Be There: Resource gives parents access to child's academic performance

COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) - The days of waiting on your child's report card to find out how they're performing in class are over. Technology is now giving parents up to the minute access to grades and assignments.

The Muscogee County School District is making students grades accessible to parents with just a click of the mouse. The Parent Portal is a tool that gives moms and dads direct access into their child's academic performance on a daily basis.

"When teachers get that information, it's real time and that's important to parents to be knowledgeable about how their child is doing," explained Dr. Brenda Badura, Arnold Middle School Principal.

Arnold is hosting a Parent Portal meeting at the school on Thursday, Oct. 23 to increase parent participation with the internet resource.

"They can get grades, schedules, attendance which is very important and calendars," Badura added.

News Leader 9's Roslyn Giles visited a 7th grade science class at Arnold on Wednesday, Oct. 22.

The students were engaged in guessing the type of science process their classmates had in mind when drawing an illustration on the Smart board. At some point, they'll receive grades on the lesson. Parents can then go online and see their child's grades.

Badura says 75 percent of Arnold Middle School parents are using the Parent Portal, but the goal is to have 100 percent participation.

"The few parents who are using it regularly, they love it," Badura said. "Because they can get that information quickly and if they have any difficulties, they can quickly set up a parent meeting and be on top of it, it's wonderful."

The parent portal meeting is from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.  Users will need a designated username provided by the district to log in the first time and afterwards can create their own username.

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