School Directory Management Portal User Guide for: Independent Charter School

Click the headers of the accordions below to navigate to different sections of this page:

User Guide

The Home Screen

“Application Open/Closed”

Each year the information submitted to DPI from the school Directory applications is used for a wide variety of purposes. Many people throughout the state create external data requests for Directory based information. Additionally, Directory information is compiled in over 80 reports that get submitted to the U.S. Department of Education.

In order to process data as it changes from one school year to the next, the Wisconsin School Directory Management Portal application has to ‘close,’ meaning that it cannot accept submitted data for that time. This annual event usually takes place sometime between mid-December until about mid-January, when the application re-opens.

If you log into the application during a ‘closed’ period, the icon that appears green and says “Application open” in the screenshot above will instead be a red color and will state “Application closed.” While you will be able to log in and view the home screen, as long as the icon reads “Application closed”, users will not be able to make any data edits within the application.

If you have an urgent change to be made to your Directory information, but the application is Closed, please submit a Help Ticket. Select ‘School Directory - Updates” from the application drop-down list, and explain your needs in the free text field.

It is also important to note that when the School Directory Management Portal reopens (again, roughly in January of each calendar year), that the Directory is then accepting information for the following school year. For example, when the School Directory Management Portal opens in February of 2024, it is open to accept data for the 2024-25 school year (even though February, 2024 is still in the calendar time frame for the 2023-24 school year).

• Application Open/Closed data element page

“Manage Data” Icon and the “Submit Review” Button

Follow all the steps provided within the User Guide sections below. To edit and update information in the School Directory Management Portal, you'll need to click the purple pencil icon in the upper right corner of each tile that appears on your home screen. This is referred to as a 'Manage Data' icon through the user guide. Clicking this icon will bring you to screens where you can edit and update your School Directory data. 

Do not click the 'Submit Review' button until you have reviewed and updated data on all tiles and screens within the School Directory Management Portal application. If you submit data that has not been reviewed, you will likely receive validation messages.

The Home Screen and Breadcrumbs as Navigation:

The home screen of the SD Management Portal displays tiles, each with a unique header. Each tile needs to be reviewed annually. Smaller changes that occur through the year can be made periodically during the application’s “Open” time frame.

To edit information on any tile, you must click the ‘Manage’ icon. Clicking the Manage icon in the upper right corner of each tile will open a new screen. All screens are editable except for the basic information screen.

The tile headers are used to create the ‘breadcrumbs’. Breadcrumbs are a list of screen names, separated by a ‘caret’ (>) symbol. They will appear across the top of every screen. Use the breadcrumbs to navigate through this application.

Clicking a word in the breadcrumb trail will take you to that screen. The breadcrumbs displayed are dynamic and change as you navigate screens. The breadcrumb path always starts from the ‘Home’ screen. Click the word ‘Home’ to return to the home screen at any time.

The number of tiles appearing on the home screen depends on the type of agency accessing the SD Management Portal (i.e., public LEA, CESA, County CDEB, private school, State Agency Institute, or ICS Governance Board). For information on Agency Types that report through the School Directory Management Portal, visit the School Directory Management Portal: User Guide landing page.

Every time the “Manage” icon appears in this user guide, you will get a numbered list of tasks to complete on that screen:

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Pay attention to the “Manage” icon throughout this user guide.

Basic Information Tile

This is a view only tile. It does allow users to click the “Manage” button, but the information displayed on this tile must be edited at the school level, using the Public Schools tile.

The information on this tile and its corresponding screen is agency level information.

Basic Information Tile Screen

This is a view only screen. Changes needed to the items bolded at the top (School District/Agency Name, Legal Name, Agency Type, LEA Code, CESA, and County) must be requested through a Help Ticket. The person submitting this ticket must have the user role of “Directory Update” because this role signifies they have authority to request these changes. This is indicated by the message highlighted across the top of the dark gray section of the screen:

• Agency Name data element page
• Legal Name data element page
• Agency Types that report through the School Directory Management Portal are defined on the School Directory Management Portal: User Guide landing page.
• LEA Code data element page
• CESA data element page
• County data element page

• Customer Services Team Help Ticket: click this if you need information changed on the School Directory School Basic Information screen that you cannot edit yourself. 

