Student records are one of the core areas of openSIS. Most academic and administrative workflows are connected to the student record, including enrollment, attendance, grades, scheduling, communication, billing, behavior, reports, and portal access.
This article explains the key terms used in openSIS when managing student profiles, Student 360, enrollment records, student fields, statuses, program eligibility switches, medical information, documents, and student-related data.
A Student is a learner enrolled in the institution.
In openSIS, each student has a record that stores personal, academic, enrollment, contact, medical, family, document, and system-related information.
A Student Record is the complete profile of a student within openSIS.
It is the central data object used by other modules such as scheduling, attendance, grading, billing, behavior, reports, and communication. Student records can be created manually, imported through a spreadsheet, or generated through the Admissions module when an applicant is enrolled.
A Student Profile is the main record page for a student in openSIS.
It may include student details such as:
The Student Profile helps administrators and authorized users view and manage student-related information from one place.
Student 360 is the complete student profile view in openSIS.
It organizes student information across multiple tabs such as General Information, Enrollment Information, Address & Contact, Family Information, Medical Information, Comments, and Documents.
Student 360 may also surface information from connected modules, including academic performance, attendance, schedule, behavior, billing, and admissions data if the student was created from an application. It gives staff a fuller view of the student without requiring them to move across multiple modules.
General Information is the first tab of a student record.
It captures core identity data such as first name, last name, preferred name, date of birth, gender, nationality, ethnicity, race, photo, Student ID, and Alternate ID.
This section may also include the Student Portal Access switch and program eligibility switches such as ELL, IEP, 504, and other classification flags used for reporting and student support.
Personal Information refers to basic student details stored in the student profile.
This may include name, date of birth, gender, email, phone number, address, language, photo, and other identity-related information.
A Student ID is a unique identifier assigned to a student record.
It helps identify the student across modules such as enrollment, attendance, grades, schedules, billing, communication, and reports.
An Alternate ID is an additional identifier that may be stored for a student.
It may be used when the institution has another student number from a previous system, state reporting process, or internal recordkeeping method.
Enrollment means adding a student to the institution for a specific school year, grade level, program, calendar, or academic structure.
Enrollment connects the student to the active academic year and allows the student to participate in workflows such as scheduling, attendance, grading, reports, and portal visibility.
Enrollment Information is the student record tab that captures the student’s active academic assignment.
It may include school, grade level, enrollment calendar, enrollment date, enrollment code, rolling or retention option, section, and estimated graduation date. It may also display the student’s enrollment history as the student progresses, transfers, withdraws, or re-enrolls across school years.
A student must have valid enrollment information before they are available for scheduling.
An Enrollment Record stores the details of a student’s enrollment.
It may include the school year, enrollment date, grade level, enrollment code, status, calendar, section, and other related information.
Enrollment records help institutions track when and how a student entered, transferred, exited, or re-entered the school.
An Enrollment Code is used to define the reason or type of a student’s enrollment action.
Examples:
Enrollment codes help maintain a clear history of student movement within the institution.
New Enrollment refers to a student being added to openSIS as a new student for the selected school year or academic structure.
A student may be created manually, imported, or moved from the admissions process into enrollment.
Rolling / Retention Option is a field in the Enrollment Information tab that determines what happens to the student’s grade level during year-end rollover.
The default option may promote the student to the mapped Next Grade at the current school. The option may also be used to retain the student in the same grade or transfer the student to another school, depending on the institution’s configuration.
Exit Date records the last active day of a student’s enrollment.
It is used when a student leaves the school due to graduation, transfer, withdrawal, dropout, or another exit reason.
Exit Code categorizes the reason a student left the school.
Examples:
Graduated, Transferred Out, Withdrew, Dropped Out.
Exit Date and Exit Code are important for historical records, compliance reporting, and student movement tracking.
Estimated Graduation Date records the expected date when a student is expected to complete their program or graduate.
This date may be used for cohort tracking, graduation planning, and reporting.
Student Status indicates the current state of a student in openSIS.
Common statuses may include:
Student status helps users understand whether the student is currently enrolled and available for academic workflows.
An Active Student is a student who is currently enrolled and available for regular school operations.
Active students may appear in attendance, scheduling, grading, reports, billing, and communication workflows.
An Inactive Student is a student who is no longer actively participating in regular academic workflows.
Inactive students may remain in the system for recordkeeping, historical reports, transcripts, or administrative reference.
A Section in the student record is a homeroom or administrative grouping within a grade level.
It helps administrators organize students into manageable groups and may be used for filtering and reporting. This is different from a Course Section, which is used for scheduling classes.
Student Fields are data fields used to store information in a student profile.
openSIS may include default student fields, and institutions may also create custom fields based on their data collection needs.
Default Student Fields are standard fields available in openSIS for student information.
These may include common profile details such as name, date of birth, gender, email, phone, address, language, student ID, and other basic student information.
Custom Student Fields are additional fields created by the institution to collect information that is not available in the default student profile.
Custom fields help schools track institution-specific data.
Example:
A school may create a custom field for transportation route, house name, scholarship type, or special program participation.
A Student Field Category is a group used to organize related student fields.
Categories help keep the student profile clean and easier to navigate.
Example:
Medical Information, Transportation Details, Additional Information, or Program Details.
The Portal Access Switch is a toggle in the student’s General Information tab that grants or revokes the student’s ability to log in to the Student Portal.
