openSIS provides different portals for different user types. Each portal shows the tools, records, and workflows relevant to that user’s role.
Administrators, teachers, students, and parents do not see the same interface because their responsibilities and access levels are different. This role-based portal structure helps openSIS protect sensitive information while giving each user the features they need.
This article explains the key portal-related terms used across openSIS, including the Administrator Portal, Teacher Portal, Student Portal, Parent Portal, and common portal-side academic, attendance, grading, communication, and access terms.
A Portal is a user-specific access area in openSIS.
Each portal is designed around the role and responsibilities of the user. The available menus, records, and actions depend on the user’s profile type and permissions.
openSIS includes different portal experiences, such as:
Role-Based Portal Access means that each user sees only the information and features allowed for their role.
For example, teachers can access their assigned course sections, attendance, assignments, and grades, while students can view only their own academic information.
This protects sensitive student, staff, academic, billing, and institutional data.
The Administrator Portal is the primary interface for Super Administrators, School Administrators, and other authorized administrative users.
It provides access to academic, operational, communication, attendance, grading, billing, reporting, and settings workflows based on the user’s profile type and permissions.
Administrators commonly use this portal to manage:
Navigation is role-based, and the left sidebar gives access to configured modules.
The Teacher Portal is the teacher-facing access area in openSIS.
It is available to users with a Teacher or Homeroom Teacher profile. Teachers use this portal to manage classroom workflows such as viewing assigned courses, taking attendance, creating assignments, entering grades, reviewing student information, and accessing teacher-related reports.
The Teacher Portal may include access to:
Administrative system settings are restricted from the Teacher Portal.
Homeroom Teacher Portal Access refers to the portal experience available to users assigned as Homeroom Teachers.
A Homeroom Teacher generally has similar access to a standard Teacher, with additional homeroom-related responsibilities. Depending on the institution’s setup, this may include extended student oversight or effort grade entry.
The Student Portal is the self-service access area for students.
Students use this portal to view their own academic information, personal profile, course schedule, attendance records, grades, assignments, report cards, course requests, and other student-related information made available by the institution.
Students cannot view other students’ records.
Depending on the institution’s configuration, students may be able to view:
The Parent Portal is the access area for parents or guardians.
It allows parents or guardians to monitor their associated student’s academic progress and school-related information. The available information may depend on the institution’s settings, permissions, custody rules, and privacy policy.
Depending on the institution type and configuration, parents may be able to view:
For K-12 institutions, parents may typically see more student-related information. For Higher Education institutions, parent access may be more restricted and may depend on institutional policy and privacy requirements.
Portal Access refers to the ability of a user to log in and use their assigned portal.
Portal access is controlled by the institution and may depend on user role, account status, association with a student, custody rules, and permission settings.
A Portal Access Switch is a toggle used to grant or revoke a user’s ability to log in to their assigned portal.
Portal access switches may exist for students, staff, and parent or guardian records. Disabling portal access prevents login without deleting the user’s record.
Login Credentials are the username or email address and password used to access a portal.
Users should keep their login credentials secure and should not share them with others.
An Associated Student is a student linked to a parent or guardian account.
This association allows the parent or guardian to view student-related information through the Parent Portal, depending on access settings and custody rules.
Example:
If a parent has two children enrolled in the institution, both students may appear as associated students in the Parent Portal.
A Student is a learner enrolled in the institution.
In openSIS, each student has a profile connected to academic records, attendance, grades, schedules, enrollment information, and portal access.
A Parent is a user linked to one or more students in openSIS.
Parents may access student-related information through the Parent Portal, such as attendance, grades, schedules, assignments, report cards, communication, and billing if enabled.
A Guardian is a responsible contact associated with a student.
In openSIS, a guardian may be linked to the student record for communication, emergency contact, custody, or portal access purposes.
A Teacher is a staff user assigned to one or more course sections.
Teachers can access the course and student information connected to their assigned classes through the Teacher Portal.
The Student Profile is the student’s main information record in openSIS.
Students and parents may be able to view selected profile details depending on the school’s portal settings and access rules.
Personal Information refers to basic student details stored in the profile.
This may include name, date of birth, gender, email, phone number, address, language, and other profile-related information.