Low Grade and High Grade:

These values are set based on the parameters given from each of the schools within your agency. Changes to this information are completed within the screens under the Public Schools tile by selecting the specific schools from the listing. More details are available within the Public Schools tile section of this user guide.

NOTE: The lowest possible grade is four-year-old kindergarten. PK is not a grade level, as it is not defined as a grade by state statute 115.02.

• Visit the Low grade/High grade data element page for more information. 
• Visit the Educational Service (PK) data element page for more details on PK.

Educational Service

Independent Charter Schools are EXCLUDED from providing services to students who meet PK Criteria, as are Unified high schools, high schools and middle schools. As such, the radio button is defaulted to No and should stay set to No. 

• Visit the Educational Service (PK) data element page for more details on PK. 
• Visit the Grade Level Placement data element page for more details on PK.

Grades Offered: 

You’ll notice an expander icon for this section. It looks like a ‘plus’ sign. The plus sign indicates there is more to see. Once clicked, the window expands and displays a list of all the grade levels offered across all the schools within your agency, again, based on the parameters given from each of the schools within your agency.

You’ll need to make changes to grade levels and PK services offered at the school level. To do so, click ‘Home’ on the breadcrumbs to return to the home screen, clicking on the Public Schools tile, and then selecting the specific schools from the listing. More details are available within the Public Schools tile section of this user guide.

• Visit the Educational Service (PK) data element page for more details on PK.
• Visit the Grade Level Placement data element page for more details on PK.
• Visit the Grades Offered data element page for more details.

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Make note of anything from this screen that is incorrect so that you can address it in another tile/screen. Annotating it now will be helpful, especially if you need to submit a Help Ticket later on.

2. Click ‘Home’ from the breadcrumbs, and move on to the Address and Contact Person Tile on the home screen.

Address and Contact Person Tile

The Address and Contacts tile is below the Basic Information tile on the home screen.

The information on this tile and its corresponding screen is agency level information.

 

Update Address and Contact Tile Screen

This screen is editable. Changes need to be made to any and all fields that require updating.

For the Contact Information section, remember to provide agency level information for the following fields: Phone, Fax, Email, Web address.

• For more details about these fields, please visit the Contact Information data element page.

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Review the accuracy of your contact information at the district level. This should be information for the District/Central Offices, or for the District Administrator:

    

   Phone

    

   Fax

    

   Email address

    

   Web address/URL 

NOTE: For ICS Governance Board, if contact information is provided for the District Administrator (or the front office, make sure this information matches the name of the person listed on the home screen Staff Contacts tile.

There are also three address types to manage on this screen: physical, mailing, and shipping.

 

For the Physical Address section, remember to provide agency level information for the following fields: Prefix, Street Address, Location, City, State, Zip Code.

• For more details about these fields, please visit the Address data element page.

Notice the boxes at the end of the physical address section. Some independent charter schools also use their agency level physical address (e.g., ‘Central Office’ or ‘Main Office’ address) as the mailing address and the shipping address for the agency.

You may choose to check one, both, or neither of these boxes as they apply to your agency level needs.

• Mailing Address: check box available if same as physical address
• Shipping Address: check box available if same as physical address

If both boxes are left unchecked, you will need to enter information for both the mailing and shipping address.

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Review the accuracy of your addresses.

2. Make sure you follow the details provided about location if your agency's location is in a difficult to locate area.

3. Either click the buttons to make the mailing/shipping address the same as the mailing address, or enter separate mailing/shipping address information.

