Academic Management

The academic management module provides comprehensive tools for organizing your school’s curriculum, managing class groups, assigning teachers, recording grades, and tracking student attendance.

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Overview

Athena ERP’s academic system is built around these core concepts:

• Academic Areas - Broad subject categories (STEM, Humanities, Arts, etc.)
• Subject Catalog - Individual subjects/courses taught at your school
• Study Plans - Grade-level curriculum defining required subjects
• Class Groups - Physical classes/sections (e.g., “6th Grade A”)
• Course Offerings - Subjects taught to specific class groups
• Teacher Assignments - Teachers assigned to course offerings
• Evaluation Activities - Assessments, assignments, and projects
• Grades & Attendance - Student performance and attendance tracking

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Setting Up Academic Structure

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1. Academic Areas

Areas organize subjects into logical categories: Common academic areas:

• Mathematics and Science (STEM)
• Language Arts
• Social Studies
• Arts and Music
• Physical Education
• Technical/Vocational

To create an area:

1. Navigate to Academic → Areas
2. Click Create Area
3. Enter name and optional description
4. Click Save

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2. Subject Catalog

Define all subjects taught at your school: To create a subject:

1. Navigate to Academic → Subjects
2. Click Create Subject
3. Enter:
   • Subject name
   • Academic area
   • Optional description
   • Subject code (if applicable)
4. Click Save

Example subjects:

• Mathematics
• Spanish Language
• English
• Biology
• World History
• Physical Education

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3. Study Plans

Study plans define the curriculum for each grade level: To create a study plan:

1. Navigate to Academic → Study Plans
2. Click Create Study Plan
3. Select:
   • School year
   • Grade level
   • Subject list (from catalog)
   • Hours per week per subject
   • Evaluation criteria
4. Click Save

Study plans guide course offering creation and ensure curriculum compliance.

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4. Class Groups

Class groups are the physical sections students are assigned to: To create a class group:

1. Navigate to Academic → Class Groups
2. Click Create Class Group
3. Enter:
   • School year
   • Grade level (e.g., “6th”)
   • Group code (e.g., “A”, “B”, “1”, “2”)
   • Shift (morning, afternoon, full day)
   • Homeroom teacher (optional)
4. Click Save

Example class groups:

• 6th Grade A (Morning)
• 6th Grade B (Morning)
• 11th Grade 1 (Full Day)

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Managing Course Offerings

Course offerings connect subjects to class groups for a specific school year.

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Creating Course Offerings

1. Navigate to Academic → Course Offerings
2. Click Create Offering
3. Select:
   • School year
   • Class group
   • Subject from catalog
4. Set status (active, planned, cancelled)
5. Click Save

Example:

• Subject: “Mathematics”
• Class group: “6th Grade A”
• School year: “2024-2025”
• Status: “active”

This creates a course offering that teachers can be assigned to and where students can be enrolled.

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Viewing Course Offerings

Filter course offerings by:

• School year
• Teacher (to see a teacher’s schedule)
• Grade level
• Subject

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Teacher Assignments

Assign teachers to course offerings and track assignment history.

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Creating Assignments

1. Navigate to Academic → Teacher Assignments
2. Click Assign Teacher
3. Select:
   • Course offering
   • Teacher (from staff list)
   • Start date
   • Reason for assignment (if replacing another teacher)
4. Click Save

System behavior:

• If a teacher is already assigned to the course, their assignment is ended automatically
• The new assignment becomes active
• Complete history of assignments is preserved

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Assignment History

View historical assignments to:

• Track teacher changes mid-year
• Understand workload distribution
• Audit who taught which courses

Each assignment records:

• Teacher assigned
• Start and end dates
• Reason for change
• Who created the assignment

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Staff Management

The staff list shows all active teachers and administrators: View available staff:

1. Navigate to Academic → Staff
2. See all active school members with their:
   • Full name
   • Email
   • Roles/permissions

Use this list when assigning teachers to course offerings.

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Evaluation and Grading

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Creating Evaluation Activities

Activities are assessments, projects, or assignments:

1. Navigate to Academic → Activities
2. Click Create Activity
3. Enter:
   • Course offering
   • Teacher assignment
   • Activity title
   • Description
   • Maximum score
   • Weight/percentage
   • Due date
   • Activity type (quiz, exam, project, homework, etc.)
4. Optionally attach files or resources
5. Click Save

Activity types:

• Quizzes and exams
• Projects and presentations
• Homework assignments
• Lab work
• Participation

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Recording Grades

1. Navigate to the activity
2. Click Enter Scores
3. For each student:
   • Enter numeric score
   • Add optional comments
   • Mark as submitted/late/missing
4. Click Save Scores

Grading features:

• Bulk score entry
• Late submission tracking
• Score history and revisions
• Comments for student feedback

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Viewing Student Grades

Filter scores by:

• Evaluation activity (to see all student scores for one assessment)
• Student (to see all grades for one student)
• Course offering (to see all grades in a course)

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Attendance Tracking

Record student attendance for course offerings:

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Marking Attendance

1. Navigate to Academic → Attendance
2. Select course offering and date
3. For each enrolled student, mark:
   • Present
   • Absent (excused/unexcused)
   • Late
   • Left early
4. Add optional notes
5. Click Save

Attendance records include:

• Student
• Course offering
• Date
• Status
• Minutes absent (if partial)
• Notes

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Viewing Attendance

Query attendance by:

• Student (to see attendance history)
• Course offering (to see class attendance patterns)
• Date range

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Workflows and Use Cases

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Permissions

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Best Practices

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Integration with Other Features

• Enrollments - Students must be enrolled to appear in class rosters
• Students - Academic records link to student profiles
• Communications - Send circulars to specific class groups or teachers
• Reports - Generate grade reports, attendance summaries, and transcripts

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Related Features

• Enrollment Management - Enroll students in class groups
• Student Management - View student academic profiles
• School Years - Set up school years and grading periods