eSchool Plus - Keeping Track of Students in Humble ISD - Kingwood

This new software package is replacing the Pinnacle Internet Viewer (PIV) application which parents have previously used to view students grades online. 

Having moved into this school district from a not so technologically savvy district, I thought the PIV application was great.  There was no longer any need to depend solely on progress reports and report cards to determine how your child was performing academically. 

While checking on the recently updated Humble ISD website for more information, I couldn’t help but notice that there was a tagline stating that the eSchool Home Access Center would be available on August 25th, the first day of school.  This updated later disappeared with no further mention.  We contacted Mike Drachenberg, Executive Director of Technology Services for Humble ISD and were told that “the system is ready to go and campuses are preparing, as we “speak”, to communicate with parents regarding access (to the new system)”.

Mr. Drachenberg added that “Campuses will be sharing detailed information on this soon but the new system will work somewhat differently than the previous software in that parents will be able to setup their own accounts.  Previously, the campuses had to generate the IDs and passwords and then distribute this information with instructions for accessing the application.  With the new software, parents will be able to setup their own accounts provided they are listed as a parent/guardian for the student”.

A little digging around reveals that the eSchool Plus application is much more robust than the previous PIV, but perhaps it’s enhanced abilities are intended for a much more complex administrative mission. 

As quoted from the eSchool Plus website, this software is focused on “meeting accountability requirements”.   Emphasis is placed on ease of tracking student’s performance as required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) measures.  However this software also facilitates tracking of other areas such as scheduling, attendance, discipline, standardized tests, report cards and transcripts. 

Hopefully the transition to this new software will be seamless and will result in teachers having more time available to teach instead of keeping up with administrative reporting.  Mr. Drachenberg added that “it's not uncommon for some isolated issues to appear due to the magnitude of the conversion.  Parents will need to contact the school to report any problems with setting up the accounts so that campus personnel can troubleshoot and correct the problem.  While we expect some hiccups early in the account setup process, we are excited about providing parents access to some great applications that will help them monitor their student's academic progress”.

Although the eSchool Plus website does not leave you with the warm fuzzy feeling that experimental learning and evoking critical thinking by our students is the software’s company top priority,  it is too early to tell since the product is not yet available for Home Access viewing.

Kingwood.com will be running a poll once eSchool Home Access is up and running to find out how you feel about this new step in the technology initiative for our district.