When Springfield Public Schools began enrolling students in online classes years ago, the team shared a lot of information on Post-it notes and Google sheets. But after SPS Online transitioned to Launch and began serving hundreds and then thousands of students statewide, things had to change. “I used to make a joke that we ran a virtual school off of Post-it notes,” says director Dr. Nichole Lemmon. “But we grew really quickly, and we knew we had to create our own platform as soon as we were able.” 

Enter Launchpad, our custom-designed online enrollment and reporting portal designed specifically for Launch and developed by a group of some of our most tech-savvy team members. Launchpad hosts enrollment, grade reporting and invoicing for our 340 (and growing) partner districts, and our tech team is continuously working to make it an even better tool based on district needs and feedback.

THE BASICS

You need a Launchpad account if you are a partner district liaison who:

• Enrolls students
• Needs access to grade reports
• Is in charge of invoicing

How to Enroll Students

After registering for a Launchpad account, liaisons simply click “Manage,” then “Create Student” to create a student’s Launchpad profile. Student guardian information, address, MOSIS ID, etc., is all required when creating a student in Launchpad for the first time.

UPDATE: While this information is required the first time a student is enrolled, liaisons who enroll students in subsequent years do not have to re-enter this info. A quick way to find the student is by entering the student’s MOSIS ID. This was one of our first Launchpad updates and is much appreciated!

Sharing Enrollment Reports

By clicking “Manage,” then “Students,” liaisons are able to see all students their district has enrolled. Student enrollment reports are automatically emailed to students before courses start, and the reports are always available to download in Launchpad.

UPDATE: Districts are now able to download all of their student enrollment reports at one time by going to “Reports,” then “Enrollment Printouts.” They can also download reports for specific buildings.

Invoices

When published, invoices are automatically emailed to the partner district’s billing contact. 

UPDATE: Districts are now able to have multiple billing contacts in Launchpad. This is a big benefit for districts in which one person reviews the invoices and another pays the bill.

Grade Reports

Launch publishes both quarter/progress grades and semester grades. Launch liaisons are able to download these reports in Launchpad. 

Attendance Reports

Liaisons should download attendance reports to track student progress. They can download this by clicking “Reports,” then “Enrollments & Attendance.” The “Participation” column on this report shares the number of days since a student has last logged in. If a liaison determines to drop students due to lack of participation, they should also do so in Launchpad.

Launchpad Guides

If it’s time to enroll and you don’t have this magazine handy, have no fear—Launchpad has a “Guides” tab that shares helpful guides with directions on enrollment, monitoring, state reporting and more.