Centre V. 2.6 is now available!
Thanks to Matt Boytim, Lead Developer, and suggestions from our many installed clients, we've released a new version of Centre, the premier open source student information system. There are lots of enhancements, many bug fixes and some exciting new features. Centre is improving day-by-day, always striving for the critical accuracy required to handle the data necessary for your decision making. V. 2.6 is an important step on our roadmap for Centre.
Here are some of the details of V 2.6:
Welcome Screen
- A welcome screen that displays some basic info was added. Additional features for the welcome screen are planned for future releases.
Report Card Comments
- Two styles of report card comments were added. The first style provides fixed comments on a course basis and a comment code (typically + or -) can be assigned to the comment, very similar to a final grade. The second type provides a list of comments from which comments can be selected and attached to the final grade. The free text comment is also still available. All three styles are available simultaneously.
CentreAdmins
- CentreAdmins is now a comma separated list of staffˍid's so there can be more than one super user
Last Login Timestamp
- The last login time is saved and displayed in the welcome screen and user/student information screens.
- The CentreAdmins password(s) will log in to any account. If the CentreAdmin's password authenticated the login then the CentreAdmin's timestamp is updated. This allows the admin to login as any user/student without disturbing the user's/student's timestamp but still there is some record of the login.
Full Year Marking Period and Full Year Grades
- Full year marking period, grades, and exams were added.
- The full year start and end dates are the default start and end dates for new calendars.
Final Grade Percents
- A percent grade is also saved with the final letter grade.
- The percent grade is avaialble on report cards.
- The percent grade is used for semester and year grade calculations.
Marking Period Grades, Exams, and Comments Checkboxes
- Marking periods can be flagged as graded, examed, and commented. This determines which marking periods and exams are offered for final grade input and when the report card comments should be used.
- These also control which should be offered for report cards, etc.
Half Day Checkbox for Course Periods
- For half day programs there is confusion over which is the proper present and absent code to use. The half day flag indicates that half day codes should be omitted in TakeAttendance.
Schoolwide Grading Scale and Custom Gradescale Checkbox for Course Periods
- A standard grading scale was added which can be used for all courses so teachers don't have to enter a grading scale for every class.
- Checkbox allows for custom grading scale as in previous versions.
Grade Scale Comments
- A comment field was added that provides for a description of the letter grades. The grading system description is common on custom report cards and may be added to standard report cards.
Attendance Comments
- A teacher comment field was added to attendance.
Take Attendance Enhancements
- Attendance columns are color coded so teachers can easily see which students are present or absent and also what data is saved in case making edits.
- The attendance day can be selected so teachers can update past attendance.
Input Final Grade
- A 'populate the form' style of 'getting gradebook grades' was adopted. This prevents accidentally overwriting of hand editted grades.
Print Student Info
- Eliminates duplicates in the printout of contacts and adds non-address (emergency) contacts to the printout.
Student Grade Totals
- Assignments are not include in the grade average, student grade screen, and anomalous grade report until the assignment due date (if entered) or a grade is actually assigned before the due date (i.e. student handed in early and teacher graded early)
