Student Import Overview

Table of Contents

Accepted Student Data

Steps for Import

1. Access Template
2. Populate Data
3. Save as CSV
4. Upload and Import
5. Partial Imports

Some Considerations

• Date of Birth Formatting
• Privacy

Primary Positions Accepted

Accepted Student Data

To import your Students into CutTime, you will first need to populate an import template containing the formatting accepted by our system. See the screenshot below for a list of the available fields for students, the type of data accepted, and limitations on what data will be accepted by the system.

While Student IDs are not required in the import, it is required in order to link students to their Guardians using the Guardian importer, so we highly recommend finding them before you do your first import. Having Student IDs on your first import will also help the system prevent you from uploading duplicate records for your students.

If you're not sure where to get your student data to populate the import template, most Student Information Systems (SIS) have functionality that will allow you to export your students into a spreadsheet, and it will very likely include a student ID in that export. This will typically be in CSV format, which can be opened in Excel or Numbers. These exports are different from system to system, so if you need help finding the export in the SIS you use, we suggest reaching out to a colleague or your district IT department for assistance.

Steps for Import

Step 1: Access the import template

Click the link below to access our import template. This is a read-only link, so you will either need to make a copy into your own Google Drive (recommended) by clicking File -> Make a copy or download and edit the sheet in excel or another spreadsheet editor (not recommended) by clicking File -> Download.

Step 2: Populate your data

Copy and paste-values only (see note below) your student data from your current spreadsheet into the CutTime import template. The column headers in the import template should not be edited.

Step 3: Save as a CSV

When you have finished populating your import template, you are ready to save and upload it to our import helper for verification. The file will need to be in CSV format for our importer.

• In Google Sheets, click File -> Download -> Comma Separated Values (.csv)
• In Excel, click File -> Save As and change the format from Excel Workbook (*.xlsx) to CSV (Comma delimited (*.csv)

Step 4: Upload and import

Once you have your CSV file saved and ready to import, navigate to your Program Settings page and click the "Import Students" button. Click "Choose File," select the CSV file you just saved, and click "Preview" to open the import helper.

The import helper will generate a table displaying the data from the file that you just uploaded. From this screen you can make any final edits necessary before completing the import.

Valid records will appear in the table without any highlighting. These records can be imported as-is, but you can also edit them as necessary (see below for help editing a student).

Invalid records will be highlighted red in the table. These records cannot be imported and must be either edited or skipped before the import can be completed (see below for help editing a student). The field(s) that are not accepted will appear with a help tip in the edit form so you can see why it is invalid and make the necessary adjustments.

Skipped records will be highlighted dark gray. Skipped records will not be imported, so if an invalid record is skipped, it would not prevent other valid records from being imported. Both valid and invalid records can be skipped. If you mistakenly skip a record, you can click the edit form again to "Unskip".

To edit a student:

1. Locate the student in the table and click on that row to open an edit form
2. After you open the edit form, you can make adjustments to any of the fields that were originally imported. Note that the edit form will display Original value so you can always reference the data that was imported with the file
3. When you're finished editing, click "Queue for Import" to save the student's new record with the data you just edited. Even after you save a record, you can still open the edit form again and see the Original value if necessary.
4. If you'd like to exclude a student from the import, you can click "Skip" instead of "Save". Skipped records can also be unskipped. See above for more information about skipped records.

When you have verified all of your student records, click the green "Import" button on the top right of your screen to finalize the import. If the button is greyed out, that means you may need to "Validate Import" to verify any changes that have occurred in the data.

Once you click the green "Import" button, you're done! Any records that were not skipped will now appear in your Students page. Now that your students have been uploaded you can get to work uploading their Guardians - see the following help document for more information. Guardian Import Overview

Finishing a Partial Import

If you complete an import that has any invalid or skipped rows, you are able to come back and continue editing or unskip the data from that upload, so you can import those rows that were left out the first time!

1. Navigate to the Import Dashboard page, and find the import log that you'd like to continue
2. Click the "Resume" button on the right side of that row.
3. Make any necessary edits to invalid records or unskip any rows.
4. Validate and Import!

Some Considerations

Date of Birth Formatting

The import template is pre-formatted to convert your dates from the format in your export to our accepted format (yyyy-mm-dd), but that pre-formatting can be overwritten. It's important to Paste -Values Only when you copy and paste your Dates of Birth from their original sheet into the import template - pasting normally will overwrite the pre-formatting in the template.

With that said, if you already pasted normally and overwrote the formatting, we can still fix it even if it's too late to undo your original pasting. Here's how to reformat the dates.

• If you're using Google Sheets:
• Step 1: In the import template, click on the letter F above the column header for Date of Birth to highlight the entire column.
• Step 2: With the entire column highlighted, click Format from the menu in the top left of your screen. Under Number, click on "Custom date and time" (the second option from the bottom)
• Step 3: From the list, choose the option that displays yyyy-mm-dd. This appears as "1930-08-05" as of the writing of this help doc. With the proper formatting chosen, click "Apply" and your dates should all be converted to the proper yyyy-mm-dd formatting.
• Step 1: In the import template, click on the letter F above the column header for Date of Birth to highlight the entire column.
• Step 2: Right click the highlighted column and select "Format Cells"
• Step 3: Under "Category:", click "Custom"
• Step 4: Under "Type:", there is a text box that will display the current formatting applied to this column. It may say "General" or it may have some other date formatting. Regardless of what is written there, remove the text and type "yyyy-mm-dd" (without the quotations). Click OK to save your formatting. Your dates should now be converted to the proper yyyy-mm-dd formatting.
• If you're using Excel:

With the correct yyyy-mm-dd formatting in place, the import helper will accept the dates and you can avoid having to edit them one-by-one.

Privacy

Feel free to peruse our Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and SMS Terms of Service

Each district has different policies, and many districts do require a Data Privacy Agreement (DPA) to be signed in order to authorize uploading student PII (personally identifiable information) to CutTime. If your district requires a DPA, you can send any required documentation to support@gocuttime.com for review.

If you have other questions during the student import process, don't hesitate to reach us at support@gocuttime.com for assistance.

Primary Positions Accepted

This list can also be found in the second worksheet of the import template. Note that the Primary Position column in the import template contains a dropdown list of the available options.