Missing Assignments – Supporting Your Child in Their Learning

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Dear Parents / Guardians of Middle School Students,

It’s hard to believe that we are into the 4th week of school! As you may have noticed, your child is beginning to get much busier as assignments and assessments increase. 

Keeping an Open Dialogue About Schoolwork

A great way for you to support your child is to keep an open dialogue about their schoolwork. Ask your child how their courses are going and if they are up to date on assignments, or if there’s anything they’re finding particularly challenging.

Tuesday afternoons or Wednesday mornings are the perfect time to check in with them, as Wednesdays are intended, in part, for students to work on missing assignments. 

How to Check on Assignments

You will find any missing assignments your child may have, in PowerSchool*. You may notice that assignments are also visible in Schoology, however, not all of your child’s work gets submitted through Schoology, that is why only PowerSchool will give you an accurate picture of what is missing.

  1. Log in to PowerSchool.
  2. Select “Missing Assignments” from the left-hand menu. 
  3. Make sure the “S1” tab is selected at the top.
  4. Click on the assignment in the “Assignment” column for a description of the missing assignment. 

*For additional help with PowerSchool, please view this page on SSIS Link. 

What To Do If Your Child Has Missing Assignments

First, please note it can take up to one week until late assignments are removed from the “missing assignments” column. That’s why we recommend:

  1. Asking your child if they turned in the assignment late or if they have not completed it yet. It can take up to 1 week before PowerSchool is updated by the teacher.
  2. If your child has not completed the assignment, have them log in to Schoology to find, complete, and submit the assignment.
  3. If your child is having problems finding the assignment or understanding what is expected of them, encourage them to email the teacher with their question and the name of the assignment that they are confused about. You might consider having your child cc: you on the email so that you stay informed.

What NOT To Do If Your Child Has Missing Assignments

It is very normal for middle schoolers to have missing assignments. They are learning to take greater and greater responsibility, and this is an important time for them to develop self-advocacy skills and to learn how to organize their work.

Parents should not try to take over and fix this for their children. Even experiencing an initial failure teaches students what they need to do next time. The best help a parent can give their child is to follow the steps above and encourage their child to seek help from their teacher. Being able to independently reach out and ask for help is a crucial part of their development in becoming adults.

If Your Child is Struggling

At some point, you may notice that your child is struggling more than usual to keep up with assignments. If your child is having trouble coping and does not seem to be asking for help independently, do not hesitate to reach out to their teachers. We have many resources to support and guide your child, and the sooner that your child gets help to catch up on work or establish better routines, the better. 

We hope that this information is helpful to you in helping you to support your child’s learning and independence. We are here to help your child thrive and succeed in every way we can.

As always, if you have any questions or if anything is unclear, I encourage you to reach out to me. 

Wishing you well,

Molly Burger
Middle School Principal