4. Save changes.

5. Click ‘Home’ from the breadcrumbs, and move on to the Staff Contacts Tile.

Staff Contacts Tile

The Staff Contacts tile displays the agency level contact that was provided on the previous tile, the Address and Contact Person tile. This should be the person holding the role with the most authority within your school agency. For independent charter schools, the person listed here should be the District Administrator.

This tile brings you to the Staff Contacts screen. There are a number of mandatory contact types required by DPI. If you are missing any, you will see a notification on the home screen Staff Contacts tile.

Mandatory Contacts Tile Screen

This screen is editable. Make changes to any and all fields that require updating. Address any notifications posted across the top of the screen for missing contact types.

For the Mandatory Contacts section, remember that this is still information required for the agency level. Make sure you are not entering school level contacts. However, in some smaller sized LEAs, there may be some overlap in positions (i.e., one person may hold multiple position titles). 

Mandatory Contacts for an independent charter school Include:

• ICS Governance Board/Legal Entity Primary Contact (Charter Management Organization Primary Contact)
• Library Media Specialist
• Special Education
• Business Services
• Visit the Staff/Mandatory Contacts data element page for more information.

Based on state statutes and other regulations, collecting contact information from various staff positions is required of DPI. These positions can and should be edited to ensure you submit current and accurate contact information to DPI. These same contacts cannot be deleted because they are required. As such, the edit icon is visible, but the trash can (‘delete’) icon is not available. When a specific contact type, such as the District Administrator, displays these icons, it indicates that it is a required position.

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Review the accuracy of your mandatory contact information.

2. Click the purple edit icon to make changes.

3. Click the “+Add Contact” button to add any missing mandatory contacts. Steps provided below.

Add Contacts Screen

Each Agency Type has a specific list of mandatory contacts, as listed above. If your agency does not have anyone listed for a given mandatory contact, you will need to provide the information into the Directory. You can do this by clicking the “+ Add Contact” button. Once you click the “+ Add Contact” button from the Staff Contacts screen, the Add Contacts screen will display. This should be annotated in the breadcrumbs: Home > Staff Contacts > Add Contact.

• Visit the Staff/Mandatory Contacts data element page for more information.

To add a new contact, complete the following steps:

1. Select the Contact Type for all required mandatory contacts, especially if they are missing.
2. Select an appropriate Local Title. If your specific Local Title is not available in the list, please submit a Help Ticket to the Customer Services Team.
3. Enter: First Name*, Last Name*, Middle Name, Gender, Suffix, Position Status*, Phone Number*, Phone Extension, Fax Number, and Email* for the current contact person. Items marked with an asterisk are required.
   • For more information, visit the Staff/Mandatory Contact Type data element page.
4. For position Status, if the position is neither vacant nor an interim, leave that field blank.
5. Below these fields there will be three buttons: Cancel, Clear, Add.
6. Click the “Add” button to save the new Mandatory Contact.

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Add all required contacts.

2. Return to the Staff Contacts screen using the breadcrumbs to make sure your new contact appears in the listing.

3. Repeat as needed until all mandatory contacts are listed.

4. Return to the Staff Contacts screen using the breadcrumbs to review the Other Contacts section.

Other Contacts

Below the list of mandatory contacts are additional positions that you can post as other contacts. Again, make sure you are only adding agency level contacts on this screen.

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Ensure all other contacts listed are accurate and current. 

2. Edit or delete as needed for an accurate display of agency level staff positions.

3. OPTIONAL: Add additional other contacts.

NOTE: Click ‘Home’ from the breadcrumbs, and move on to the Public Schools Tile when all Staff Contacts have been managed and updated to reflect current school year data.

Public Schools Tile

The Public Schools tile displays farthest to the right on the home screen.

Notice the small number in brackets next to the header of the Public Schools tile (e.g., [3]). This is the total number of schools within your agency. Each school within your agency will appear on the Schools screen when you click the ‘Manage’ icon.

