CLEVELAND — As students in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) return to classrooms, they will experience several significant changes this school year.

What You Need To Know

  • CMSD is introducing PowerSchool, an online grade book system that gives parents and students access to academic grades
  • Teachers will update grades at the three, six and nine-week marks of each quarter to help parents stay informed about their child's academic performance

  • Starting this school year, CMSD is becoming a cellphone-free district, with each school determining how to enforce the policy

One of the most notable changes is the introduction of a new online grade book system called PowerSchool.

This platform will provide parents and students with direct access to academic grades. Erin Frew, the district's officer of schools, recommends that parents check the online grade book every three weeks to monitor their child's academic progress.

“We suggest that at the three, six and nine-week marks of each quarter, parents review their child's grades in PowerSchool,” Frew said. “This will allow them to stay informed about their student’s performance.”

The district plans to mail out access codes for PowerSchool in the coming weeks, enabling parents to log in and track their student's progress.

In addition to the new grade book system, CMSD is also implementing a new policy that makes the entire district a cellphone-free zone. While the policy is district-wide, individual schools will have the discretion to determine how it will be enforced.

“We are hoping that we are going to be able to minimize distractions so that students can really engage with their education and also foster deeper connections with their peers,” she said. “Sometimes even as adults we get so stuck in our phones that we don’t interact with the people that are right in front of us, so helping students have that real focus on learning with their peers right next to them.”