STI Home gives parents the ability to get periodic progress reports on their student's grades in classes.  However, we ask that parents first understand how to use the site and understand how to appropriately interpret what they see.  It is a helpful tool to track a student and give a parent guidance about when they may need to contact a teacher to get more detailed information.  it does not replace a personal contact with the school or teacher, simply because information on the site can be confusing.  To use STI Home at Davidson, our parents need to come in and sign for their child's confidential "PIN" number. 

We ask that parents who use STI Home keep a few things in mind and remember to use the site only as a general guide.  The school does not present the information on the site as a final or official grade.  We ask parents to understand that these are "grades in progress" at all times, which means that the entries are first and foremost for the teacher's and the school's recordkeeping-in-progress, and only when the grades are finalized at the end of the term are they the school's official report to the parent.  For example, teachers use different coding systems in their gradebooks for missing work, makeup work, or bonus work, and those codes may not be clear to parents.  Some teachers leave "makeup work due" blank and do not "count" it in the average until the end of the term, while others enter a makeup code such as 0 or 1 or 10 until the work is made up.  Each method therefore creates a different in-progress average, one higher than the other, but either is a legitimate record-in-progress technique for a teacher to use.  Remember, the gradebook is a teacher's working tool for recordkeeping, and STI Home simply lets parents "see" that record as it progresses. 

Be aware that the grades on the site lag behind what the teacher is entering in the gradebook because of networking considerations.  This lag time is usually 24 to 48 hours, but we have at times had network problems that caused delays of up to a week.  Also be aware that many circumstances impact grades being shown on the site.  For example, teachers may not enter grades on the date of the work and may hold work to grade and enter periodically on some schedule that they have developed,  or the teacher may be out ill or at a district workshop and therefore not at school to enter grades.  Computer malfunctions sometimes occur and prevent a teacher's grades from being posted or updated on the site.    Finally, during the week prior to and the week of report cards being issued, the grades being entered are in transition and are never to be considered official, since that is a time that makeup work is being entered, grades are being entered in separate categories at different times (classwork may be entered one day and the final exam the next day, for example.)   

 The only official grade is that published and sent home on the printed report card. 

Finally, we ask that parents be aware that the school is not able to answer their questions about why they cannot access STI HOME.  We have no control over the software or the network or how it functions.  We do know that if your home computer is not compatible with the requirements of the site, or if your computer does not have enough memory, you will have problems accessing the site.  Some parents see averages only, for example, while others may be able to see each individual assignment listed.  We are unable to help you with issues of that type.

 STI HOME is excellent software that can provide parents who have the computer capability with helpful insight into their child's progress during a quarter.  It is not, however, the official or final student grade and it is not presented as such.