PowerSchool Scheduling :: How to Setup and Utilize Dependent Sections (Part 3 of 5 Class Rosters Training)

Note: this is a great way to avoid 2...3...4...5x the work of enrolling kids into sections if your school is utilizing "travel groups", eg, kids stay in the same group but go to different courses together.

Dependent Sections

Using the sections page to set a selection and then using mass enroll is a good way to take a homeroom group and enroll those students into other academic sections.

An even easier way is to tell PowerSchool in advance what other sections students should be enrolled in based on the homeroom they are enrolled in.

PowerSchool calls this function “Dependent Sections.” To set up dependent sections, do the following (please note: dependent sections must be set up BEFORE students are enrolled in the master section, eg, make sure to set this up before you enroll all kids into your HRs travel groups)

1. Access the Sections page by going to the PowerSchool homepage > Setup > School > Sections
2. Select the course called “HR” (homeroom) and click on the section number of the homeroom you want to edit

1. In the field labeled “Dependent Sections,” enter the course.section (eg. ENG0128G1.0Howard) for each section you want to enroll students in from this homeroom (course numbers can be found on the left bar for reference)
2. Don't forget to add a comma at the end of the last section! If there is no comma at the end students will not be mass enrolled in the last section.

Now, when you mass enroll students into HR.0Howard, you are also enrolling them in ENG01028G1.0Howard (GrK ELA), MAT02030G1.0Howard (GrK Math), etc.

Example of how Dependent Sections Relate to each other: