A bell schedule is the list of periods and breaks of a school day. The timetable, attendance by period and substitutions all use it. Open Academics > Bell schedules.
Make a bell schedule with the wizard
- Press New bell schedule. Give it a Name (for example Regular) and, if you run shifts, the Shift. Tick Default schedule for the main one.
- Press Set up with the wizard.
- Type School starts at, Assembly minutes (0 for none), the number of Periods and Minutes per period. Tick Add a zero period before assembly if you hold one.
- Under Breaks press Add a break, choose After period, the minutes and the name. Tick Counts as rest if it is a real rest.
- Press Make the slots. The periods P1, P2 ... and the breaks appear with their times.
Running the wizard again asks before it replaces the slots.
Change one slot
Press Add a slot or edit a slot: name, From and To, Kind (Period, Break or Assembly) and the period number. Slots must not overlap.
Week plans
A week plan says which schedule runs on which day. For example Monday to Friday use Regular and Saturday uses a short schedule.
- Open Week plans and press New week plan.
- For each day choose a schedule, or No school.
- Press Choose classes and tick the classes that follow this plan.
The class timetable then shows the right number of periods each day.
Rooms and labs
Open Academics > Rooms and labs. Press New room and give a Code, Name, Kind (classroom, science lab, computer lab, workshop and so on), Building, Floor, Seats and how many Classes at once it can hold. In an ITI, link a workshop to a Trade.
The generator uses rooms to avoid two classes in one lab.
Common questions
Period timings is missing.
You need the permission to edit time slots. It is usually the principal and the admin. Teachers do not see it.
Does this need a plan level?
No. Bell schedules and the timetable builder work at every level. The generator needs more. See Generate the timetable.