Manage Contacts

This chapter describes the tasks related to managing contacts, such as adding new contacts to the database, adding existing contacts to other students, and linking students to contacts and households. You'll also learn how to remove contacts from households, export contacts to Excel, and print reports containing contact information.
See the topics below for details.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Add a New Contact
• Add an Existing Contact
• Add a Student to a Household
• Remove a Contact from a Household
• Link a Student to a Contact
• Export Contacts to Microsoft Excel
• Print a Report with Contacts

Add a New Contact

Add a new contact to the database to keep track of the contact's information and how the contact relates to a student. You can enter specific information, such as whether or not the contact has custody of the child and which reports the contact should receive.

1. On the Demographics screen, click a student, and then click New in the student snapshot.

2. Optional: Select the This new contact is in ... Household check box if the new contact is a member of the selected student's household.

The contact's data will be automatically populated with the student's address and phone number in step 5.

3. Do either of the following:

• Click Mother or Father.
• Click Other, and click the correct relationship from the Other drop-down list, or enter a new relationship in the Other drop-down list.

4. Click Next [Alt+N].
   

5. Enter the proper contact information in the Global Fields section of the Contacts: Edit Mode dialog box.
   Note: Global fields contain the contact's name, address, phone number, and employer information (among other fields illustrated below). They are considered global fields because they remain the same for the contact regardless of the student that the contact is connected to.

6. In the Householdpanel, do one of the following:
   • If this contact lives with your selected student, click Lives with this student.
   • If this contact lives with another student in the district click Lives with another student, click , click the appropriate student, and click Select.
   • If this contact doesn't live with any students, click Lives with no student.

7. Enter the proper contact information in the Local Fields section of the Contacts: Edit Mode dialog box.
   Note: Local fields are specific to the relationship between the student and the contact. For example, local fields define the relationship between the contact and the student, determine parent portal access and which reports should be sent to the contact, and they establish if the contact can pick up the child from school.
   

8. Click Save [F10], and then click Done [F10] at the lower-right corner.

Add an Existing Contact

Transfer contact records from one student to another student, without duplicating the contact entry in the database. Conveniently change the relationship of the contact to each student as needed. For example, Lori is related to two students, but she's the mother of one student and the step mother of another student.

1. On the Demographics screen, click a student, and then click New in the student snapshot.

2. Select the Copy contacts from check box, click one of the four copy options (depending on where you want to copy contact information from), and click Next [Alt+N].
   
   Important: Skip step 3 if you clicked Another Student With The Same Last Name, Another Student With Any Last Name, or All Contacts.

3. Click a student at the top panel of the Select Household Student's Contacts To Copy dialog box, select the check box(es) next to the desired contact(s), click Copy Selected Contacts, and skip step 4.

4. Click the desired contact, and click Select [F10].
   

5. Enter the proper contact information in the Local Fields section of the Contacts: Edit Mode dialog box.
   Note: Local fields are specific to the relationship between the student and the contact. For example, local fields define the relationship between the contact and the student, determine parent portal access and which reports should be sent to the contact, and they establish if the contact can pick up the child from school.
   

6. Click Save [F10], and then click Done [F10].

Add a Student to a Household

The contacts and students who live at the same address are called a household in AdminPlus. Multiple students and multiple contacts can be part of the same household. You can search for any student in the database, and add that student to an existing or new household, or move a student from one household to another.

1. In Data Base, click New Files.
2. To search for a student, click  , click a student, and click Select.

Tip: You can also search for a student by entering the student's ID or last name into the Enter ID / Name box, and pressing Enter. Click and to navigate through the list of students until you arrive at the student you're looking for.

3. Click   next to the Household ID box.
4. Do one of the following:

• Click Same Last Name if you want to add the selected student to a household associated with a student by the same last name.
• Click Any Last Name if you want to add the selected student to any household in the database.
• Click This student belongs to a new household [F2] at the bottom of the dialog box to create a new household for this student, and skip steps 5 and 6.

5. Click the desired student from the list. This student is the one who's in the target household that is to be associated with the student you selected in step 2.
   The following figure illustrates steps 4 and 5.
   

6. Click This student is in the household of ... [F10].
   

7. Click Accept, and then click Done.

Remove a Contact from a Household

Using the Household panel in the Contact Data Base, you can edit a student's household and remove a contact from a household, depending on circumstances during the year.

1. Click the contact's name in the student snapshot area.
2. Do either of the following:

• Click Lives with another student if this contact lives with any other student, click the appropriate student who lives with this contact, and click Select.
• Click Lives with no student if this contact doesn't live with a student.

3. Click Save [F10], and then click Done [F10].

Link a Student to a Contact

Link a student to a contact who isn't in his or her household to ensure your contact is connected to the appropriate student. This feature is useful, for example, if a parent who lives outside of the student's household wants to receive report cards for his or her child. Selecting the Report Cards check box in the Local Fields area of the contact's information ensures that the parent will receive report cards. For more information on local fields, see Customize Global and Local Fields.

1. On the Demographics screen, click a student, and then click New in the student snapshot.
   

2. Select the Copy contacts from check box, and click All Contacts.
3. Do either of the following:

• Click Mother or Father.
• Click Other, and click the correct relationship from the Other drop-down list, or enter a new relationship in the Other drop-down list.

