Naviance/Family Connection

http://connection.naviance.com/masterschool
 

WHAT IS NAVIANCE/FAMILY CONNECTION?

Naviance/Family Connection:

• Is on the leading edge of the trend toward increased use of technology in college admissions
• Is now our primary vehicle for communication related to college planning needs
• Provides valuable resource tools and easily analyzed information during the college selection and application process
• Provides both general milestones and individual profiles for students, helping us make sure everyone is on track
• Serves as a central location for each student to keep lists of awards and achievements, prospective schools, application status, etc.
• Allows us to keep TMS-specific records on items of importance related to college planning - e.g. test scores, acceptance rates of our students, trends, college matriculation

Overview

Family Connection will allow both you and your Upper School student to access their profiles.  You can fill in forms, check college entrance test scores and research colleges.  You will be able to add potential colleges to your student's list, track applications and more.  In addition, Naviance supplies a "Resources" link which gives you a variety of other websites that you may find helpful.  

Over time, we'll be able to gather historical data on test score trends, schools applied to by our students, admission rates, etc.  In the coming months and years we'll be adding more features, including helpful documents, scholarship information and much more.   

Parents and students receive individualized registration codes early in the 9^th grade year.  Guest sign in gives access to many of the research features, but does not give access to the student's individualized profile.  The website address is http://connection.naviance.com/masterschool.  The guest sign in password is ‘masterschool'.  
 

GETTING STARTED        

Registration and Initial Use

Registration codes can only be generated when there is parent information in the system.  If you have not received your registration code, please contact Jennifer Earnest in the College Placement Office. Once you have your registration code, follow these steps:

• Go to http://connection.naviance.com/masterschool, and enter your registration code.  Your username is the email address registered with the College Placement Office.  Create a password.
• Once you sign on, if your name is linked to more than one student, you will choose who to sign in through. Since different messages and forms are targeted to different grade levels, you will sometimes need to check out each student's profile.
• On the left hand side, you will find your links. These will vary according to current surveys, deadlines, access levels and the like but may include the following:

About Me - your inbox (messages), your profile (address, etc.), your survey history (if applicable)

About Your Child

• Their inbox and profile
• Their checklist - what "assignments" they have completed as it relates to college planning
• Their resume - an ongoing list of activities, awards, etc.
• Their game plan - a survey given to assess their thoughts regarding their post-high school plans
• Their test scores (PSAT, SAT, ACT, AP)
• Their colleges - a list of colleges that they are considering; parents, teachers and counselors have the ability to add to this list
• My journal and My documents - not currently being used
• My personality type - "Do What You Are", a helpful assessment of strengths, possible blind spots, career ideas and the like; the student needs to sign in as themselves and go through the online process; parents have access to the results
• Parent Brag Sheet - used to help us do letters of recommendation and counselor report forms that must be submitted with college applications
• Survey history - if appropriate

About College - college search by various criteria, college lookup by name or location, maps, acceptance history of TMS students,

From Your School - additional resources provided by the College Placement Office, helpful documents, and  a resources page provided by Naviance that includes links to topics such as college choice, financial aid, college athletics, test preparation, etc.

NAVIANCE TROUBLESHOOTING

Here are some of the things we have discovered.  I am sure there will be more.

• Be sure the student signs in through their own registration code. If they sign in under your code/password, they will not be able to save the information they type into forms.
• Your email address is your user name. No two people can have the same user name. However, each person in the system (the student and each parent individually) is supplied with a registration code. If parents, or parents and child, share an email address here is what will happen.
• Mother (or father) will sign in first, enter the email address as user name, enter their registration code, and create their new password.
• Father (or mother) will attempt to sign in later, enter the email address as the user name, enter their registration code, and get a message that the user name is already taken.
• The only way to solve this is for the second parent to sign in using the first parent's newly created password. In essence, their registration code goes unused. This may slightly alter any personalized messages or emails, but other than that, it should work.
• If you share an email address with your student, please contact me to resolve that set up issue.