Roadtown, Tortola - In an ongoing effort to move the education system from “Good to Great” Minister for Education and Culture Honourable Andrew Fahie will launch his ministry’s PowerSchool initiative today in a 15-minute broadcast on local radio and television stations from 7:30 p.m.

The launch will be followed by a promotional video on all local television stations and is geared towards providing a better understanding of how the PowerSchool technology will work.

Hon. Fahie speaking at the ninth sitting of the second session of the First House of Assembly of the Virgin Islands on Tuesday said PowerSchool promises to bring accountability and transparency to the school system, but it will not solve all the problems that exist within the system.

“It will go a long way in helping us to identify the challenging areas of our students at an early stage thereby allowing for the necessary remedial help to be implemented,” Hon. Fahie said. 

PowerSchool is an innovative web-based student information system that brings together vital information on students in real-time via the internet.

With the technology, parents can access their child’s information online, including real-time attendance information, grades, assignment descriptions, school bulletins and disciplinary actions.
“Parents will now know what their child is doing on a daily basis,” Hon. Fahie said, adding that “PowerSchool is a way of connecting the home with the school.”

Additionally with PowerSchool, students can track their own progress and take responsibility for their own learning as they will get up-to-date access to new assignments, school announcements and their grades and teachers will be able to produce timely class schedules, generate attendance reports, review grade reports and progress and process report cards and transcripts within minutes.

“PowerSchool can help our students stay on top of assignments, parents will be able to participate more fully in their child’s progress and teachers and parents are better prepared for discussions about the their child’s progress,” Hon. Fahie said.

He added that the technology will allow educators, teachers, parents and the Government to quickly spot trends that may affect students’ academic performance so that informed decisions can be made as accurately as possible and in the best interest of the students.

 PowerSchool will be implemented in all public primary and secondary schools throughout the Territory. 

Currently, the Departments of Education and Information Technology are working with secondary schools administrators to compile and log information on each student. This collaborative effort is important because the groundwork for implementing PowerSchool cannot be accomplished single-handedly, according to the minister. Information on the public primary schools will be compiled in the near future.  

Training sessions with public secondary school principals and teachers on the use of the information system will run from August 24 to 28. Also, to ensure the effectiveness of PowerSchool, each principal and teacher will be given a laptop and printer upon signing the loan agreement with the ministry.

“PowerSchool is about putting the power of school back in the hands of the stakeholders,” Hon Fahie said adding that without a doubt, the information system will be an important asset in the process of moving our education system from “Good to Great.”

PowerSchool was established by Pearson School System of California, USA, in 1997. There are currently over 8,000 PowerSchools around the world.