When enabled, the system may prompt for an email address and send a password setup notification. Administrators may also generate a temporary password using the Create Password switch. Disabling the switch deactivates portal access without deleting the student record.
The Create Password Switch allows an administrator to generate a temporary password for student portal access.
This may be used when the institution wants to provide login access manually instead of relying only on an email-based password setup flow.
ELL, or English Language Learner, is a program eligibility switch indicating that the student has been identified as needing English language support.
This flag helps classify the student for language support services, reporting, resource allocation, and compliance documentation.
ESL, or English as a Second Language, is a program eligibility switch indicating that the student is receiving or eligible for English language instructional services.
ESL usually refers to the instructional program or service model used to support English language development.
ESOL, or English for Speakers of Other Languages, is a program eligibility switch indicating that the student is designated for or receiving ESOL services.
Some institutions or regions may use ESOL as the official program designation instead of ESL.
LEP, or Limited English Proficiency, is a program eligibility switch indicating that the student has been classified as having limited English proficiency.
This flag may be used for reporting, language support services, and compliance-related tracking.
IEP, or Individualized Education Program, is a program eligibility switch indicating that the student has an active individualized education plan.
An IEP generally documents special education services, learning goals, accommodations, and related support services.
A 504 Plan is a program eligibility switch indicating that the student has an accommodation plan under Section 504.
A 504 Plan may include accommodations such as extended time, preferential seating, assistive technology, or other supports that help the student access general education.
Special Education, also known as SPED, is a program eligibility switch indicating that the student receives specially designed instruction or special education services.
Students flagged as SPED may also have an IEP, depending on the institution’s process and applicable requirements.
Free/Reduced Lunch is a program eligibility switch indicating that the student qualifies for free or reduced-price meals.
This flag may also support reporting, funding, assistance programs, waivers, or resource planning.
Labels are visual tags used to identify or group students quickly.
Labels may help users recognize student categories, conditions, or special notes from student lists or profiles.
Example:
A label may be used for a scholarship student, athlete, special program participant, or behavior-related identifier.
Tags are keywords or markers used to organize, filter, or identify student records.
In some workflows, tags and labels may be used to make student information easier to search or categorize.
A Behavior Tag is an icon-based indicator used to show behavior-related information for a student.
It may appear in areas such as the Student 360 View or Student List, helping users quickly identify behavior context.
Address & Contact is a student record section where address, phone, email, and other contact information may be stored.
This information supports communication, emergency contact workflows, and institutional records.
Family Information is the student record section where parent, guardian, and other contact relationships are managed.
It may include primary contact, secondary contact, other contacts, custody settings, parent portal access, and sibling associations.
An Associated Parent is a parent or guardian linked to a student record.
This association allows the parent or guardian to access the student’s information through the Parent Portal, depending on access settings and custody rules.
Guardian Information includes details about the parent or responsible contact linked to a student.
This may include name, phone number, email address, relationship, address, emergency contact status, custody status, or primary contact status.
A Primary Contact is the main parent or guardian designated for student-related communication.
For students, this is commonly the person who should receive important school updates first.
Medical Information is the student record section used to store health-related information.
It may include medical alerts, immunization records, physical records, nurse visits, and other health details maintained by authorized staff.
A Medical Alert is a feature in the Medical Information tab used to record critical health information.
Examples:
Severe allergies, asthma, diabetes, seizure disorders, or other urgent health concerns.
When a medical alert is set, openSIS may display a visual indicator on the student’s profile photo so staff can quickly recognize important medical information.
Immunization / Physical Record is a section within Medical Information where administrators or nurses can log vaccination history and physical examination records.
These records help institutions maintain health compliance and enrollment-related documentation.
A Nurse Visit Record is a log of visits a student makes to the school health office.
It may include the reason for the visit, date, notes, and actions taken by the nurse or health staff.
Comments are notes added to a student record.
Comments may provide additional context about the student and may be used by authorized staff for academic, administrative, health, behavior, or support-related information.
A Student Schedule shows the courses or course sections assigned to a student for the selected school year or marking period.
The schedule is used for attendance, grading, classroom planning, student portal visibility, and academic tracking.
Student Documents are files or records attached to a student profile.
These may include academic documents, enrollment documents, identity documents, medical documents, transcripts, certificates, or other institution-required files.
Student Import is the process of adding student records into openSIS using an import file or external data source.
This helps institutions add multiple students efficiently instead of entering each record manually.
Manual Student Entry means creating a student record directly inside openSIS by entering the student’s information through the system interface.
Group Assign Student Information is a bulk-edit feature that allows administrators to assign the same field values to two or more students at the same time.
This is useful when a group of students shares common data such as the same grade level, section, calendar, or program eligibility flag.
Found under:
Menu → Student Information → Group Assign Student Info
A Home School is the primary school of record for a student in a multi-enrollment setup.
The Home School holds the master student record and is responsible for the student’s main academic recordkeeping.
An Away School is an additional school where the student may take supplementary courses while the Home School remains the primary school of record.
This is useful when students attend a specialist school, shared program, or part-time academic arrangement outside their primary school.
Student information connects with nearly every major workflow in openSIS. If student records, enrollment details, statuses, profile fields, portal access, program eligibility flags, family information, and medical records are managed correctly, the system can support accurate attendance, scheduling, grading, communication, billing, behavior tracking, and reporting.
Understanding these terms helps users maintain clean records and follow student-related workflows with confidence.