Importing Data to MySchool

Either during onboarding, rollover, or simply when you may need to input a large amount of new data, our support team can help you with this. We have a comprehensive import tool available for super users, or simply work with your CRM who can help you with this.

Please note that the import tool is designed for new data (students, users, classes, subjects and courses). it cannot be used for institutions to update their records. Contact our support team for assistance if this si the case. 

If you are following the onboarding wizard then you will have to complete the steps as explained in the onboarding articles. Although both tools use the same import tool logic, it is best you discuss your data before starting the wizard.

Here are a few steps to help you prepare

Prepare your data

If you are transitioning from another data platform, excel sheets, or simply starting new, then you need to step back and plan your data import. Here are a few tips to help you start the project;

• Don't do this alone! We do advise that you organise a team to go through the information you currently hold, and the format of this information. Does it work for all departments and functions? You may feel that you only need 1 address line, whereas your accounts department may need 2 for their finance needs. 
• Check the validity of the data you already hold. In MySchool, we have many different ways for users to keep their information up to date. if your data has not been maintained, there maybe no reason to import into your new MySchool. We have a great questionnaire module which can help build their engagement with MySchool by updating their own details and those of their family members. 
• What is really needed? Do we still need it? Data collection is becoming a key point in todays connected society. Laws are becoming stricter in respect of what you can collect, and the length of time you can keep it. make sure you are up to date with your data protection laws. In case you need some advice, then you can speak to our DPO. if you can't remember why you had asked for information, then it maybe time to stop collecting it.
• Do you have duplicate information? You may have got into the habit of putting the guardians phone numbers into your student profiles, or used guardian emails for ease of contact. Now is the time to deduplicate your lists. During the import the tool will flag duplicates, but this could slow the process down, so check your data beforehand. The most common error is to duplicate staff members who are guardians. In MySchool these users only have one profile. 

Where and how is your data stored?

If you are using another data management system then start to think how this can be extracted into excel. Do they have an export, can you ask them to provide you with this data? Are students, guardians and staff users separate? You may want to destroy any old paper or electronic files after you have completed the import. Always make sure that your schools personal details is securely stored if you do choose the keep back ups.

What can the import tool do?

The import tool is designed to import new data only, it is used to import the following information;

• Students - It will give a full range of most the fields within a student profile. For the complete list then check out this article. 
• Users - In a classic K-12 school system, in MySchool we class users as guardian contacts, family members, staff members, and donors.
• Relationship - Once you have imported the students, and the users, you can then connect the proiles with what we call a relationship. This is used to then create households if needed.
• Classes - Although it maybe easier to create manually, all students need to be in a class in MySchool. we can import your class structure for you if you have a large school.
• Class enrolment - so that the students can be enrolled in their class, we have a simple class enrolment import which can help with your rollover needs.
• Subjects - You can import your subjects, and for our BC community, you can import your country specific settings as well. Equally you can create these quite easily on MySchool if you wish.
• Courses - You can import your courses as well. There are many other ways to create depending on your situation, either via the schedule importers (ASC/Untis), mass quick create or even the promotion rollover tool.
• Course enrolment - Last part is to enroll your students into the courses you have created.

All the import templates are attached to this article. Have a look through each individual stage to make sure you understand how to fill these out.