Dismissal Tracker — Programs: Setup, Configuration, and Day Selection

Overview

Programs are after-school activities — care, clubs, tutoring, sports, or anything else that keeps students at school past the regular dismissal time. The Dismissal Tracker’s Programs feature lets you define these activities, set which days they run, and enroll students individually — even choosing a custom subset of days per student.

Key Concepts

A program is a school-wide definition. Programs belong to the school, not to individual students or teachers. Anyone with staff access can see, manage, and enroll students in any active program.

Programs run on specific days of the week. When you create a program, you specify which days of the week it is active — for example, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. These are the only days students enrolled in the program will have their dismissal shown as “Program.”

Programs have a date range. A program has an optional start date and end date. Enrollment records are only generated for dates that fall within this range.

Enrollment generates individual daily records. When you enroll a student in a program, the system creates a dismissal entry for each matching day. These records are visible in the History tab like any other dismissal records.

Students can be enrolled on a subset of the program’s days. If a program runs Mon/Wed/Fri, you can enroll a student for Mon/Wed only.

Creating a Program

Step 1: Open the Programs Tab

From the Dismissal Tracker dashboard, click the Programs tab.

Step 2: Click “Add Program”

Click the Add Program button in the top-right corner of the Programs tab.

Step 3: Fill In the Program Details

Step 4: Save

Click Save. The program will now appear as a card in the Programs tab.

Understanding Program Days

The days of the week setting on a program controls:

• Which days students in the program will show their dismissal as “Program” instead of their default
• Which days are available to select when enrolling a student (you can only pick days the program is defined to run)

Example

You create an “After-School Care” program with:

• Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
• Start: September 1 — End: June 15

A parent says their child only attends after-school care on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When you enroll that student, you select only Tuesday and Thursday. The student will show as “Program” on those days, and their normal long-term default (e.g., Bus) will apply on all other days.

Enrolling Students in a Program

Step 1: Find the Program Card

In the Programs tab, locate the program you want to enroll students in.

Step 2: Click “Add Student”

Each program card has an Add Student button. Click it to open the enrollment modal.

Step 3: Search for the Student

Type the student’s name or ID to find them. Select them from the search results.

Step 4: Choose the Days

This is the key step. You will see the program’s active days listed as checkboxes:

• Check all days the student should attend
• Uncheck any days they should not attend

Tip: You can always come back and adjust a student’s days later. Removing a student from a program and re-enrolling them removes future records while keeping past records intact.

Step 5: Set an End Date (Optional)

If a student is only enrolled for part of the program’s run (e.g., they’re leaving the program early), you can set a custom end date for their enrollment.

Step 6: Save

Click Save. The system will generate a dismissal record for each matching day within the enrollment range. These records will appear immediately in the student’s calendar and in the school History tab.

The Partial Enrollment Indicator

In the Programs tab, students who are enrolled in fewer sessions than the full program are marked with an asterisk (*) in the program card. This is called partial enrollment.

Partial enrollment occurs when:

• A student is enrolled on fewer days than the program runs (e.g., Mon/Wed only in a Mon/Wed/Fri program)
• A student has a custom end date that is before the program’s end date

The asterisk is just a visual indicator — there is no functional difference for partial enrollments. It helps program coordinators see at a glance which students are not on the full program schedule.

The “New to Program” Badge

The first day a student has ever been in a program is marked as their “New to Program” day. In the Roster tab, these students appear with a green “New” badge. This helps staff make sure first-time participants know where to go.

Removing a Student from a Program

1. Go to the Programs tab
2. Find the program card
3. Find the student in the list of enrolled students
4. Click the Remove button next to their name

Removing a student will delete their future dismissal records associated with the program. Past records are preserved so the history remains accurate.

Editing a Program

You can edit a program’s name, dates, days, and notes at any time. However, changing the program’s active days or date range does not automatically update existing student enrollment records. If you change a program’s days after students are already enrolled, you may need to re-enroll affected students to generate the correct records for the new schedule.

Deleting a Program

Deleting a program removes the program definition and its future-dated enrollment records. Past records are preserved in the History tab for audit purposes.

Programs and Other Dismissal Types — Priority

When a student has both a program enrollment and another dismissal type for the same day, the system resolves priority in this order:

1. Absence — always wins; the student shows as Absent even if they have a program that day
2. Temporary override — takes precedence over the program for that one day
3. Program enrollment — applies when no absence or temporary override exists
4. Long-term default — applies only when none of the above exist

This means you can temporarily pull a student out of a program for one day (e.g., they’re leaving early for a dental appointment) by adding a temporary “Early Dismissal” override for that date — without removing them from the program.

Example Scenarios

Scenario 1: After-School Care 5 Days a Week

Setup: Create program “After-School Care” with days Mon–Fri, start Sept 1, end June 15.
Enrollment: For most students, enroll with all 5 days selected.
Result: Every weekday, enrolled students show as “Program.” Their long-term default (bus, pickup, etc.) resumes when the program ends.

Scenario 2: Club That Runs Twice a Week

Setup: Create program “Chess Club” with days Tuesday and Thursday, start Oct 1, end Dec 20.
Enrollment: Enroll each student — since the program only runs Tue/Thu, those are the only options.
Result: Students show as “Program” on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Their regular default applies Mon/Wed/Fri.

Scenario 3: Student Enrolled in a Program but Leaving Early One Day

What to do: Do not remove the student from the program. Go to the Students tab, click Edit, choose Temporary, select “Early Dismissal” and the specific date.
Result: The student shows as “Early Dismissal” for that one day. On all other program days, they still show as “Program.” No changes to the program enrollment are needed.