PowerSchool

This guide shows you how to set up School Passport with PowerSchool integration, to transfer your data for teachers, parents, and students.

In this article

(Optional) Provide fields for your custom plugin

Download the GG4L Data Sync plugin

Install the GG4L Data Sync plugin

Find the GG4L Data Sync plugin API credentials

Setup PowerSchool app on School Passport

Sync data with PowerSchool

How to reach out to the PowerSchool Support Team

See also

School Passport supports Secure Data Sync with a wide range of the district's student information systems (SIS). One of them is PowerSchool SIS.  PowerSchool is the #1 leading education technology platform for K-12, serving more than 32 million students, 66 million parents, and 100 million users in over 70 countries around the world.

Note:

New data will be automatically synced on the first day of the school calendar at 12 am. You will receive a notification once the new data becomes available.

To access PowerSchool data before the beginning of the new academic year, please submit a request for prior data consumption for support@ggt4l.com.

Configuration of data sync with PowerSchool SIS consists of the following steps:

  1. (If uses custom plugin) Provide fields for your custom plugin

  2. Download the GG4L Data Sync plugin

  3. Install the GG4L Data Sync plugin

  4. Find the GG4L Data Sync plugin API credentials 

  5. Create and test the connection on School Passport

  6. Sync data with PowerSchool

(Optional) Locate the necessary fields for custom plugin

To create a custom plugin, GG4L needs to know which tables in your database contain the necessary fields. Once you locate these fields, please share them with our Support Team.

To find table and field names:

  1. Sign in to your PowerSchool SIS as an admin.
  2. From the Start Page, choose the correct User Role and click View Field List.
    PS 3-jpg-1
  3. You will see all the fields for the chosen role.
  4. Use the Filter field to search for the user field you need:
    • Standard table fields do NOT contain a dot (e.g., Alert_Medical).
    • Specific table fields are formatted as TableName.FieldName (e.g., StudentCoreFields.immunization_dpt).
  5. Copy field name.

After identifying the necessary fields, send them to support@gg4l.com. After you share the fields, we will create a custom GG4L Data Sync plugin and send it back to you.

Caution: Verify Extension Group Names

Be careful with the names of extension groups and their related tables. To verify these names:

  1. Go to the System Management > Data > Database Extensions. 
  2. In Step 1:
    • In the Choose the database table to extend, choose to which table your table belongs.
    • In the Choose Workflow type, select Advanced Extension.
  3. Click Next.
  4. In Step 2, select View only database extension groups for the current functional area and choose an table extension group you want to verify. For example, U_STUDENTS_EXTENSION. Click Next.
  5. In Step 3, verify the tables linked to the selected table extension group. If you see one table, that’s the one you need. If there’s more than one table, you’ll need to check each one. For example, U_DEF_EXT_STUDENTS.

Download the GG4L Data Sync plugin

Download either the default GG4L Data Sync plugin or your custom one that includes the fields you've provided.

Install the GG4L Data Sync plugin

  1. Sign in to your PowerSchool admin console.
  2. Go to System Management > Server > Plugin Configuration.
  3. On the Installed Plugins, click Install.
    PowerSchool SIS_Pugin Management Dashboard_Install
  4. Choose the GG4L Data Sync plugin zip file. 
  5. By default, your plugin is disabled. To activate it, go to the Plugin Configuration page, find GG4L Data Sync, and check the box to activate it in PowerSchool.
    PowerSchool SIS_Plugin Management Dashboard
  6. Click Enable in the popup.
  7. The plugin installation is completed when you see the message: "Plugin successfully enabled".

Find the GG4L Data Sync plugin API credentials

Once installed, please note the Client ID and Client Secret as you will need these for the next step. To find them:

  1. Sign in to your PowerSchool admin console.
  2. Under Setup on the left menu, click System > System Settings > Plugin Management Dashboard > Plugin Configuration.
  3. Find the GG4L Data Sync plugin from the list.
  4. Click Data Provider Configuration.
    PowerSchool_DataProviderConfiguration
  5. Copy your API Credentials (Client ID and Client Secret).
    PowerSchool_ClientId-ClientSecret

Setup PowerSchool app on School Passport

To integrate PowerSchool SIS with School Passport, add PowerSchool app from the gallery and configure it.

Add PowerSchool app from the gallery

  1. Sign in to your School Passport.
  2. Go to Connect > Application Gallery.
  3. Type "PowerSchool" in the search box. Note: There are two PowerSchool applications available: "PowerSchool" (for Native API) and "PowerSchool (OneRoster)" (for OneRoster API).
  4. Select PowerSchool from results panel. 
  5. Click Activate. Wait a few seconds while the app is added to your environment.

