Using Letters/Report Writer, you can generate letters for disciplinary incidents and send them to the parents of students involved. You can generate a letter for a specific incident or for multiple incidents involving the same student. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Options for Generating Discipline Letters
• Letter Tasks and Letter Templates
• Generate Letters for Incidents with Letter Codes
• Generate Letters for Incidents Without Letter Codes
• Generate Letters for Students Exceeding a Specific Number of Incidents
• Create Step Letter Tasks
• Generate Step Letters

Options for Generating Discipline Letters

Discipline letters are printed using one of the following methods:

• When adding or editing an incident report, you enter a letter code and, if needed, edit the date automatically entered for the letter code. (See Manually Add Incidents to a Student's Record.)

When you're ready to generate letters, you select a letter task that generates letters for incidents containing a letter code and you specify a range of dates to search. Letters are generated for incidents containing a letter code that falls within the selected date range. If an incident contains multiple letter codes with dates that fall within the selected date range, all of those letters are generated. You can generate up to five different letters for any incident.

• On the incident report, you can leave the letter code and letter print date empty until you're ready to generate letters.

When generating letters, you select a task that generates letters for incidents without a letter code. The letter that is generated depends on the template selected for the task. As the letters are generated, Letters/Report Writer enters the selected letter code in each incident, preventing letters from being reprinted. The current date is also entered as the letter print date.

See also Letter Tasks and Letter Templates.

Letter Tasks and Letter Templates

When generating letters, you start by selecting a letter task. A task is a set of user-defined settings (specifications) used to generate a letter or report the same way each time. You can choose from one of the following default letter tasks:

• Generate Letters for Incidents with Letter Codes
• Generate Letters for Incidents Without Letter Codes
• Generate Letters for Students Exceeding a Specific Number of Incidents

You can also create your own tasks, such as a step letter task. (See Create Step Letter Tasks.)

As part of setting task specifications, you select the letter template you want to generate. Letters/Report Writer provides several letter templates, which you can use as is, or copy to create your own.

Generate Letters for Incidents with Letter Codes

This topic describes using a Letters/Report Writer default task to generate letters for incidents with letter codes. (See also Options for Generating Discipline Letters.)

1. On the Shortcut bar, click Discipline, and then click Disc RW.
2. In the What Task Do You Want to Do dialog box, double-click 2 Letter - Incidents with Letter Code in Date Interval.
    
3. In the Specifications: Discipline Report Writer dialog box, set the specifications for task 2 as described in the figure and table below.
    

Important: Unless otherwise noted, task specifications are saved when you click Done .

Tip: Tasks are user-specific. To share your task with other users, click Copy to/from Another User [F9] in the What Task Do You Want to Do dialog box.

4. Click Done.
5. In the Print Discipline Letters/reports dialog box, click one of the following options, and then click Next :

• To search a specific grade level, click Grade Number and type the grade.

Important: The  grade level must fall within the range of grade levels selected for specifications 9 and A in the previous dialog box.

• To search all grade levels in the range selected for specifications 9 and A, click All Grades.

6. In the next dialog box, click one of the following options, and then click  Next :

• Click 1. All students alphabetically to search all students in alphabetical order.
• Click 3. Individual students/groups to search selected students. You can select students from a list, select a group of students, or save students as a group.
   
• Click 4. Search by one field (all categories) to generate letters for students grouped by up to two data base fields. For example, you could sort students by homeroom, and then by gender. You can also select how you want the fields sorted (alphabetically, numerically, or by date, and in ascending or descending order).
   
  
   

Important: For this option to work reliably, the same format must be used for all entries in a data field. For example, the Bus data field format can be "3" or "#3", but not both.

• Click 5. Search by field(s) (query) to search specific criteria within a data base field. For example, to generate letters for male students only, click the Basics tab and next to Gender, type the format you use for male students (such as "M"). You can also sort on a second field by clicking under Select Sort Field.
   
  
   

Important: For this option to work reliably, the same format must be used for all entries in a data field and for all search criteria. For example, the Gender data field format can be "M" or "Male", but not both; and if "M" is the format, you must enter M for your search criteria.

7. If the following dialog box appears, select the recipients of the letter, select Do not show again to automatically apply these settings every time the letter is generated, and then click Print [F9].
   
    

The Report Viewer displays the letters generated for task 2. In the example below, incidents occurring within the date range set for specifications 7 and 8 are highlighted.