The home screen tile displays the names of the first six, alphabetically listed schools in the agency. Underneath these six schools, providing that this agency has more than six schools) is an indicator of how many more schools exist that are not displayed on this tile (e.g., + 32 More). This number added to the six schools on display should add up to the total number of schools in your agency (e.g., 6 + 32 = 38 total schools). The screenshot here displays for an agency that has three schools total, so there is no number displayed below the list.

Enter school level/building level data on the screens available from this tile. Each school needs to be updated each school year.

Click the ‘Manage’ icon to view the Schools screen.

Schools Screen:

This screen displays all of the schools within your agency displayed across two panels. The panel on the left side of the screen provides a search bar and a school type code. The panel on the right displays all of the schools in alphabetical order. Notice also that a number appears at the bottom of the results, indicating the total number of schools (e.g., 3 of 3 displayed).

To locate a school, you can scroll through the alphabetical listing on the right side of the screen. The search bar, however, allows you to locate a specific school in your agency by typing the name. This helps larger agencies find a specific school more quickly.

You can also use the School Type filter to locate all the schools of each type (elementary, combined elementary/middle, middle school, high school). Clicking the school type from the left panel will display all of those school types in the right panel, alphabetically. When using this search method, a number will appear at the bottom of the results, indicating how many of the total schools belong to the type you searched (e.g., when this agency clicks the high school type, search results display 2 of 3, meaning this agency has 2 high schools).

To proceed with your data management of each school, you must edit this building level data one school at a time. Locate the school you want, and click on its hyperlinked name from the panel on the right. Notice how the breadcrumbs expand on the screen that now displays building level data for the school you have selected (e.g., Seeds of Health Elementary).

This school-specific screen displays three (familiar) tiles:

• School Basic Information
• Address
• Staff Contacts
• Kindergarten Schedule

The data displayed on these tiles is all school building level information.

Click the 'Manage' icon on the School Basic Information tile to view that screen.

School Basic Information Screen for a Selected School:

This screen is editable. Make changes to any and all fields that require updating.

The top eight fields are view only. If changes need to be made to the items bolded at the top (School District/Agency Name, Legal Name, Agency Type, LEA Code, CESA, and County), this must be requested through a Help Ticket. The person submitting this ticket must have the user role of “Directory Update” because this role signifies they have authority to request these changes.

• Agency Name data element page
• Legal Name data element page
• Agency Types that report through the School Directory Management Portal are defined on the School Directory Management Portal: User Guide landing page.
• LEA Code data element page
• CESA data element page
• County data element page
• School Type - School Type data element page
• Virtual School Status - Virtual School Status data element page

Use the drop-down menus to provide current and correct building-level information for the following data elements:

• Low Grade/High Grade - Low grade/High grade data element page

  • These selections must be reviewed for the 2024-25 school year due to changes in the code PK. Read the Educational Service section for information on reporting PK.

    • NOTE: PK is no longer listed in the Low Grade, High Grade drop downs. The removal of PK from the grade level list was done so because PK is not a grade level, as defined by  state statute 115.02.

    • The lowest possible grade is four-year-old kindergarten.

  • Educational Service: PK is not a grade. PK is a code, signifying students who: have not reached the age for first grade (aged 3, 4 or 5), and are not enrolled in K4 or KG, have an IEP, and receive primary educational services from the LEA/Agency.

  • Independent Charter Schools are excluded from providing services to students who meet PK criteria. Select 'No' for the question, 'Does your school offer this service?'

  • Visit the Educational Service (PK) data element page for more details on PK.

  • Visit the Grade Level Placement data element page for more details on PK.

• Grades Offered/Served - Grades Offered data element page 
  • Same as the view only, Basic Information screen, the Grades Offered section has an expander icon that looks like a ‘plus’ sign. The plus sign indicates there is more to see. Once clicked, the window expands and displays a list of all the grade levels your independent charter school offers.
  • Click the checkboxes to select or unselect grades for this specific school.

