As part of a school-wide initiative to create more online, environmentally friendly resources for students, iStudent accounts have been created for students as a part of the iPass program.

Similar to iParent, iStudent is a “view only” site that allows viewers to see their own personal academic information.

On iStudent there are pull down tabs that include categories such as attendance, grades, disciplinary record, schedule and biographical information.

“[iStudent will] empower young people to get the information they need,” said Assistant Principal Bayard Klimasmith.

Rather than going down to the main office to print out a new schedule, students can print them from their iStudent accounts.  Instead of wondering about restricted studies, students can look at their accounts and take care of their disciplinary notices before they start piling up.

“The whole philosophy of having these different modules is so that you can increase the communication between school and essentially the client: the teachers, and the student, and their parents,” said Klimasmith.

The site will be constantly evolving to incorporate more options that appeal to students’ needs. Next year, iStudent will  incorporate the student voice in the course registration process. Instead of only teacher and parent recommendations, students will have more of a say in specific courses they want to take. That way, the guidance counselors will have to take different signatures into account when they see students’ course selections.

“It gets us out of the business of having to always tell students what’s in iPass, things you’ll be able to find for yourself,” said Klimasmith. “Now students can go in and be proactive about certain things.”

iStudent is just one of many tools Wayland High School has implemented to enhance student learning. Sources like Google Mail and It’sLearning have been implemented to allow students to see homework, contact teachers and work collaboratively, all on one or two school-based sites.

To find out how to access your iStudent account, check your student e-mail for instructions from Bayard Klimasmith.