Enrollment Information shows the student’s current academic placement in the institution.
This may include school year, grade level, enrollment date, enrollment status, program, section, or other academic grouping details.
Student Information refers to the student details available through a portal based on access permissions.
This may include basic profile details, enrollment information, schedules, attendance, grades, report cards, documents, and other student-related records.
A Course is a subject or academic offering available in the institution.
Examples:
Mathematics, English, Science, History, Biology, Computer Science.
Courses are usually created and managed from the admin side and then assigned to teachers and students through scheduling.
An Assigned Course is a course or course section linked to a teacher.
Once a teacher is assigned to a course section, the teacher can view and manage related classroom activities from the Teacher Portal.
A Course Section is a specific scheduled instance of a course.
A single course may have multiple course sections based on teacher, period, room, marking period, or student group.
Example:
Mathematics may have Section A taught during Period 1 and Section B taught during Period 3.
Teachers and students are scheduled into Course Sections, not just Courses.
A Class refers to the group of students assigned to a teacher for a specific course section.
Teachers usually manage attendance, assignments, and grades for each class separately.
A Class List is the list of students assigned to a teacher’s course section.
Teachers use the class list to review enrolled students and manage class-specific tasks.
A Teacher Schedule shows the course sections assigned to a teacher.
It may include course names, periods, rooms, days, marking periods, calendars, and assigned student groups.
A Personal Schedule is the schedule view available to a teacher or user based on assigned activities.
For teachers, it usually shows the course sections and time blocks assigned to them.
A Student Schedule shows the courses or course sections assigned to a student.
Students use it to know which classes they are taking, who teaches them, and when or where the classes are held. Parents use it to understand the student’s classes, teachers, periods, and academic routine. Teachers may view student schedules when reviewing academic details, depending on access settings.
A Room is the physical or virtual location where a class takes place.
Examples:
Room 101, Science Lab, Computer Lab, Online Class.
A Period is a defined time block in the school day.
Periods help students, teachers, and parents understand when each class is scheduled.
Attendance shows whether a student was present, absent, tardy, excused, or marked with another attendance status.
Teachers commonly take attendance for assigned classes through the Teacher Portal. Students and parents may view attendance information through their portals, depending on access settings.
Period Attendance means attendance recorded for a specific class period.
This is used when the institution tracks attendance by individual periods instead of only by full school day.
Daily Attendance means attendance recorded for the full school day.
Depending on the school’s configuration, teachers may take daily attendance or period-wise attendance.
An Attendance Code is a predefined status used while marking attendance.
Examples:
Present, Absent, Tardy, Excused, Unexcused.
Attendance codes help standardize attendance records across the institution and help students or parents understand how attendance was marked.
An Absence means the student was not present for the school day or class period, depending on the institution’s attendance setup.
Tardy means the student arrived late to school or class.
Excused means the absence or tardy entry was accepted according to the institution’s attendance policy.
Unexcused means the absence or tardy entry was not accepted under the institution’s attendance policy.
Grades show a student’s academic performance in courses, assignments, marking periods, or report cards.
Students and parents may view grades to understand academic progress and performance.
The Gradebook is the area where teachers manage assignments, scores, and student grades.
Teachers use the Gradebook to enter marks, review student performance, and maintain grading records for assigned course sections. Students and parents may see gradebook details if the institution allows gradebook visibility in their portals.
An Assignment is a task, activity, test, quiz, project, homework, classwork item, or assessment created for students.
Assignments may include due dates, scores, categories, completion status, and may contribute to the final grade.
An Assignment Category is a group used to organize assignments.
Examples:
Homework, Quiz, Test, Project, Participation, Final Exam.
Categories help teachers and schools manage grading weight or organize gradebook entries.
A Due Date is the date by which an assignment is expected to be submitted or completed.
Due dates help teachers, students, and parents track assignment timelines.
A Score is the mark or value a student receives for an assignment, test, quiz, project, assessment, or gradebook item.
Scores may appear as points, percentages, letter grades, or another grading format based on the institution’s grading setup.
Grade Entry is the process of entering scores or grades for students.
Teachers use grade entry to record student performance for assignments, progress periods, report cards, or final grades.
