Your first week: setting up the school
The order to do things in so your first conference runs without surprises — timezone, staff, classes, students and families, then the conference itself.
On this page
SchoolConference has already created your school and your administrator account. Everything below is done from the admin sidebar on the left. Do the steps in this order; each one depends on the one before it.
1. Check the school settings (2 minutes)
Open Organization. Confirm the school name and, most importantly, the timezone. Every conference time — the hours you set, the slots parents book, the reminder emails — is read in this timezone. Set it now; changing it after conferences exist shifts when their slots fall.
2. Add your staff (10 minutes)
Open Staff and add each teacher and office person with their name, email and role:
- Teacher — runs meetings and manages their own availability.
- Office staff — can do everything with families, students, conferences and bookings, but cannot edit staff or school settings.
- School admin — can do everything.
Each person gets an email with a link to choose their password. Until they have, their row says Setup pending; you can resend the email from their row. Nobody has to be added to anything else yet.
3. Create classes and give each one a lead teacher (10 minutes)
Open Classes. Name each class the way parents know it — "3rd Grade – Room 101" is clearer than "3A". Pick the lead teacher: that is who parents book time with for that class. Assistants can be added too; they can join meetings but do not get their own schedule.
A class with no lead teacher cannot be added to a conference, so do not skip this.
4. Load students and families (20 minutes with a spreadsheet)
Open Students → Import CSV. Download the template, fill it in with one row per student — their classes and up to two parents with emails — and click Preview import. The preview shows exactly what will be created, updated or skipped, and why. Then Import.
The import creates families, creates parent accounts, links everyone, and emails each new parent a set-password link. You can fix the spreadsheet and import it again without creating duplicates.
If you would rather do it by hand: create a Family first, add its parents, then add the Student and pick their family and classes.
5. Create the conference (5 minutes)
Open Conferences → Create Conference. Give it a title parents will recognise, the date, the hours teachers are available, how long each meeting runs (15 minutes is typical) and the gap between meetings. Tick the classes taking part. Press Show Help in the dialog for a field-by-field explanation.
It is saved as a draft — parents cannot see it yet.
6. Check it, then publish
Open the conference and click Full page to see each teacher's slot grid. Teachers can block times they cannot make from their own side before you publish. When it looks right, Publish. Publishing emails every parent with a child in the conference's classes, inviting them to book.
7. Watch the bookings come in
The conference's full page lists who has not booked yet, with parent emails, and a button to email them a reminder. The Schedule page shows the whole day as a grid. When a parent phones, book for them from either place — click an open slot, pick the family, done.
On the night
Teachers run their meetings from their Meeting Room. You can watch the Schedule page: booked slots fill in, and "Parent is in the room" appears on the teacher's side when a family has arrived. Afterwards, no-shows and completed meetings show on the Bookings page.