Creating a Custom Bell Schedule
Bell Schedule Times on the Flex Periods Page
Copying a Custom Bell Schedule to a School Day
Applying a Custom Bell Schedule to a Date in the Calendar
Overview
The Bell Scheduler is used to create Custom Bell Schedules that are different than the defined schedule according to the flex periods setup in the Flex Periods page. Examples of Custom Bell Schedules are Minimum Day, Short/Conf Day, or Assembly Day. Custom Bell Schedules can be assigned to specific days/dates on the School Calendar. The Bell Scheduler page has been modified to work in a Flex Scheduling school type.
Bell Schedule Definitions ↑
In order to use this page, it is necessary to add the code types and descriptions to the code table first. The Update Code Table form is accessed from School Info/Configurations page on the navigation tree. The table is BSD (Bell Schedule Definition) and the field is TY (Type). Enter the Code and Description for the new Bell Schedule. All codes added are districtwide and will be available in all schools.
Adding Bell Schedules Details ↑
On the Bell Scheduler page, add a bell schedule by selecting the Add button from the Bell Schedule Details area.
A drop-down list will display from codes in the BSD table and a key will be automatically assigned based on the next available number. The Title can be renamed as needed and will display with this title instead of the default title assigned in the code table. Add the Start and End Time fields to display the desired custom time. The Start Time and End Time will be used to determine the Instructional Minutes calculation under the School Days and Flex Schedule.
Creating a Custom Bell Schedule ↑
To create the custom schedule, select a Bell Schedule, then under the Flex Schedule area to the right of the page, edit the Start and End times for each period. Each of the default periods are listed according to the FTF table and will only include periods in the current academic year based on FTF.YR. Selecting the pencil icon will allow for the period to be edited. Select the disk icon to SAVE the record. Edits to these records will insert the custom times into the FTT table.
This window displays the Flex sequence number of the Flex Period (FTF.SQ), the Flex Period short title (FTF.STI), Description (FTF.DE), Starts At time (FTF.ST), Ends At time (FTF.ET) and a Time column which will display the calculated length of time for each period. The total number of instructional minutes will be calculated and displayed in the bottom left corner for the custom bell schedule and is based on certain conditions described in the next section. All data from this window except the Time is stored in the FTT table.
Instructional Minutes ↑
The Instructional Minutes will be calculated and display under the Instructional Time in the Flex Schedule window and under the Instr Minutes in School Days.
The calculations are based on the Time column for each period in a custom Bell Schedule key. The Start Time and End Time from the Bell Schedule Details is used in the calculation.
- If any minutes fall outside the Bell Schedule Details (BSD.ST) Start Time and (BSD.ET) End Time, the minutes will not count towards the instructional minutes.
- If two periods have overlapping times, these minutes will only be counted once. The remaining minutes in the overlapping periods will then be counted towards the Instructional Minutes as long as they fall within the Bell Schedule Details Start and End Times.
Example:
- A Minimum Day Schedule is being added to the Bell Scheduler.
- The Bell Scheduler Details has a Start Time = 7:00 AM and End Time = 2:10 PM
- The Flex Periods under Flex Schedule are modified to the times that the school has designated as the Custom Minimum Day Schedule.
- For periods that are not being used in the custom bell schedule, the time should be adjusted to 12:00 AM - 12:00 AM.
- When the bell schedule is copied to the School Days using the Copy Schedule to This Day button, the BS will populate with the Bell Schedule Key
- The Instructional Minutes will populate with the Instructional Time calculated based on the Time column of all periods that fall within the Bell Schedule Details Start Time and End Time.
Bell Schedule Times on the Flex Periods Page ↑
On the Flex Periods page, default Bell Schedule Times will display but may not be setup yet as a custom bell schedule time in FTT.
Each period will display a sample set of time, 1 for each bell schedule key record. Changing bell schedule times from this screen will also adjust the start and/or end time on the Bell Scheduler page. Modifying a Start Time or End Time for a record under Bell Schedule Times will create a FTT record and will be considered a custom time in the Bell Scheduler.
For example, Flex period P1 AM is assigned to the Minimum Day schedule. The Bell Schedule Start Time and End Time match the information from the Bell Scheduler page. The data displayed on this page can be edited from either page, Flex Periods or Bell Scheduler.
NOTE: The Flex Periods page contains mock data in the Bell Scheduler Times area. If a bell schedule time has not been modified or assigned in the Bell Scheduler, the record will not reflect in the FTT table.
Copying a Custom Bell Schedule to a School Day ↑
A custom schedule can be copied to a calendar date by selecting the desired key, next selecting the date under School Days, then selecting Copy Schedule to This Day.
A confirmation window will display confirming the key, type and day number being copied. Selecting OK will add the custom bell schedule to this date or selecting Cancel will cancel the copy process.
Once the custom bell schedule has been added, an X will appear in the column marked Custom Bell? The BS column will be populated with the Key number. The Instr Minutes calculation will update to display the same Instructional Time from the Flex Schedule
Applying a Custom Bell Schedule to a Date in the Calendar ↑
The custom bell schedule can also be applied from within the Calendar page. Navigate to Pages, then School Info > Calendar. Select the Month and Date that the custom bell schedule will be added to. The second drop-down will contain the custom bell schedule data and will list all bell schedules available from the Bell Scheduler page. Select the desired schedule from the drop-down list, then select SAVE at the bottom of the screen.
