Du Quoin Schools Hit the On-Ramp of the Super Highway in a Big Way

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Du Quoin Community Unit District 300 will hit the on-ramp of the Internet's super highway in a big way this year.

District technology personnel Gary Brock, Tim Craft and Mike Riggio are getting ready to launch a new Du Quoin schools website that includes what's known as a web portal that over time will allow students and parents to access newsletters, calendars of events, e-Alerts and, in time, grades and attendance records.

The personal records of student would be password-protected so that only the students and/or parents and guardians can access that part of the portal.

Teachers got a trial-sized introduction to posting their grades in a data base at each of the two district buildings last year. Some teachers caught on quickly. Others admit their prowess on the internet is a work in progress.

All teachers at the Du Quoin High School, the elementary school and the middle school will complete training on electronic grade book program during teacher workshops on Friday and again on Monday.

At the outset, grades and attendance information will go into a common database in each building's main office and guidance department.

As the database builds, it will be able to pull together attendance and disciplinary information about each student in the district.

As students leave the middle school and come to the high school, their records can now "travel" with them.

The student file can also include emergency telephone numbers, medical data that a parent might want to supply to the district and any other information that might be important for the district to now.

The website should go live by Labor Day and and other features will be added as they are developed.