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Enter current and correct data for each of the fields:

    

   Low Grade

    

   High Grade

    

   Educational Options (PK)

2. Save changes.

3. Click the School Name from the breadcrumbs, and move on to the Address tile.

School-specific Update for Address and Contact Screen:

This screen is editable. Make changes to any and all fields that require updating. Add and save any notifications posted across the top of the screen for missing contact types.

For the Contact Information section, remember to provide building level information for the following fields: Phone, Fax, Email, Web address.

For more details about these fields, please visit the Contact Information data element page.

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Review the accuracy of your contact information.

2. Provide contact information for the front office of the school building, or it's equivalent if there is no front office. 

There are also three address types to manage on this screen: physical, mailing, and shipping.

For the Physical Address section, remember to provide information specific to the school named in the breadcrumbs. Complete all of the following fields: Prefix, Street Address, Location, City, State, Zip Code.

For more details about these fields, please visit the Address data element page.

Notice the boxes at the end of the physical address section to repeat the physical address as either or both the shipping and mailing address. You may choose to click one, both, or neither of these boxes as they apply to your school building level needs.

• Mailing Address: check box available if same as physical address
• Shipping Address: check box available if same as physical address

If both boxes are left unchecked, you will need to enter information for both the mailing and shipping address.

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Review the accuracy of your addresses.

2. Make sure you follow the details provided about location if your school’s location is in a difficult to locate area.

3. Either check the boxes to make the mailing/shipping address the same as the mailing address, or enter separate mailing/shipping address information.

4. Save changes.

5. Click the School Name from the breadcrumbs, and confirm that everything in the Address tile is displaying correctly.

6. Move on to the Staff Contacts Tile.

School-specific Staff Contacts Screen:

This screen is editable. Make changes to any and all fields that require updating. Add and save any notifications posted across the top of the screen for missing contact types.

For the Mandatory Contacts section, remember that you are now entering school building level contact information.

Mandatory Contacts for an ICS:

• ICS Primary Contact: This is usually the Building Principal.
• Visit the Staff/Mandatory Contacts data element page for more information.

Based on state statutes and other regulations, collecting contact information from various staff positions is required of DPI. These positions can and should be edited to ensure you submit current and accurate contact information to DPI.

These same contacts cannot be deleted because they are required. As such, the edit icon is visible, but the trash can (‘delete’) icon is not available. When a specific contact type, such as the District Administrator, displays these icons, it indicates that it is a required position.

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Review the accuracy of your mandatory contact information.

2. Click the purple edit icon to make changes.

3. Click the “+Add Contact” button to add any missing mandatory contacts.

Add Contacts Screen

When clicking the “+ Add Contact” button from the Staff Contacts screen, the Add Contacts screen will display. This should be annotated in the breadcrumbs: Home > Schools > Name of Selected School > Staff Contacts > Add Contact.

• Visit the Staff/Mandatory Contacts data element page for more information.

To add a new contact, complete the following steps:

1. Select the Contact Type for all required mandatory contacts, especially if they are missing.
2. Select an appropriate Local Title. If your specific Local Title is not available in the list, please submit a Help Ticket to the Customer Services Team.
3. Enter: First Name*, Last Name*, Middle Name, Gender, Suffix, Position Status, Phone Number*, Phone Extension, Fax Number, and Email* for the current contact person. Items marked with an asterisk are required.
   • For more details about these fields, please visit the Contact Information data element page.
4. For position Status, if the position is neither vacant nor an interim, leave that field blank.
5. Below these fields there will be three buttons: Cancel, Clear, Add. 
6. Click the “Add” button to save the new mandatory contact.

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Add all fields for the required contact.

2. Return to the Staff Contacts screen using the breadcrumbs to make sure your new contact appears in the listing.

3. Repeat as needed until all contacts are listed.

4. Return to the Staff Contacts screen using the breadcrumbs to review the Other Contacts section.

Other Contacts

Below the list of mandatory contacts are additional positions that you can post as other contacts. Again, make sure you are only adding school building level contacts on this screen.

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Ensure all other contacts listed are accurate and current.

