Apps/Platforms

ClassDojo - Mobile app & website

Platform used by teachers, students, and families every day to share what is learned in the classroom through photos, videos, and messages.

Edlio 

Website host for STM, which iIncludes portal access, news, teacher pages, staff directory and calendar. Subscribe to your teachers' pages, under About Us/Faculty and Staff, to receive a weekly update of their posts. 

Epic - Mobile app & website 

Digital reading platform. Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world’s best publishers that safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under. Students use Epic during the school day or on their device at home. Families typically do not need to download the app on a home device.

FACTS 

St. Thomas More Cathedral School requires all families to use FACTS, an automated payment system, to process tuition payments. By using FACTS, you preauthorize your bank or credit card company to automatically transfer tuition funds to STM on the installment payment dates set up by the school. To facilitate timely payment of all incidental expenses, we encourage you to consider enrolling in auto-pay for your incidental expenses account.

STM also uses FACTS to bill families for all incidental charges incurred during the school year. These include charges for books and materials, milk, hot lunch, extended day usage, field trips, PTO dues, etc.

Google Classroom 

Web service developed by Google for schools to simplify the creation, distribution and grading of assignments. Google Classroom streamlines the process of sharing files between teachers and students.

Google Meet - Mobile app & website

Video conferencing tool for virtual classroom instruction and communication. Utilized often during the COVID-19 pandemic but now used infrequently since STM returned to in-person learning.

MagnusHealth - Mobile app & website

Website used by STM and other diocesean schools to manage health information for students. Each child must have an account with the appropriate health forms, including proof of vaccines, uploaded. MagnusHealth will email parents with setup instructions. MagnusHealth is the primary mode of communication between the nurse’s clinic and families on non-emergency matters.

PowerSchool - Mobile app & website

Diocesan-wide, web-based Student Information System portal that houses family contact information and demographics for administrative purposes. It is used by teachers and parents in grades 4-8 to track tests, assignments and attendance throughout the school year, rather than having to wait until report cards are distributed. 

Saint Thomas More Cathedral School firmly believes in creating a partnership between students, parents, teachers, and administration. To help in this regard, we ask each family to create a Parent Portal account. This proactive tool is meant to enhance Parent/Teacher communication. 

The STM Parent Portal is used in two different ways:

Contact Information - For all students, the Parent Portal provides STM with the most up to date contact information for your family. By providing this information, you help to create a better partnership and dialogue between your family and the faculty that work with your child.

Student Grades and Progress (Grades 4-8) - Portal access in grades 4-8 allows your family to track your child’s progress by viewing assignments and grades. We hope that parents will use it regularly to become a partner in their child(ren)’s education. Students also receive login credentials in order to more easily track and be responsible for their assignments and grades. If you do not wish for your child to access their grades, please email [email protected].

How to log in to the Parent Portal - If you already have an account, you can login using your existing credentials. If you are new to PowerSchool, please follow the instructions below:

1. Please click the My STM link at the top right-hand corner of your screen.
2. Use the access code provided by the school office to create a Parent Portal account. Don’t have an access code? Please email [email protected].

Procare 

Used only for the Extended Day program. The program director will use this app to connect with parents and to send out important information related to the program.

• The Procare App is a touchless check-out system. This enables parents to use their own device to sign their child(ren) out by timestamping attendance with a digital signature. Once registered for the Extended Day program via the school website, download the app and enter the 10-digit access code sent to your inbox.
• At least two emergency contacts are required but they will not need the app to sign the child(ren) out. Instead, emergency contacts are provided with a 4-digit code that will be used upon pickup. 
• In the app, parents will need to update important information such as allergies or a planned schedule of attendance. 

Steps to check out using the Procare App:

1. If students are playing on the blacktop, park behind the orange cones and walk to door 13.
2. Ring the bell to the left of the door and an extended day staff member will answer. Using the ProCare app, scan the QR code found on the window of door 13. *You must allow the app to access your camera; it will not work using only the camera on your device.
3. The app will then bring up your child(ren)’s account, click on their names and then click the blue button at the bottom of the screen.
4. Use your finger to sign and then click the blue button at the bottom to submit. At that point the app will timestamp your check-out and your child(ren) will be sent out to you.
5. Please stand away from door 13 to give other parents the opportunity to check-out and do not go back to your car without your child(ren). Once checked-out, children must stay with their parent or caregiver and are not permitted to continue playing on the blacktop. 

Points to remember about the app:

1. The app is not used for billing. FACTS is the billing system used for Extended Day.
2. If a caretaker’s device is not with them or is not working, please inform extended day staff. They will either sign your child out or ask for your 4-digit number.
3. For checkout and documentation purposes, each parent must have an account.

PTOffice - Mobile app & website

School Directory, volunteer for PTO events, log volunteer hours and donations. There are two sites (which share the same login info) you will need to access:

1. Register for a PTOffice account at: https://tools.ptoffice.com/reg/VA_STM_PTO. 
1. Registration Tutorial found here. 
2. This is where families edit their profile and contact information. You can choose which profile information is displayed in the online directory by editing your family contacts here. You can see a summary of your completed volunteer hours here, under Signups. Parents with additional responsibilities, such as event coordinators and room parents, can use this site to manage the volunteer sign-ups and send emails to their classrooms.
2. Once you’ve created an account, you will use the following webpage on a regular basis: https://stmcathedralschool.ptoffice.com. (It’s a good idea to bookmark this page for future reference). This is where you can find volunteer opportunities, under Sign Ups, and search the school directory. There are also how-to guides and other information available under Resources.

* The mobile app will give you a shortcut to Sign Ups and the school directory, called "Members".

School News App - Mobile only

A central location and simplified way to view the school’s news feeds, events, calendars. You can also add multiple Edlio-powered schools and/or districts to gather all news, events and alerts in this one app. STM will send push notifications to keep you updated. It’s free to download to your iOS or Android phone and quick to set up:

1. Go to the App Store or Google Play and search for “School News by Edlio” to install. 
2. Open the app and search for St. Thomas More in Arlington; tap “Add School.” If you have kids in other Edlio-powered schools, add them to the app too.

Enable push notifications by going to the Alerts tab and tapping Enable Notifications.

SeeSaw - Mobile app & website

Platform used in grades PreK-2nd which allows teachers and students to record and share classroom activities and assignments. Seesaw gives students a place to document their learning, be creative and learn how to use technology. Each student gets their own journal and will add things to it like photos, videos, drawings, or notes. From the app, you’ll be able to Like and Comment on their work.

1. Go to the website and/or download the app to your device. 
2. Your child’s teacher will provide an access code at the beginning of the school year.