TCS Tech Notes
November 2019
Tech Support Updates
PowerSchool Updates
ALSDE is moving all Alabama school districts from iNOW to PowerSchool Student Information System (PS-SIS) in the fall of 2020. This change involves other resources including Unified Talent (replaced Chalkable PD), and Special Programs (will replace SETS). TCS is making plans to provide professional development for all impacted users in role-based groups including counselors, school administrators, and secretaries and registrars. Four teachers from every school will attend training in the summer and will lead turnaround training in August.
The teacher experience will be very different, as they will use PowerSchool’s Unified Classroom (UC), the one-stop shop where teachers will document attendance, access student demographic information, document grades, and provide information for parents (much like a web page). This functionality is a considerable improvement over the tools we have used in the past. In addition, UC is a full learning management system (LMS) with features like assignments, rubrics, discussions, and assessments. TCS currently uses Canvas for our LMS. We will continue to provide Canvas in the 2020-2021 school year to support the transition to UC.
For details about the training sessions and the latest information, visit and bookmark our PowerSchool Planning web page.
January Security Improvements
TCS Technology Accomplishments
ClassLink - TCS launched ClassLink in August. This tool makes it easier for employees and students to access a wide variety of digital resources. The district URL is https://launchpad.classlink.com/tuscaloosa.
ClassLink Quick Cards - All PreK, K, and 1 students can use their own unique QR code to log into a Chromebook and the district ClassLink “Launch Pad.” This supports our youngest students who are still learning how to find letters on keyboards.
Renovations - District renovations are providing a high level of technology equipment in classrooms, including interactive projectors, document cameras, instructional sound systems, and touchscreen teacher Chromebooks.
Technology Grants - This past summer, TCS leveraged grant funding to provide a cybersecurity summer camp experience for middle school students and to send five teachers to the Alabama Educational Technology Conference.
Coming in the spring of 2020, TCS will be providing coding/robotics kits to all elementary and middle schools. This will include training with AMSTI. More to come!