Admin: Preparing for an Upcoming Year

In preparation for an upcoming school year, it’s important for Atlas System Administrators to make a few adjustments to the site after your annual curriculum archive. 

To complete these updates in the most efficient way possible, we recommend you follow the checklist below in order:

1. Update the Academic Calendar.
2. Set the New Archive Date.
3. Update User Accounts.
4. Update Course Assignments. 
5. Update Lesson Assignments.
6. Update Message Board & Resources pages. 

1. Update the Academic Calendar

Adjust the Academic Calendar for the upcoming year, via Admin > Admin Dashboard > Academic Calendar:

1. Update the Calendar Start Date and Calendar End Date accordingly. In case a new week box appears at the end of your academic calendar, kindly ensure that you check it off before clicking the Save Changes button.
2. Click the Edit Key Academic Dates>> button to update or add any key academic dates. For example, to mark the end of terms or semesters.
3. Update your holiday vs instructional weeks by checking and unchecking the week boxes. Click the Save Changes button. 

With the exception of Key Academic Dates (which can be specified by school), this calendar will be used by teachers at all grade levels. 

Click here to learn more about updating your Academic Calendar. 

2. Set the New Archive Date

On each archive date, Atlas automatically saves a copy of all curriculum in your system for future reference. Archived maps include all curriculum including Standards, Assessments, Links, etc. Simultaneously, all curriculum is copied forward into next year’s courses allowing teachers to adjust or continue developing course curriculum for the new set of students.

Your next step is to set a new date for your next annual archive, via Admin > Admin Dashboard > Archive Date. The archive date is a system-wide setting, so be sure to check with leadership at all school levels before making this change.

Click here to learn more about updating your Archive Date. 

3. Update User Accounts

In Admin > Manage Users:

1. Click Add New User for each new faculty that will be joining your school this year. Be sure to include an accurate email address so each user can receive Atlas notifications and password resets.
2. If you need to add more than 15 new users, you may find it more efficient to import them using a .CSV spreadsheet. Just click the Import Users button and follow the provided instructions. Please note that the Import Users feature cannot deactivate user accounts that are not included in your spreadsheet. Account deactivation should be performed manually, as explained in step 4 of this list.
3. Either way you approach adding the new accounts, look for the option to "Send Invitation Email" to new users, to save you the step of having to email new users the Atlas login information.
4. To remove a user who has left your school, click on the arrow icon in Actions column, and select Deactivate User. If the user has courses and lessons assigned to them, you will be provided with an option to assign those courses and lessons to a different user before deactivating their account. It's important to note that deactiviating users from Atlas will NOT delete courses or lessons from your system. Courses without assigned users will continue to appear on your course list until new users are assigned or the course is recycled by an Atlas admin.

DO NOT change an existing user's account and repurpose it for another user. This will cause login issues for the new user.

If your Atlas is synchronized with OneRoster (indicated by a 1R icon next to each account), please refrain from updating user accounts directly in Atlas. Instead, update your SIS (Student Information System), and the next synchronization will automatically update the user list by adding new users and removing old ones. 

Click here to learn more about Manage Users. 

4. Update Course Assignments

In Admin > Manage Courses use the filters to limit the number of courses to work with, hover over the Curriuculm Developers and Teachers columns to see current assignments.

1. Use the icon to change the teaching assignments:
   • Course Developers have full editing rights over course curriculum. They can create new units, and lessons. 
   • Teachers can only create new Lesson Plans into existing units.
2. Click the trash can icon to recycle old courses that are not offered in the new academic year. Deleting courses will NOT affect existing curriculum archives.
3. Click the Add New Course button to create new courses. 

Watch: Manage Courses

If your Atlas is synchronized with OneRoster (indicated by a 1R icon next to each course), please refrain from updating courses directly in Atlas. Instead, update your SIS (Student Information System), and the next synchronization will automatically update the course list.

Click here to learn more about Manage Courses. 

5. Update Lesson Assignments

Use the Admin > Admin Dashboard > Manage Lessons page in Atlas to efficiently reassign, copy, or remove lessons in bulk so everything is ready for the new academic year. From here you can filter and act on lessons across your site.

Key Tasks to Complete

• Reassign Lessons to New Teachers: Filter by teacher and use bulk options to add the new teacher as an editor and remove the old one.

• Delete Old or Irrelevant Lessons: Sort by Last Updated and bulk move old lessons to the Recycle Bin.

• Copy or Move Lessons in Bulk: Select multiple lessons and assign them to new editors or courses as needed.

• Recycle or Review Lessons with No Content: These can be bulk-selected and recycled or updated as appropriate. 

Watch: Managing Lessons

Click here to learn more about managing lessons in Atlas as an Admin or as a Lesson Manager.

6. Update Message Board & Resources Page

Your school's Message Board can be used to post messages to all users. Only Atlas Admins can customize the Message Board content via their My Atlas > My Dashboard. Simply click the pencil icon (edit) at the top right corner of this section.

Click here to learn more about updating the Message Board. 

Lastly, please review your Resources page, which can be located under Communities > Resources, and make sure all documents and links are up to date. To update this page, click the Settings icon in the top-right corner of the Resources page, or go to Admin > Admin Dashboard > Resources Editor.

Click here to learn more about updating the References page. 

After completing the above, reach out to Atlas Support at support@onatlas.com for additional customizations (like changes to your site’s Assessment Methods or Adopted Standards).