Overview
This section details the available settings for customizing and managing your SchoolEngage platform to better suit your district’s needs.
Table of Contents
Getting Started
Preliminary Steps
Permissions: Before managing district settings, please ensure you have the “District Options” permission located under the “District” section.
To access District Settings: simply navigate to “Settings > District”.
Updating District Settings
You can easily update your district settings by editing any field within the available tabs. Once you've made your changes, click “Save Changes” at the top of the window to apply them.
Undoing Changes
To revert any edits, click the yellow “Undo Changes” button at the top of the window. This will reset any modifications made before saving.
Indicators for Unsaved or Invalid Changes
✏️ A pencil icon will appear next to a tab if there are unsaved changes on that page. Once saved, the icon will disappear.
⚠️ A warning icon will appear next to a tab if there is a missing or invalid field that needs attention.
When the "Save Changes" Button is Disabled
The button will be disabled if:
There are no changes to save.
A tab contains invalid or missing information.
Tip: Hover over the “Save Changes” button to see why it is disabled.
Downloading the Latest Plugin
To get the latest SchoolEngage plugin for PowerSchool, click the blue "Download Plugin" button at the top of the screen.
System Settings
District Details
These settings manage your district’s branding and key details, including the district name and logo displayed to users upon login.
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
District Name | Appears on the home page above the greeting message and district logo. |
District Logo | Shown on the login and home page to represent the district. |
Tip: To update your logo, click "Change Logo", select an image, and crop it before uploading it to the system.
Map Source Extensions
This section allows you to import custom PowerSchool extensions into SchoolEngage. Select your .zip or .xml file using the "Browse" button and then click "Upload". You will then be able to map form fields to your newly imported extension.
Note: For more information on acquiring PowerSchool extensions, see our article on Importing Customizations into SchoolEngage.
Plugin Credentials
These settings allow SchoolEngage to connect and communicate with PowerSchool.
Settings Overview
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
Client ID | A unique identifier found on the Data Provider Configuration page in the SchoolEngage Data plugin. |
Client Secret | A secure key found on the Data Provider Configuration page in the SchoolEngage Data plugin. |
SAML Certificate | The Single Sign-On (SSO) certificate used to enable SSO from PowerSchool. This can be found on the View PowerSchool IDP Metadata page in the SchoolEngage SAML Plugin. |
Changing Client ID and Secret
To update the Client ID or Client Secret, enter the new key in the respective field and save your changes.
To remove both credentials, leave both fields empty and save.
If a Client ID is entered and no Secret Key is stored, a Secret Key is required, and vice versa.
Tip: The system never displays your Secret Key after it has been saved. Once entered, it is securely stored and removed from the page for security purposes.
Parent Portal Creation
These settings configure the PowerSchool account responsible for creating Parent Portal Accounts. If no account is provided, Parent Portal Accounts will not be created.
Settings Overview
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
PowerSchool Account | The username of the PowerSchool account. |
PowerSchool Password | The password for the PowerSchool account. |
Updating or Removing Credentials
To update the account name or password, enter the new value in the respective field and save your changes.
To remove both credentials, leave both fields empty and save.
If an account name is entered, a password is required, and vice versa—both fields must be provided together if no credentials are currently stored.
Tip: The system never displays your stored password for security reasons. Once entered, it is securely stored and removed from the page.
Interface Settings
These settings control what displays on the user interface across SchoolEngage.
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
Show Event Manager | Determines whether the Event Manager option is available on the navigation bar for staff and parents. |
Accounts and Security
Account Settings
These settings manage account functionality and user access within the platform.
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
Allow parents to create student accounts | Grants parents the ability to add students to their account. |
Prevent SchoolEngage accounts from being made | Disables the SchoolEngage registration page, preventing new account creation. Accounts will continue to sync from PowerSchool |
Force authentication through SSO | Requires all users connected to PowerSchool to log in via the access portal. |
Allow independent student account creation | Enables students to register a SchoolEngage account independently. |
Parent Portal Settings
These settings control the Parent Portal Creation process.
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
Parent portal username format | Specifies the username format used when creating parent portal accounts during writeback. |
Important: To ensure this feature functions correctly, verify that the PowerSchool account credentials in the System tab are accurate.
Password Settings
These settings define the minimum password requirements for users.
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
Password Length Requirement | Specifies the minimum number of characters required in a password. If left unspecified, the default is 8 characters. |
Minimum Number of Digits | Determines the minimum number of numeric characters required. |
Minimum Number of Letters | Specifies the minimum number of alphabetic characters required. |
Minimum Number of Special Characters | Sets the minimum number of special symbols required. |
Note: The default minimum password requirements are:
Length: 8 characters
Letters: At least 1
Numbers: At least 1
Symbols: At least 1
Greetings and Messaging
System Messaging
These messages define the system-wide messages that appear for all users.
Message | Description |
|---|---|
Login Message | Displayed on the login page. |
Registration Message | Shown on the account creation page. |
Default Greeting Message | The message displayed on the SchoolEngage home screen after user login. |
Note: The default greeting message will be overridden if a user-specific greeting is set for that user type.
User-Specific Greetings
You can set custom messages for different user types, replacing the default greeting.
Adding a Greeting
Click
Add User Specific Greeting.Expand the newly created greeting.
Select the user type this message applies to.
Enter the text you’d like to display for this user type.
Removing a Greeting
Click the 
Remove button next to the greeting message.
Note: Each user type can have only one custom greeting message. If no custom message is set for a user type, they will see the default greeting.
Contacts
Contact Sync
The Contact Sync allow you to configure which contact information is synced from PowerSchool into SchoolEngage.
Important: The Contact Sync is specifically designed to support SMS sendouts, enabling districts to communicate with emergency contacts. If your district does not use this feature, enabling the sync is unnecessary and may increase the number of parent accounts in the system with no benefit.
Please note, this functionality is not related to the Unlimited Contacts Map Source in any way.
How to Enable Contact Sync
Enable Contacts Sync:
To activate the Contact Sync, check the “Contacts” checkbox.Prerequisite for Toggles:
The Contacts checkbox must be selected before enabling any other toggles.
Note: Only staff members with the appropriate permissions can modify Contact Sync settings.
Toggles and Criteria
Contacts
This is the core contact sync, which pulls in contact information from PowerSchool.
Criteria for Contact Sync:
The contact must have at least one active student (enrollment status of
0).The contact must have a PowerSchool Guardian ID.
The contact must have a PowerSchool Contact ID.
Student-Contact Relationship
This toggle syncs the relationship between students and their contacts from PowerSchool, along with their relationship details.
You can refine the sync by selecting specific flags, such as Active Contacts, Emergency Contacts, or Lives With, to determine which relationships to include.
Communication Behavior: When a message is sent, all contacts associated with a student will receive the message. Note that these flags are not displayed on user profiles.
Example
This configuration will pull in the following data from PowerSchool during the sync process:
Contacts that have at least one of the following flags in PowerSchool:
Active
Emergency
If a contact doesn’t have either Active or Emergency flags, they will be skipped during the sync.
Contact Phones
Enabling this option will sync contact phone numbers from PowerSchool.