All schools strive to have all students successfully scheduled into a full-complement of classes on the first day of school (or earlier!). To achieve this goal, building an effective Master Schedule requires sequential planning and processes to be performed starting almost a year in advance!  


Outlined below is a sample timeline for a full master schedule building project at a secondary school (high school or middle school) - this timeline can be modified to suit the specific needs of each school and master schedule project. 



MonthActivityAeries Tools related to each Scheduling Phase
October - December
  • Begin planning 2022 Course offerings
  • Obtain approval for any new Course offerings
  • Update Course Catalogs, course request documentation, resources for parents and students
Managing Courses in Aeries 
January - February
  • Sign-up for Scheduling Training
  • Coordinate with feeder schools to capture student enrollment data and identify instructional needs of incoming student groups
  • Gather student course requests and alternates
  • Identify any changes to bell schedules, periods offered, and Master Schedule structure
Aeries Training Workshops & Webinars

Creating Pre-Enrolled Student Records in Aeries

Scheduling Setup

Building Flex Periods  

Student Course Requests

March
  • Tally Course Requests
  • Identify numbers of sections needed for each course
  • Identify hiring needs based on staff departures, new Course offerings, and enrollment growth
  • Define Master Schedule requirements and constraints
  • Begin building Master Schedule
Course Request Reports 

Building a Master Schedule Using Flex
April - May
  • Continue to build and analyze Master Schedule
  • Mass schedule students
  • Are classes balanced?
    • Across sections of the same courses
    • Across periods
    • Across teachers
    • Across student instructional groups
  • Does the Master Schedule support the school's priorities?
  • Do student instructional groups have access to the classes they need?
    • For graduation requirements
    • To advanced/challenging coursework
    • To remediation coursework
  • Begin adjusting student schedules due to conflicts, course completion, or course non-completion
Grouping Students - Teams 

Grouping Students - Houses/Academies

Schedule All Students
June
  • Continue to adjust student schedules due to conflicts, course completion or course non-completion
  • Take a summer break!
Managing Student Course Requests 
July
  • Adjust Master Schedule to account for staffing and/or enrollment changes
  • Continue adjusting individual student schedules to account for conflicts, summer school completion, etc.

August
  • Finalize student schedules for the first day of school
Copy SMS to MST

Class Rosters

Student Locator Cards