Tip: To print the letters, click . To save them as PDFs, click Convert to PDF [F6]. To email them, click E-Mail [F11].

Generate Letters for Incidents Without Letter Codes

This topic describes using a Letters/Report Writer default task to generate letters without letter codes. (See also Options for Generating Discipline Letters.)

1. On the Shortcut bar, click Discipline, and then click Disc RW.
2. In the What Task Do You Want to Do dialog box, double-click 1 Generic with comments - All Incidents without a Letter Code.
    
3. In the Specifications: Discipline Report Writer dialog box, set the specifications for task 1 as described in the figure and table below.
    

Important: Unless otherwise noted, task specifications are saved when you click Done.

Tip: Tasks are user-specific. To share your task with other users, click Copy to/from Another User [F9] in the What Task Do You Want to Do dialog box.

4. Click Done.
5. In the Print Discipline Letters/reports dialog box, click one of the following options, and click Next :

• To search a specific grade level, click Grade Number and type the grade.

Important: The grade level must fall within the range of grade levels selected for specifications 9 and A in the previous dialog box.

• To search all grade levels in the range selected for specifications 9 and A, click All Grades.

6. In the next dialog box, click one of the following options, and then click Next:
    

• Click 1. All students alphabetically to search all students in alphabetical order.
• Click 3. Individual students/groups to search selected students. You can select students from a list, select a group of students, or save students as a group.
  
• Click 4. Search by one field (all categories) to generate letters for students grouped by up to two data base fields. For example, you could sort students by homeroom, and then by gender. You can also select how you want the fields sorted (alphabetically, numerically, or by date, and in ascending or descending order).
  

Important: For this option to work reliably, the same format must be used for all entries in a data field. For example, the Bus data field format can be "3" or "#3", but not both.

• Click 5. Search by field(s) (query) to search specific criteria within a data base field. For example, to generate letters for male students only, click the Basics tab and next to Gender, type the format you use for male students (such as "M"). You can also sort on a second field by clicking under Select Sort Field.
  

Important: For this option to work reliably, the same format must be used for all entries in a data field, and for all search criteria. For example, the Gender data field format can be "M" or "Male", but not both; and if "M" is the format, you must enter M for your search criteria.

7. If the following dialog box appears, select the recipients of the letter, select Do not show again to automatically apply these settings every time the letter is generated, and then click Print [F9].
    

The Report Viewer displays the letters generated for task 1. In the example below, incidents occurring within the date range set for specifications 7 and 8 are highlighted.

Letters/Report Writer enters the active letter code and the current date in each incident.

Tip: To print the letters, click . To save them as PDFs, click Convert to PDF [F6]. To email them, click E-Mail [F11].

Generate Letters for Students Exceeding a Specific Number of Incidents

This topic describes using a Letters/Report Writer default task to generate letters for students exceeding a specific number of incidents. (See also Options for Generating Discipline Letters.)

1. On the Shortcut bar, click Discipline, and then click Disc RW.
2. In the What Task Do You Want to Do dialog box, double-click 3 Letter - Incidents - Students Exceeding Incident Limit.
    
3. In the Specifications: Discipline Report Writer dialog box, set the specifications for task 3 as described in the figure and table below.

Important: Unless otherwise noted, task specifications are saved when you click Done.

4. Click Done.
5. In the Print Discipline Letters/reports dialog box, click one of the following options, and then click Next:

• To search a specific grade level, click Grade Number  and type the grade.

Important: The grade level must fall within the range of grade levels selected for specifications 9 and A in the previous dialog box.

• To search all grade levels in the range selected for specifications 9 and A, click All Grades.

6. In the next dialog box, click one of the following options, and then click Next:

• Click 1. All students alphabetically to search all students in alphabetical order.
• Click 3. Individual students/groups to search selected students. You can select students from a list, select a group of students, or save students as a group.
   
• Click 4. Search by one field (all categories) to generate letters for students grouped by up to two data base fields. For example, you could sort students by homeroom, and then by gender. You can also select how you want the fields sorted (alphabetically, numerically, or by date, and in ascending or descending order).
   

Important: For this option to work reliably, the same format must be used for all entries in a data field. For example, the Bus data field format can be "3" or "#3", but not both.

