ASPEN FAQ's

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions Prior to Getting an Account

General Questions Prior to Getting an Account:

1. What is Family Portal? The Family Portal is the part of the Aspen Student Information System designed to allow parent/guardians to view their elementary student’s attendance, trimester or quarter grades and some demographic information online. For those with students in middle and high school, parents/guardians will also be able to access grade book information including assignments and class attendance.

2. Is my child's information secure? Yes, our district has taken precautions through our software and certificates to keep this data secure. You can keep this information secure on your part by not giving your username or password to unauthorized users.

3. How do I access the Family Portal? A computer and internet access are required to view your student’s information. Once you have signed up, you will receive a logon id and password. You will be able to view all of your children with one logon id and password.

4. Is there a fee to access to my child’s information? There are no fees to access your child’s information.

5. Do I need an account? No, this is an optional opportunity for you to see your child’s progress in school.

6. How do I get an account? You can attend one of our signup nights at the schools. You must fill out an application for each student in the Manchester School District.

7. Where do I get an application? You can download it off the Manchester School District’s website or pick one up at the school.

8. Why do I have to fill out an application? We want to make sure each parent/guardian’s information is correct in our database and make sure you can see all of your children. The application also lets us know who the user will be and who will be responsible for that account. We want to make sure you see your children and not anyone else.

9. I have 3 children, do I have to fill out an application for each child and go to each school? Although you have to fill out an application for each child, you only need to go to one school to have your information verified. You can drop all the applications off at that school for processing.

10. Is there a requirement as to who can have an account? You need to be a legal guardian of the student you are filling in the application for. In order to obtain a user account, each account needs a signature and a valid unique email account. A mom and dad cannot have separate accounts and share an email account.

11. Do both my spouse and I have to get separate accounts? No, you can share an account if you both have the same information. However, if you are an employee of the Manchester School District, you cannot share your account for security purposes.

12. Can I have anyone get access to my student’s data? No, access should be limited to legal guardians. Please do not share your information with anyone who is not on an application.

13. Will I get a separate account for each child? No, if you are listed as a contact and have filled out an application for each child, you should see all of your children under one account.

14. When will my account be available? Once you have filled out an application and had it verified at one of the schools, it goes to the District Office to get processed. An email will be sent when your account is available.

15. How long does it take before I get my account? Applications are sent to the District Office on the 1^st and 15^th of each month. It can take up to 2 weeks to get an email stating your account is ready to be picked up at the school. NOTE: Due to a large amount of applications received at the beginning of the school year and through open house dates, it may take longer to process the applications. We appreciate your patient as we continue to process them as fast as we can.

16. Where do I pick up my account info once I get the email? You can pick up your account information from one of the schools your child attends. Your account should contain all the children you submitted applications for under one account.

Active Account Questions:

1. How do I set up my computer to access the Family Portal?

You can access the Family Portal using any web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc.) that is connected to the internet.

2. What is the URL for the Family Portal? nh-manchester.myfollett.com (no www needed before this address)

3. I tried logging onto Aspen but it won’t take my password?

First, check to see if your address is nh-manchester.myfollett.com

Second, check the spelling of your username or password. It is case sensitive which means you need to use capital letters when you see capitals letters and small letters appropriately. It has to be typed exactly as it appears. If you are still unsuccessful, please send an email to aspensignon@mansd.org for additional help.

4. What happens if I have logged in unsuccessfully too many times? You will get a message that states your account has been disabled. In order to use the Web Portal again, parents will need to send an email to aspensignon@mansd.org to have the account reactivated from your registered email account.

5. What are Security Preferences and why do I need them? Security preferences allow you to enter a question and answer for automated password recovery. Click on the set preferences top tab on the upper right side of the screen. Click on the Security tab, and answer the questions on the screen. Make sure you save your changes.

6. What should I do if I forget my password? Once you have set-up your password recovery information go to nh-manchester.myfollett.com, click on the ‘I Forgot my Password’ link on the login screen. This will generate a new password for you and send it to your registered email account.

7. How do I change my password or e-mail address? You can change your password and e-mail address through the Set Preferences screen at the upper right side of the screen. Click on the Security tab, and change the email account and/or click on the ‘Change’ blue link next to Password. Once clicked on, you can enter your new password, and enter it again under the confirm new password. Remember, password must meet the requirements. You can click on the link next to Requirements in blue ‘Click to view’ link.

8. What should I do if I forget my username? Check to see if you are entering the correct username. All family portal account begin with 'fp-', your first name intial and full last name. In some instances you will have a number after your name. (IE: fp-cbrown - for Charlie Brown) If you unsuccessful with your username name, you can contact the school you picked up your account from or send an email to aspensignon@mansd.org detailing the problem you are experiencing.

9. Why was I logged off? You will be automatically logged off if you are INACTIVE for more than 10 minutes. This is a security feature so if you leave your computer unattended for 10 minutes with no activity, no one else can access your data.

10. I moved, can I change my address online? Online updates of contacts are not available, please contact your school to make these changes.

11. My son is moving from elementary school to middle school over the summer. Do I have to submit another application to the new school? No student transferring from one school to another within the Manchester School District move with the family portal account.

12. I am moving out of state, do I have to tell someone about removing my portal account? No, when your child is withdrawn from one of the Manchester School District schools, the account gets removed in the withdrawal process.

Attendance Questions:

1. What is the difference between an AE and an A in attendance? An A stands for an absence, and AE is an excused absence. T is tardy and D is dismissed.

2. My child has an SE or an SI on their attendance, what does this mean? SE stands for an external suspension. SI stands for an internal suspension.

Gradebook Questions:

1. Why can I see assignments for my middle school child, but not my elementary child? Both middle and high school teachers use an online gradebook that allows you to see your student’s assignment grades. At this time, elementary schools have a different grading scale that is not online. However, you will be able to see the trimester grades.

2. How many years of my child's grades can I see ? Grades are available since spring of 2009 for elementary. If your child is in middle or high school, you should be able to see as many grades back as the student has been in the Manchester School District for middle and high school grades.

3. Why doesn’t the quarter average I see in the Portal match the grade my student receives on a report card? Now that the Family Portal is operational, parents/guardians can examine their student’s attendance and assignment grades on a regular basis. This data will be accurate except for the CALCULATED QUARTER GRADE in the Portal. The reason for this is simple; since the 2009-2010 school year, a high school student’s grades in the Manchester School District are based on the competency average of the course and not the category average that is indicated in the Portal. See the high school websites for more detail.

Until the computer code of Portal is updated to include competency information, there will be a difference in the average you see in the Portal and the average you see on a transcript or report card.

Other Aspen Questions:

1. Why can't I see my child's IEP under Ed Plans ? They are not online at this time within the system.

2. How do I set my calendar preferences? You will click on the top tab for calendar and then click the side tab for preferences. You can select different colors for different students or classes. When you look at the calendar, the colors will show what you want to see at at a quick glance. For instance, if you have all Jimmy’s classes are blue and Janie’s classes are red, when you look at the calendar, you will know the blue assignments are Jimmy’s right away without having to read them.

last changed 10/19/2011