Getting started with your Montessori Compass 2.0 trial account

Getting started with your Montessori Compass 2.0 trial account

Summary: When you start a free trial, you set up your school in a few short steps and then complete a quick setup wizard so you can begin record keeping right away. After you fill out the trial request form, you will receive an email to verify your address and a second email with a link to activate your account. That link opens the Create new account page, where you agree to the terms and create your account, enter your school information, set your time zone and school hours, and choose your assessment scale. From there the setup wizard walks you through adding a classroom, adding a student, and assigning that student to the classroom. When you finish, you switch from your Account Admin role into your classroom role to start planning and recording lessons.

Who can do this

Account setup is done by the person who requested the trial, who becomes the Account Owner. The Account Owner and any Administrators have full access to the Account Admin area, where account setup and management happen. Teachers are added later and work from inside their classrooms; an administrator can give a teacher curriculum-editor access (a toggle) if they should also edit the curriculum.

The way to tell what access you have is the context switcher in the upper-right corner. If you can switch to Account Admin, you can set up and manage the account. If you only see your classroom there, you do not have permission, and you will need to ask an administrator for help.

Step-by-step

1. Verify your email. After you submit the trial request form, open the first email and click the link to verify your email address.
2. Activate your account. Open the second email and click the activation link. This takes you to the Create new account page.
3. Create your account. Fill in the requested information, check the box to agree to the terms of service and privacy policy, then click the yellow Create my account button.
4. Enter your school information. Fill in your school details, then click Save and continue.
5. Set your time zone and school hours. Choose your time zone and set your school hours (for example, 8 A.M. to 3 P.M.), then click Save and continue.
6. Choose your assessment scale. Select how many levels of assessment you want, up to a maximum of six. The default is three. See "Choosing your assessment scale" below. Then click Save and continue.
7. Complete the setup wizard. The wizard opens with three steps: add a classroom, add a student, and assign that student to a classroom. See "What the setup wizard covers" below, then click Finish Setup when all three are done.
8. Switch into your classroom role. Use the context switcher in the upper-right corner to select the classroom you created. This moves you out of Account Admin and into your classroom role, where your record keeping features live.
9. Start record keeping. From your classroom role you can use Quick Add to plan and record lessons. You can switch back to Account Admin any time to add more students, staff members, and parents.

Choosing your assessment scale

During setup you choose how many levels your assessment scale has, up to a maximum of six. The default is three levels (for example, presented, working, mastered), which is what most schools use. Choose more levels if you want a more refined scale. This sets the levels you will mark when you record a lesson. An administrator can adjust the assessment scale later in the school profile.

What the setup wizard covers

The setup wizard guides you through three required steps before you can move into record keeping:

• Add a classroom. Click Add classroom in the upper-right corner, name it, choose the grades or cycle years it serves, and click Create.
• Add a student. On the students page, click Add student, enter the child's name and birth date, choose a cycle year, and click Create.
• Assign the student to the classroom. Back on the classrooms page, click the no students link on your classroom, select the child from the not-enrolled list, and click Add.

Each of these has its own article with full detail. See "Related articles" below.

Why you switch roles after setup

Account setup happens in the Account Admin role, which is where you add classrooms, students, staff, parents, and settings. Record keeping happens in your classroom role. To begin planning and recording lessons, use the context switcher in the upper-right corner to select your classroom. You can move back and forth between Account Admin and your classroom whenever you need to.

A few things worth knowing

• You will receive two emails: one to verify your address and a second to activate the account. You need both to reach the create-account page.
• The three setup-wizard steps are required before you can finish setup and move into record keeping.
• Adding more students, staff, and parents is done later from the Account Admin role, so you do not have to add everyone during the wizard.
• Record keeping is only available from a classroom role, not from Account Admin, which is why you switch roles at the end.

Related articles

• Setup wizard tutorial
• Create a classroom
• Create a student
• Assign students to a classroom
• User roles and the Account Admin area

Watch the video

Here is a short video covering this topic for additional reference.