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Set Up School Year Page

  • Updated

How do I get to this page?

  1. Log in to Renaissance.
  2. On the Home page, select your initials in the upper-right corner. In the drop-down list, select Manage Apps & Users.
  3. On the Manage Apps & Users page, select Set Up School Year / Copy Options in the New School Year Wizards section.

Who can do this with default user permissions?

District Level Administrators, District Staff, School Level Administrators, School Staff

If you have already started entering days off, marking periods, or classes for a school in your new school year, you cannot copy them from the previous school year as described below.

If you are a CDI customer, the buttons for the New School Year Wizards will be deactivated (to avoid data conflicts). Please contact your CDI consultant if you have an immediate need for assistance.

  1. If the school year you are setting up has already been created, skip ahead to the next step.

    If the new school year you are setting up has not already been created, select Add a School Year.


    Only users with the Manage School Year user permission will see the Add a School Year button. This user permission is given to district level administrators and district staff by default.

    Enter the date range for the school year (either by typing it or using the pop-up calendar), and select Apply.
    • The start and end dates cannot overlap with another school year.
    • A school year must be at least 150 days long and no more than 365 days long.
    • If there is a prior school year, the start and end dates from that school year (advanced by one calendar year) will be entered by default, but you can change them.

      A pop-up calendar is open, allowing the user to choose the dates. The dates can also be entered in the fields above the calendar. The Apply and Cancel buttons are in the upper-right corner of the pop-up window.
    Enter the first day and last day that students will actually be in school and attending classes during the school year.
    • The first day must be on or after the start date for the school year.
    • The last day must be on or before the end date for the school year.
    • If a first day and last day were entered for the prior school year, the dates from that school year (advanced by one calendar year) will be entered by default, but you can change them. Note: Student attendance dates cannot be changed once the school year has started.
    Select Apply after entering each date. Then, select Save.

    A pop-up calendar is open under the First Day for Students field, allowing the user to choose the date. The date can also be entered in the field above the calendar. The Apply and Cancel buttons are in the upper-right corner of the pop-up window.
  2. Use the drop-down list to select the school year you want to copy information to. Whatever you select for the year you are copying to, the year you are copying from (listed below it) will always be the prior school year.
    The user is selecting a future school year from the drop-down list; the 'copying from' year automatically changes based on the year chosen.

    Can I copy information more than one school year into the future?

    Yes, but you can only copy from one school year to the next consecutive school year. For example, if you have created school years 2022–2026, you could not copy from 2022 directly to 2026; you would need to copy from 2022 to 2023, then 2023 to 2024, etc.

    When you select a year in the “Copying to” list, the “Copying from” year automatically changes to the school year immediately before the one you select.

  3. Use the School drop-down list to choose which schools to copy information into. You can check individual schools, or choose Select All (or Clear All) at the bottom to check/uncheck all the schools at once. (If you only have access to a single school, you will not need to pick a school.)



    Schools that already have marking periods and/or classes will be skipped.

  4. Choose what information you want to copy into the school year for the selected school(s).
    1. Under School Calendar, select Copy days off if you want to copy days off into the school year. (You will be able to manually adjust the dates for these days off later if necessary.)

    2. Under Marking Periods and Classes, select one of the options shown.

      The options described below are shown. The Copy button is underneath the options, with a message next to it: 'A new copy can't be started until the current one is done.

      Option What Gets Copied
      Do not copy Nothing (aside from days off if Copy days off was selected above).
      Copy marking periods only The marking periods for the school(s) are copied.
      Copy classes, plus:
      • marking periods
      		 The classes in the school are copied (with the same names they had the year before), along with marking periods assigned to those classes (when the classes were added or edited).
      Copy classes, plus:
      • marking periods
      • teachers assigned
      • products assigned
      		 The classes in the school are copied (with the same names they had the year before); the marking periods, assigned teachers, and assigned products for those classes from the year before are also copied to the new school year.
      Copy classes, plus:
      • marking periods
      • teachers assigned
      • products assigned
      • students enrolled
      		 The classes in the school are copied (with the same names they had the year before); the marking periods, assigned teachers, and assigned products for those classes from the year before are also copied to the new school year.

      Additionally, the students who were enrolled in those classes the year before are re-enrolled in those same classes in the new school year. This is primarily for schools where "looping" is used (where a teacher keeps the same students across multiple grades).

      Only use this option if you intend to keep students in the same classes as last year.
    3. Once you have made your choices, select Copy.
  5. A message will remind you of the effects of copying information from one class to another. Select Continue to begin the process, or Cancel to close the message.

    The message reads: 'Important Notes. This action can only be performed once per school. If copying classes, be sure to select the option that includes everything you want. This process might take a while; return to this screen for progress. Do not manually add classes or marking periods until this process completes.' The Continue and Cancel buttons are at the bottom.

  6. At the bottom of the page, you can see the status of copies performed into the school year selected above—preparing, in progress, completed, or failed. Only one copy operation can be running at a time. If a copy has failed, please return to the first step and try again.

    A table showing four different copy statuses: Failed; please try again, Copy completed, Copying in progress, and Preparing to copy.
  7. Once a copy has completed, you can use the links above the table to jump directly to adjusting dates for marking periods, days off, screening windows, and to finishing and reviewing your class setup. Otherwise, select Done at the bottom of the page.

    There are two links above the table: Review and adjust the dates for Marking Periods, Days Off, and Screening Windows; and Review and finish setting up your Courses and Classes. The Done button is below the table.

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