4. Click Next [Alt+N].
   
   

5. In the Select Contact to Copy dialog box, click the contact you want to link with the selected student, and click Select.
6. Click Save [F10], and then click Done [F10].

Export Contacts to Microsoft Excel

Using the Excel Wizard, you can export Contact Data Base information to Microsoft Excel® for either local or global fields. You can then either print the export directly from Excel or save it as a spreadsheet. This topic first shows you how to export local field information, followed by global field information.

Export Information from Local Fields

Fields that are specific to the relationship between the student and the contact are considered local fields. For example, local fields define the relationship between the contact and the student, determine parent portal access and which reports should be sent to the contact, and they establish if the contact can pick up the child from school.

1. In the Tools  menu, click Excel Wizard.
2. With 1. Data Base Plus selected on the left, click Student Data with Contacts on the right, and click Next.
3. In the Excel Wizard dialog box, click the Start Grade and the End Grade from the respective drop-down list.
4. Click Active and Inactive, Active Only, or Inactive Only from the Include which students drop-down list, depending on what type of students you want to be displayed.
5. Click Yes to display One Contact Per Row, or click No to have more than one contact per row, depending on how you want your information to be displayed.
6. Click Yes to Include DB Fields, or click No to exclude database fields.
7. Click Select Contact Fields.
   The following figure illustrates steps 3–7.
   

8. In the Available Fields column, click a field to include in your spreadsheet, and click to move the desired field to the Selected Fields column.
9. Optional: Click any undesired field in the Selected Fields column, and click   to remove the field from the printout.
10. Click Save.
    The following diagram illustrates steps 8–10.
    

11. Select the check box(es) next to the relationships you want to display, and click Next.

Microsoft Excel® opens in a separate window, displaying the export information.

Export Information from Global Fields

Fields that contain the contact's name, address, phone number, and employer information (among other fields illustrated below) are considered global fields because they remain the same for the contact regardless of the student that the contact is connected to.

1. In the Tools menu, click Excel Wizard.
2. With 1. Data Base Plus selected on the left, click Master Contacts on the right, and then click Next.
3. In the Available Fields column, click a field to include in your spreadsheet, and click to move the desired field to the Selected Fields column.
   The following figure illustrates steps 3–5.

4. Optional: Click any undesired field in the Selected Fields column, and click   to remove the field.
5. Click Next.

Microsoft Excel® opens in a separate window, showing the export information.

Print a Report with Contacts

The process of printing a report with contact information involves two major parts: mapping the Report Writer codes to the respective contact fields in your Data Base and choosing which contact information to include while generating the report. This feature is useful when you need to print reports for parents and/or guardians.

Map Report Writer Codes to Contact Fields

1. Do either of the following:
   • If contacts have not yet been activated for reports: Click Setup > Contacts > Activate Contacts For Reports.
     
     
     A warning appears (confirm it).
     
   • If contacts have already been activated for reports: Click Setup > Contacts > Map Report Writer Codes to Contact Fields.

2. Double-click a DB Field, click the desired field from the Select DB Field dialog box, and click Select.
3. Double-click a Contacts Field, click the desired field from the Select Contacts Field dialog box, and click Select.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 as necessary to map additional existing fields.
5. To add a new field, click Map RW Code [F2], click the desired Data Base field, click Select, and then repeat step 3 to map the Data Base field to a Contact Data Base field.
   

6. Optional: To remove a field, click the field, click Delete RW Code [F8], and confirm the warning.
7. Click Done [F10].

Print a Report with Contacts

Important: The following steps can be completed after selecting a Report Writer program and completing the proper specifications for that report.

1. Complete all the prompts for your report, and generate the report.
   The Send Reports to Contacts And/Or Students Specifications dialog box appears.

2. Select the Contacts check box.
3. Do one of the following:

• Click Primary Contact Only to send this report to only the selected students' primary contact.
• Click All Contacts to send this report to all contacts associated with selected students who have rights to receive reports from the module the report is being run.
• Click Selected Contacts to send this report to specific contacts.

4. If you clicked Selected Contacts in step 3, click a NOT USED cell in the Value column, and enter the appropriate Value.
   
   Note: To change the criteria of a field, click a NOT USED cell in the Criteria column, and click the desired criteria from the drop-down list.

5. Click Contact Full Name or Parent Mailing Name [PARENT/GUARDIAN].
   Note: Clicking Contact Full Name retrieves information from the Contact Data Base. Clicking Parent Mailing Name [PARENT/GUARDIAN] retrieves information from a Data Base field.

6. Optional: To override the User Right you've set in the Contact Data Base and allow any contact to access this report, click Advanced Security Settings [F3], click Yes, and then confirm the warning.
   

7. Click Print [F9].

Tip: Select the check box Do not show again at the bottom of the Send Reports to Contacts And/Or Students Specifications dialog box to hide the box in the future. This option can save you time when running reports in the future if you're certain that it's highly likely you won't need to change whom the report is sent to. To enable the box once again: From the body of the report, click the dots next to Show Sent to Window, and then clear the check box you had previously selected.