2. Edit or delete as needed for an accurate display of agency level staff positions.

   • OPTIONAL: Add additional other contacts.

3. Return to the School-specific screen (e.g., Seeds of Health Elementary) to review that the Public School Primary Contact Person: name, school phone number, and email address all appear accurately in the Staff Contacts tile.

NOTE: Click ‘Home’ from the breadcrumbs, and move on to the Kindergarten Schedule Tile when all Staff Contacts have been managed and updated to reflect current school year data.

Kindergarten Schedule Tile, for Elementary Schools Only

This Kindergarten Schedule tile does not appear on the home screen for independent charter schools.  Instead, this information can be found on the school level for ICS buildings that have elementary grades (i.e., an ICS high school will not display this tile).This tile displays a school’s four-year-old kindergarten and five-year-old kindergarten schedules. The information on this tile and its corresponding screen is building level information.

Kindergarten Schedule Tile Screen

This screen is editable. Changes need to be made to each of the three sections:

• 4-Year-Old Kindergarten
• Location of 4-Year-Old Kindergarten: Program Setting Definitions
• 5-Year-Old Kindergarten

The options you select here will appear on the Kindergarten Schedule tile that is on the home screen.

This is a unique screen from the others in that it contains several drop-down menus, each one requiring you to make a selection about the kindergarten options available at the agency level.

Each of the sections has an expander icon for this section. It looks like a ‘plus’ sign. The plus sign indicates there is more to see. Once clicked, the window expands and displays a list of options. Select what is available within your agency. Click the “minus” sign to reduce that section back down to a header.

• Visit the Kindergarten Schedule data element page for more details.

4-Year-Old Kindergarten (K4)

There are thirteen options available to choose from in this section. You may only select one of these options.

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Make your K4 selection.

   • OPTIONAL:Add notes.

   • OPTIONAL: Minimize the 4-Year-Old Kindergarten header.

2. Move on to the Program Setting Definitions section.

Location of 4-Year-Old Kindergarten: Program Setting Definitions

There are thirteen options within options in this drop-down section. You may only select one of these options. 

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Make your K4 selection.

   • OPTIONAL: Add notes.

   • OPTIONAL: Minimize the Program Settings Definitions header.

2. Move on to the 5-Year-Old Kindergarten section

5-Year-Old Kindergarten (KG)

There are three options available to choose from in this section. You may only select one of these options. 

To Do: What Needs to Be Managed

1. Make your KG selection.

   • OPTIONAL: Add notes.

   • OPTIONAL: Minimize the 5-Year-Old Kindergarten header.

2. Click the “Save” button at the bottom of the screen.

3. Click ‘Home’ from the breadcrumbs, and verify that the proper selections appear in the home screen Kindergarten Schedule tile.

4. Make corrections as needed.

5. Move on to the Public School tile from the home screen.

Return to Home Screen: Submit Review Button

Across the very top of the home screen is an instructional message.

It reads:

Data has not been verified for the 2024-25 school year. Review the data on all tiles and subsequent screens, make changes as needed, and save your changes. Areas with missing mandatory data will display an error message. When done, click the Submit Review button to mark that your data has been managed.

Clicking this “Submit Review” button indicates to DPI that you have reviewed (updated and saved) all data for the current school year. You have clicked every tile from the home screen and gone through every screen, saving changes as updates along the way.

Clicking this “Submit Review” button means it’s time to celebrate Data Quality! Woo Hoo!!

Once you click this button, you can still make changes with the SD Management Portal as needed until the application closes (typically, at the end of each calendar year). The application opens again within a few weeks of the closing.

• Visit the Submit Review data element page for more information.

For more information, visit the School Directory Management Portal: Annual Required Updates webpage.

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Didn't Find What You Needed?

The Customer Services Team is here to help!

Please submit a Help Ticket so we may better assist you.

Choose “School Directory - Updates” from the Application dropdown, and one of our dedicated support staff will reach out to you.

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