The School Features section in SteepleMate is designed to simplify school administration for organizations with tuition-based programs. This section enables you to manage essential tasks such as scheduling, attendance, tuition, and lunch accounts, providing a comprehensive solution for school administrators. Follow the steps below to configure your school features effectively.

Step 1: Access School Features

• From the Administration menu, click on Organization Settings.
• Navigate to the School Features section to begin customizing the settings for your school.

Step 2: Customizing School Menu Visibility

• If your organization does not use school features, you can simplify the interface by removing the school menu. Simply select the option to Hide the School Menu and declutter the system view for non-school staff.

Step 3: Assigning Permissions

• Choose which group(s) should have permission to create and manage various school-related tasks, such as:
  • Lunch event creation
  • Attendance tracking
  • Report generation
  • Editing tuition and lunch accounts
• This feature allows administrators to delegate responsibilities, ensuring efficient management of school operations.

Step 4: Forwarding Parent Messages

• To ensure important messages reach administrators promptly, select the option to Forward Parent Messages. This ensures messages are sent as text alerts to school administrators, improving communication.

Step 5: Configuring School Schedule

• Click on the Start Date field to configure your school schedule:
  • Start and End Dates: Define the academic year. Remember, this must be updated annually to reflect the correct dates.
  • Automatic Attendance Creation: Automate the creation of daily attendance forms before the school day begins. You can customize the timing to fit your school’s needs.
  • Exclusions/Holidays: Set up non-school days, such as holidays and teacher workdays, so that attendance is not generated on these dates.
  • Daily Start Time: Specify the time when the school day officially begins, ensuring all features align with your school’s schedule.

Step 6: Managing School Tuition

• Under School Tuition, configure the payment settings:
  • Payment Category: Designate the payment category specifically for tuition.
  • Frequency: Choose how often tuition should be billed (e.g., monthly, quarterly).
  • Amount: Set the tuition amount for each billing cycle.
  • Due Date: Define the grace period for tuition payments before they are considered late.
  • Late Fee: Optionally, apply a late fee if tuition is not paid by the specified due date.

Step 7: Configuring School Lunches

• In the School Lunches section, configure lunch-related settings:
  • Payment Category: Designate the category for lunch payments.
  • Lunch Period Start Time: Set the daily start time for lunch periods.
  • Automatic Lunch Event Creation: Schedule automatic creation of lunch events, with the option to customize the timing for these events.
  • Automatic Daily Lunch Posting Time: Automate the posting of lunch charges to each student’s account, ensuring that charges are added promptly.
  • Send Alerts for Low Balance: Enable low balance alerts to notify parents or guardians when their child’s lunch account is running low, encouraging timely account replenishment.

Step 8: Saving Changes

• Once all customizations are complete, click Save to apply your changes.

Tip: Be sure to review your settings periodically, especially before the start of a new school year, to ensure all dates, payment options, and schedules are up to date.