Initial setup

Rollout order for a new school - academic spine first, then people, then operations - with the role that owns each phase and what breaks when a phase is taken out of order.

Getting started guide for day and boarding schools.

Last updated August 29, 2026

A successful rollout configures shared foundations before module-specific data. The sequence is not a preference; each phase writes the records the next one attaches to. Skipping the academic spine causes downstream problems in attendance counts, fee due dates, and exam scheduling that are far more expensive to correct than to prevent, because by then real marks and payments are already attached to the wrong structures.

Set aside the fact that most phases can be done in an afternoon. The slow part is agreement: which grades exist, what the sections are called, when the terms start and end, and which fees apply to whom. Have those decisions made before anyone opens a settings screen, and keep the header Docs icon open for the go-live checklist while you configure.

Recommended setup sequence

Setup phases - complete each phase before the next where dependencies exist.

Phase checklist

Phase	Key screens	Outcome
1 - Identity	/settings/school-info, /users, /roles	Active school profile, admin users, role templates
2 - Academic spine	/academic-system, /academic-year, /holiday-master	Current year, terms, working days defined
3 - Structure	/classes, /subjects, /classrooms	Grade sections and subject catalog ready
4 - People	/school-staff, /students, /parents	Roster linked; later enrollments can auto-invite parent portals
5 - Schedule	/timetable, /teachers/assignments	Published timetable for current term
6 - Money & intake	/fees/fee-types, /admissions/cycles	Fee structures and admission cycle live
7 - Ops polish	/settings/email-test, /activity-log, cron script	SMTP proven; SIEM export available; daily cron wired

What breaks when a phase is taken out of order

Phase skipped or rushed	What goes wrong	Cost of fixing it later
Academic year and calendar	Attendance percentages and fee due dates are computed against the wrong working days	High - every figure already recorded has to be recalculated
Classes and sections	Students import into placements that do not match the school, and fees generate against them	High - roster corrections plus regenerating fee instances
Class teacher on each class	Nobody can mark the register even though teachers have subject assignments	Low - set it at /classes
Parent linking	Families sign in and see nothing, because portal APIs filter on the linked child	Low, but it arrives as a flood of calls to the office
SMTP proven on the live host	Receipts, magic links, and admissions correspondence fail one at a time	Low to fix, slow to notice

Common questions

Quick answers in plain language.

Why must the academic calendar be set up before anything else?+

Because attendance percentages, fee due dates, leave balances, exam scheduling, and the daily jobs all read working-day flags from the calendar. Configure the active academic year and sync holidays at /academic-calendar first; changing it later means recalculating everything that has already been recorded against it.

Which role can complete each part of setup?+

School information, branding, and message templates need Platform Admin, Principal, Vice Principal, or Admin. The email test at /settings/email-test is narrower still - Platform Admin or Admin only. Bulk user import is Platform Admin alone. Plan who is in the room accordingly.

Teachers have subject assignments but cannot mark attendance. What is missing?+

The class teacher. The register follows classTeacherId and coClassTeacherId on the class record at /classes, not the subject assignments at /teachers/assignments. It is the single most common ordering mistake in a new setup.