The new software, School Loop, is composed of a number of different applications, which provide members of the school community with information about school events, class assignments and tests. School Loop is available to the whole school, but teachers are not yet required to use it, according to counselor May Choi.

The school staff is being trained in School Loop’s various uses and is encouraged to become familiar with it. As cited in September’s The Lowell, the school’s goal was to have teachers post their first quarter grades online. The first week of October, 90 percent plus of the teachers submitted their grades to the District electronically through School Loop, according to assistant principal of building and grounds Michael Yi.

Since teachers have begun applying this program in their classes, students have developed a variety of opinions about it. “My teachers still write homework on the board, but I started using School Loop when my teacher started to post up grades,” junior Ashley Zhang said.

A number of students find the program useful for staying organized. “Not every student remembers test dates and homework assignments, so there is an advantage of using it to double check the dates for important events,” Zhang said.

In terms of grades, one benefit for students is that they are updated on new information. However, the program does not eliminate the occurrence of simple errors when entering grades. “It’s hard to keep it regulated while at the same time maintaining accuracy if everyone is not consistant in their School Loop use,” English teacher Stephanie Crabtree said. In one accidental situation, a student’s grade on School Loop appeared two letter grades below the record in Crabtree’s grade book due to technical difficulties in its extra credit function. While some students have responded positively to School Loop, others feel differently. “School Loop is hard to navigate,” senior Eda He said. “It took me three minutes to find my grades the first time I used it.”

Peer-Resource Coordinator Adee Horn is excited that the program will help her more easily communicate with her students and teachers. “I learned how to send e-mails to the whole Lowell staff, which is very convenient for getting information out about Peer-Mentoring, CSF and other Peer programs.” Horn also says that once she does the front-end work, doing things like grading assignments and submitting grades becomes much faster.

Some students continue to feel that because School Loop provides parents with a direct view of all the student’s assignments and grades for every class, it invades their privacy. “Overall School Loop is good, but parents shouldn’t know everything,” sophomore Kelly Phan said.

School Loop also provides information to teachers, but only for their assigned students. Teachers use it to see the student’s workloads and how they are doing in all their classes. Though privacy is a major concern for many students, many teachers appreciate this feature because it helps them know which students need more attention in their classes. “I can figure out which students need more support and attention,” Crabtree said.