Parents and students who want to get up-to-the-second access to a Tacoma Public School student’s grades, can now download a free mobile app for that.
To download the app, simply type TPS Grades in the search engine of your smart phone’s application market and download the app.
Whether users own an Apple or Android smart phone or other mobile device, both will run the district-developed application. Users need only the student’s ID number and password, which each school office can provide. Parents and students who already access the district’s grades online system through a computer can use the same student ID number and password.
“Parent involvement is so critical to student academic achievement, we’re always looking for ways to make it easier,” said Michael Farmer, director of Instructional Technology for Tacoma Public Schools. “In this day and age, people can do so much with their phones, so why not use it for something productive for their child’s education with information as up to date as the teacher makes it?”
Parents can keep track of their student’s GPA, grades in the class and how many missing assignments they might have. The application even gives the teacher’s e-mail, so if parents need to contact a teacher, they can.
This new way of keeping track will help many students stay on top of their grades as well as keep their parents informed, which helps avoid surprises when the district issues report cards. With new technology being introduced every day, Tacoma Public Schools is taking the initiative to bring the upgrades to the families of its students whenever possible, Farmer said. By taking advantage of what many already have on hand, this new application has opened more opportunities for the student to be successful and take charge of their learning.
Instructions on how to download the application (app) are simple.
1) Access your device’s app market and type TPS Grades in the search engine.
a) For Apple device users, once you find the app, download it and then sync it with your device.
b) For Android device users, once you find the app, download it. After downloading, open the TPS Grades app.
Due to some devices being older than others, you might have to download an app called Adobe AIR to run the TPS Grades app.
2) Once the app is open, you can access your student’s grades by using his or her Student ID number and password.