Configure PowerSchool app

  1. On the Sync Mode:
    • (Recommended) Select 2-way Sync to provide changes in both ways so any changes (like adding, editing, or deleting) are synced between PowerSchool SIS and School Passport.
    • Select Import to import roster and additional gradebook data from PowerSchool SIS to School Passport. With this mode, PowerSchool is used as a data source for School Passport.
  2. In the Delivery Config, paste API credentials (Service URL, OAuth Client ID, OAuth Client Secret) from PowerSchool.
    image17
  3. (Optional) Click Advanced Settings to configure additional delivery config options:
    • SIS ID Prefix: Use this if you have multiple data sources of the same type, to avoid merging entities with the same SIS IDs.
    • Do not use Contact Module: Disabled by default.  If Contact Module is off, you can parse contact names by using a character between pattern elements. You can apply filters for contacts when the module is on.
    • Parse contact name: Split the contact name by adding a character between parts of the name (like a comma or a space), if the Contact Module disabled.
    • Sync Co-Teachers: PowerSchool supports Co-Teacher roles in sections. By default, GG4L does not import co-teacher data. To enable syncing co-teachers, install a new PS plugin. For details, see Pull Co-Teachers from PowerSchool. To request a new PS plugin, contact support@gg4l.com
    • Bulk Upload Mode: Select to detect deleted records by comparing them with the previous upload.

    • Data will be uploaded from multiple data sources: Select if uploading data from multiple sources (e.g., SIS and Active Directory). Leave clear if uses a single source (e.g., SIS only).
    • Compare records by Domains of Uniqueness: Select to activate duplicate detection.
    • Preview of data upload: Select to manually approve every data sync. New data won’t be available until you accept the changes.

    • Sync Hold Threshold: Set a threshold for significant changes. Updated data won’t be exported until you approve the changes.

    • Enable Prior Data Consumption: Select to access PowerSchool data before the new academic calendar begins.

    • Support Incremental Sync: When this feature is turned on, it activates the Incremental Sync/Import mode. In this mode, the system only imports or syncs data that has changed since the last time you performed a sync. To turn it on, please contact support@gg4l.com.

    • Terms Merge with Title Concatenation: Select to merge terms with the same title, start date, and end date, and format their titles as: {term name} ({start date} {end date}).

  4. (Optional) Click Test Connection to verify the connection with PowerSchool SIS.
  5. Click Next.
  6. In the Schools Mapping, select the schools you want to sync with School Passport. Drag the slider for individual schools or click Auto Mapping to select all. Click Next.
  7. In the Attributes Mapping, set the attributes for data synchronization between PowerSchool and School Passport. Click Next. Tip: You can finish the configuration of the PowerSchool App in this step.
  8. (Optional) In the Data Requirements, choose how to handle missing data attributes: Report if Missing or Skip if Missing. Click Next.
  9. (Optional) In the Filter Rules, set up filtering for seven entity types: student, contact, teacher, course, class, calendar, and admin. Use templates or create custom filters for more accuracy. Click Next.
  10. (Optional) In the Domains of Uniqueness, define unique parameters that are required to be unique to avoid duplicates. The default unique attributes are First Name, Last Name, and Email, but you can add others. See Domains of Uniqueness. Click Next
  11. (Optional) In the Master Fields, configure which attributes from different data sources will be primary to avoid data duplication. See Master Fields. Click Next.

  12. (Optional) In the Sync Schedule, set how often to sync (daily or weekly), specify the time, and choose an expiration date for the sync. Click Next.

  13. (Optional) In the Done, click Finish
  14. Wait a few seconds for the app configuration to apply, after which you will be redirected to the PowerSchool application dashboard.

Sync data with PowerSchool

Once the PowerSchool integration is set up, you can run a sync with PowerSchool SIS at any time. 

We recommend running a sync if you have new or updated data in PowerSchool for School Passport. Please note, that if a teacher or student is removed from the sync, their enrollments will also be deleted.

To run a sync with PowerSchool SIS,  go to the PowerSchool app in School Passport and click Run Sync.

image8

If you have any questions about the PowerSchool app configuration, please reach out to GG4L Customer Support.

How to reach out to the PowerSchool Support Team

PowerSchool no longer accepts support requests via email. Please follow the instructions below to reach out for assistance.

For Naviance Customers 

If you use Naviance, here’s how to contact PowerSchool support:

  1. Log into Naviance.
  2. Go to the Help menu and select Explore Our Community & Contact Support.
  3. Alternatively, visit the Naviance Help Center and click Contact Support.

For Other Products

For other PowerSchool products, use the Case Portal to submit your request:

  1. Log in to the PowerSchool Community.
  2. Click Contact Support at the top.
  3. Select Case Portal.
  4. Click New Case, fill in the required information, and submit.

See also

Activate Grade Sync with PowerSchool