and school streamline administrative workflow. Single-entry of data, which allows grades to be automatically available to students, parents, and administrators decreases teacher workload. Flexible grading options let teachers maintain their personal teaching style and mix points, percent, letter and custom grades. The ability to post messages and discuss assignments and results enhances the classroom experience with the benefits of online learning.
How is historical student data maintained?
Each year starts with a rollover process, which automatically transfers school data from one year to the next. Students are indexed to the next grade level, custom data is copied, and optionally, class or group enrollment is preserved. As years progress, a complete history of a student’s progress is available in transcripts and other documents.
A Transfer History feature lets school administrators manually enter student data from previous schools, including grades and transfer credits that can be included in overall GPA and credit calculations.
ThinkWave pricing is based on the current number of students, and does not charge for maintaining historical student data.
Can the system generate transcripts with transfer credits?
A flexible system lets each school customize exactly how transcripts are calculated. Terms, grade levels, and classes can be included or omitted. Various pre-configured formats are available. Different methods can be used to calculate credits, GPA, and other metrics.
ThinkWave will gladly create a custom transcript (or report card, or other report) for free for your school based on your school’s exact layout and information needs. Contact support@thinkwave.com to start the process.
Historical student data can be included in custom transcripts based on the student’s Transfer History. Administrators can input historical student information which becomes a part of the final reports and calculations.
What are the most important security and privacy policies?
Every administrator, teacher, student and parent has a personal password-protected view. All data is transmitted through SSL encryption. Data is securely stored in Google Cloud-based data centers, protected by the highest level of physical and virtual security available. Passwords are stored as encrypted hashes and credit card data is not stored by ThinkWave. ThinkWave does not sell student or other user data to any third party.
How can student data be imported?
During initial setup, student data can be entered manually or imported using an import wizard. If a student has transferred in from a different school, a custom transfer-history can be recorded for each student.
To maintain a school’s historical data in one location, a roll-back function can be utilized. Instead of transferring students and enrollments forward in time, this data can be transferred back to previous years. Enrollment and grade data can be entered retroactively, enabling a complete student history which can be included in custom transcripts and other reports.
Can our school have custom report cards and transcripts?
The standard report card and transcript formats are highly customizable. It is simple to select the optimal layout, set grade, GPA and credit calculations, include graded skills and comments, select fonts, and much more.
ThinkWave also provides a custom report builder, which lets schoos build reports from scratch, providing maximum control over layout and the exact data included in a report.
Finally, ThinkWave will happily create a custom report card or transcript for free for your school. Just contact support@thinkwave.com to get started.
Can only K12 schools use the software? Is it appropriate to colleges, trade schools, and other educational institutions?
ThinkWave handles all aspects required for K-12 schools, including parental access, graded skills, and more.
However, ThinkWave is also used by many colleges, trade schools, vocational programs, homeschool networks, departments, international schools, and training programs. The basic workflow connecting the administration, teachers, students (parents are optional) together with robust custom reporting, flexible term structure and flexible grading options make ThinkWave a great solution for a wide range of users.
Is access for parents and students included?
This complete student management solution provides seamless views for all administrators, teachers, students and parents. Each account can contain different roles, so if one user is both a parent and a school administrator, everything is connected into one account.
Parent accounts can include all their students in one place. Students can be linked to multiple parents and/or guardians (or even counselors). Every user gets the exact information that relates to them.
Is there an extra charge for the cloud based gradebooks?
There are no extra charges. All teacher gradebooks, student and parent access, multiple administrator accounts, historical student records, custom reports, upgrades and maintenance are all included in a single, simple subscription price.
Is a mobile app required?
A mobile app is not required to access ThinkWave. It is developed with a web-based responsive layout that is optimized for mobile browsers. Just visit ThinkWave.com on your mobile device and all functionality is available in an appropriate format.
Can school administrators send email to the entire school at once?
The student administration system provides powerful messaging and discussion functionality. Administrators can post and email messages to all students, or smaller groups of students. Documents and other files can be attached. Administrators can choose to enable public discussions relating to various posted topics.
Teachers also can email, post, and enable discussions to students in their classes. They can post assignments and other schoolwork. Private discussions regarding specific assignment results are also included.
Does the system function as a learning management system?
Online learning management functionality is a core functionality built into the school administration software solution. Teachers can post messages, tasks, and assignments. Students can turn in assignments online. Teachers can review and revise student work, returning the work back to students if desired. Public and private discussions enable a dynamic and collaborative classroom environment.
Can school administrators export information?
Absolutely. Student data, custom field data, attendance and grade data can be easily exported in .csv format. Also, the custom reporting functionality can be utilized to create PDF exports of structured data, including specific calculations and other customizations. Many reports have an “export as .csv” option available.
Is there an easy way to send reports by email?
Many reports (including custom reports) can be automatically sent to teachers, students and parents directly from the reporting interface. With just a few clicks, it is possible to distribute progress reports, report cards, student summary reports - and more - to all the students and parents in your school.
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