A Missing Assignment is an assignment that has not been submitted or completed by the student.
This helps teachers track incomplete work and helps students or parents identify work that may still need attention.
An Excused Assignment is an assignment that a student is not required to complete.
Excused assignments may be excluded from grade calculations depending on the school’s grading rules.
A Progress Grade shows academic performance during an active marking period.
It helps teachers, students, and parents monitor performance before final grades are posted.
A Final Grade is the overall grade recorded or calculated at the end of a course, marking period, or grading term.
Final grades may be based on assignment scores, gradebook setup, grading scales, and institutional rules.
GPA, or Grade Point Average, is a numeric measure of academic performance.
GPA may be calculated based on grades, credits, and the institution’s grading rules.
Cumulative GPA is the overall GPA calculated across multiple marking periods, terms, or academic years.
If no previous GPA record exists, openSIS may display a hyphen or dash instead of a value.
A Report Card is a formal academic report that shows student grades, attendance, teacher comments, GPA, and other academic information for a selected marking period.
Teachers may contribute grades and comments that appear on report cards. Students and parents may view report cards through their portals if enabled by the institution.
A Transcript is an academic record that summarizes courses, grades, credits, GPA, and academic history.
Students may be able to view or download transcripts depending on institutional settings.
Teacher Comments are notes added by teachers to provide feedback about a student’s academic performance, behavior, participation, or progress.
These comments may appear in grade reports or report cards, depending on the institution’s settings.
Academic Progress refers to how a student is performing in courses over time.
It may include grades, assignments, scores, attendance, teacher comments, report card results, GPA, and transcript information.
A Course Request is a request submitted by a student to be considered for a course schedule.
Students may submit course requests through the Student Portal if the institution allows student-side course requests.
My Request is the Student Portal area where students can submit or view their course scheduling requests.
After a request is submitted, the administration may approve, reject, or delete the request from the admin side.
A Submitted Request is a course request that has been sent by the student and is waiting for administrative review.
An Approved Request is a student course request accepted by the administrator.
When approved, the request may be added to the student’s schedule record based on the institution’s scheduling workflow.
A Rejected Request is a student course request that was reviewed and declined by the administrator.
Student Documents are files or records connected to a student profile.
These may include academic documents, enrollment documents, transcripts, certificates, identity documents, medical documents, or other institution-approved files. Parents may be able to view selected documents if the institution makes them available through the Parent Portal.
Communication refers to messages or updates shared between the institution and users.
Depending on the school’s setup, communication may happen through openSIS messages, email, SMS, WhatsApp, portal notices, or other enabled channels.
A Notification is an alert or message shown to inform a user about important updates.
Notifications may include academic updates, attendance alerts, announcements, schedule updates, course request status changes, or action reminders.
LMS stands for Learning Management System.
If LMS integration is enabled, teachers may access or work with LMS-related course activities from the Teacher Portal depending on the institution’s setup.
Reports are structured views of data available to users based on their role and permissions.
Teachers may access reports related to assigned students, courses, attendance, grades, or classroom activity. Administrators may access broader reports depending on permission settings.
Billing Information refers to fee, payment, invoice, or balance-related details made available through a portal.
Students and parents may view billing information if the institution enables billing visibility for their portals.
Graduation Progress shows a student’s progress toward completing graduation or program requirements.
It may include completed credits, pending requirements, GPA, courses, or degree audit details, depending on the institution’s setup.
Behavior and Discipline Access refers to a teacher’s ability to view or work with behavior-related information, depending on institution settings and permissions.
If enabled, teachers may be able to review or submit behavior-related records for students connected to their classes.
Restricted Administrative Settings are system configuration areas that are not available in the Teacher, Parent, or Student Portal.
These settings are usually limited to authorized administrative users because they affect school setup, system behavior, permissions, and institution-wide workflows.
Portal terms help users understand why different users see different areas of openSIS. The Teacher Portal supports classroom workflows, the Student Portal gives students self-service access to their own academic information, and the Parent Portal helps parents or guardians monitor student progress. The Administrator Portal provides broader control over system setup and institutional operations.
Clear portal terminology helps schools train users, reduce support questions, and maintain secure access across roles.