• Click 5. Search by field(s) (query) to search specific criteria within a data base field. For example, to generate letters for male students only, click the Basics tab and next to Gender, type the format you use for male students (such as "M"). You can also sort on a second field by clicking under Select Sort Field.
   

Important: For this option to work reliably, the same format must be used for all entries in a data field and for all search criteria. For example, the Gender data field format can be "M" or "Male", but not both; and if "M" is the format, you must enter M for your search criteria.

7. If the following dialog box appears, select the recipients of the letter, select Do not show again to automatically apply these settings every time the letter is generated, and then click Print [F9].

The Report Viewer displays the letters generated for task 3. In the example below, incidents occurring within the date range set for specifications 7  and  8 are highlighted.

Tip: To print the letters, click . To save them as PDFs, click Convert to PDF [F6]. To email them, click E-Mail [F11].

Create Step Letter Tasks

To generate step letters, you must create a separate letter task and letter template for each step letter. This topic describes creating a step letter task for an infraction.

Example

You want to generate the first step letter when a student exceeds five dress code violations and the second step letter when a student exceeds 10 dress code violations. First, create a task and a letter template for students exceeding five dress code violations, and then create a different task and letter template for students exceeding 10 dress code violations.

1. On the Shortcut bar, click Discipline, and then click Disc RW.
2. In the What Task Do You Want to Do dialog box, scroll down, click the first unused, user-defined task, and click Rename User Task [F10].
    
3. In the Rename Task dialog box, type a name for the step letter task and click Done.
   
4. In the What Task Do You Want to Do dialog box, double-click the new task.
5. In the Specifications: Discipline Report Writer dialog box, set the specifications for the step letter task as described in the figure and table below.

Important: Unless otherwise noted, task specifications are saved when you click Done.

6. Click Done.
7. To print the step letter, see Generate Step Letters.

Generate Step Letters

Follow these steps to generate and print a step letter:

1. On the Shortcut bar, click Discipline, and then click Disc RW.
2. In the What Task Do You Want to Do dialog box, double-click the task for the step letter you want to generate.

Important: Create a specific letter task and letter template for each step letter you print. (See Create Step Letter Tasks.)

3. To avoid generating duplicate letters for the same students, click On next to Duplicate Letter Check.

Example

Every Friday, you print letters for students exceeding 5 incidents and 10 incidents. If you set Duplicate Letter Check to On when you generate the 5-incident letter, the students receiving that letter won't receive another letter until they exceed the 10-incident limit.

Important: Until you verify that your step letters are generating correctly, set Duplicate Letter Check to Off. When you generate letters with Duplicate Letter Check set to On, Letters/Report Writer adds the active step letter codes to the appropriate incidents.

4. Click Done.
5. In the Print Discipline Letters/reports dialog box, click one of the following options, and then click Next:

• To search a specific grade level, click Grade Number and type the grade.

Important: The grade level must fall within the range of grade levels selected for specifications 9 and A in the previous dialog box.

• To search all grade levels in the range selected for specifications 9 and A, click All Grades.

6. In the next dialog box, click one of the following options, and then click Next:

• Click 1. All students alphabetically to search all students in alphabetical order.
• Click 3. Individual students/groups to search selected students. You can select students from a list, select a group of students, or save students as a group.
   
• Click 4. Search by one field (all categories) to generate letters for students grouped by up to two data base fields. For example, you could sort students by homeroom, and then by gender. You can also select how you want the fields sorted (alphabetically, numerically, or by date, and in ascending or descending order).
   

Important: For this option to work reliably, the same format must be used for all entries in a data field. For example, the Bus data field format can be "3" or "#3", but not both.

• Click 5. Search by field(s) (query) to search specific criteria within a data base field. For example, to generate letters for male students only, click the Basics tab and next to Gender, type the format you use for male students (such as "M"). You can also sort on a second field by clicking under Select Sort Field.
   

Important: For this option to work reliably, the same format must be used for all entries in a data field and all search criteria. For example, the Gender data field format could be "M" or "Male", but not both; and if "M" is the format, you must enter M for your search criteria.

7. If the following dialog box appears, select the recipients of the letter, select Do not show again to automatically apply these settings every time the letter is generated, and then click Print [F9].
    
   The Report Viewer opens, displaying the step letters.
    

Tip: To print the letters, click . To save them as PDFs, click Convert to PDF [F6]. To email them, click E-Mail [F11].