Express Check-in is an online application that ALL FAMILIES, new and current, use to verify their student’s contact and household information and to complete district and STEM School required forms before each new school year. All families MUST complete the Express Check-in Process to ensure they receive communication from the school. Failure to complete the Express Check-in process will result in significant limitations to internet service at STEM School Highlands Ranch.
Fees have not yet been loaded into MySchoolBucks. As soon as they are, you will receive a notification from MySchoolBucks directly to the email address in their system. Please ensure that your contact information is correct in MySchoolBucks.
To complete Express Check-In, all families will need to use their Parent Portal log-in credentials. If you have not yet set up your Parent Portal account, please reference the YouTube Tutorial to the right to begin that process. Please also visit the DCSD Self Service Portal to set up your account.
New families will need their student’s GUID number that was sent via email when their student was registered in the DCSD School District. If you need help locating this number, please complete the STEM Express Check-In Help Request Form (button to the right).
Message from DCSD on Sunday, July 24
July 24, 2022
Dear DCSD Families,
There’s an infamous episode of “Friends” where Ross, Rachel, and Chandler are attempting to move a sofa up a flight of stairs and it continues to get stuck. Ross yells “Pivot” over and over again.
We are now in a similar situation with our Express Check-In tool. No matter how many hours my amazing staff dedicates to improving its speed and performance, it continues to get stuck. And now, we are at a crossroads where it is time to pivot.
Even though we only re-opened the Express Check-In system to two feeder areas over the last couple of days, the tool continues to move very slowly which is creating frustration for our families. We do value the time of our families and understand that we cannot continue to roll out the system at this pace. As a result, we are going to delay Express Check-In once again. We will not be sending out the next round of links to families today. Instead, my team will spend the next couple of days pivoting to a Plan B for Express Check-In. We will follow up soon with next steps. If you were able to complete the Express Check-in process for your student(s) you will not need to complete it again.
Please note, that your school will be providing details on how to access important information such as teacher assignments and class schedules in the coming days. Those items are generally not found within the Express Check-In system. We will work to ensure that all families can complete the check-in process prior to the first day of school.
Thank you for your continued patience and support as we pivot to a new path that will better support the volume of our 64,000-student school district.
Sincerely,
Mark Blair
Chief Technology Officer
Douglas County School District
Message from DCSD on Friday, July 22
Dear DCSD Families,
Thank you for your patience as we have worked through issues with the Express Check-In tool. In order to ensure the system works properly moving forward, we will be re-opening up Express Check-In via a staggered process according to the schedule below. Express Check-In will be open to only a few high school feeders/groups at a time. Families in each feeder/group will receive a separate email with a reminder about their Express Check-In window and a direct link to access their child(ren)’s Express Check-In. Families enrolled in DCSD charter schools, alternative schools, online schools, and/or home school programs will be able to access the tool as noted in the schedule below.
If you miss your scheduled days, please do not worry, we will re-open the tool on Monday, August 1 at noon to all families. Anyone who missed their window will still be able to check their students in via the system.
As a reminder, Express Check-In is intended to be a convenient way to update your household and contact information, sign important forms for the school year, sign the current Student Code of Conduct handbook, apply for bus passes (if applicable), and pay any fees. You will NOT find information about your student’s teacher assignments, class schedules, etc. in Express Check-In. Details about how to access that information, and when, will come directly from your child’s school.
We will work to ensure that all families have the opportunity to complete the Express Check-In process prior to the start of the school year. For more information, please visit our website.
Thank you again for your patience and understanding.
Mark Blair
Chief Technology Officer
Douglas County School District
EXPRESS CHECK-IN SCHEDULE – 2022-2023
(Families in each feeder/group will receive a separate email with their check-in dates and a direct link to Express Check-In for their child(ren)).
Friday, July 22, 2022 at noon – Sunday, July 24, 2022 at noon*
*Families who are eligible and who wish to apply for a bus pass will be able to access the system on Monday, July 25 when the bus pass application opens.
- Chaparral High School Feeder
- Douglas County High School Feeder
Sunday, July 24, 2022 at noon – Tuesday, July 26, 2022 at noon*
*Families who are eligible and who wish to apply for a bus pass will be able to access the system on Monday, July 25 when the bus pass application opens.
- Ponderosa High School Feeder
- ThunderRidge High School Feeder
Tuesday, July 26, 2022 at noon – Thursday, July 28, 2022 at noon
- All DCSD Charter Schools
- Cloverleaf Home School
- Daniel C. Oakes High School
- Eagle Academy
- eDCSD
- Plum Creek Academy
Thursday, July 28, 2022 at noon – Saturday, July 30, 2022 at noon
- Legend High School Feeder
- Rock Canyon High School Feeder
Saturday, July 30, 2022 at noon – Monday, August 1, 2022 at noon
- Castle View High School Feeder
- Highlands Ranch High School Feeder
- Mountain Vista High School Feeder
Monday, August 1, 2022 at noon – Sunday, August 7, 2022 at 11:59 p.m.
- Express Check-In Re-Opens for all families who missed their respective window above.
Message from DCSD on Thursday, July 21
Dear DCSD Families,
The DCSD IT team is aware of the issues families are experiencing when trying to access the Express Check-In application. After the communication went out yesterday morning saying that Express Check-In was open, a record number of people tried to access it simultaneously and it appears the system could not handle the volume. We share your frustration as our team tested the system multiple times prior to the launch and it appeared to be functional. Our IT team worked around the clock trying to rectify the issue yesterday but has not yet been able to restore the system.
Therefore, we have made the decision to suspend all access to Express Check-In until noon on Friday, July 22. This will give our team additional time to identify and address the issues and stabilize the system so that it can be back online for our families to access.
We regret the inconvenience this unanticipated outage has caused our families and we appreciate your patience as we continue our work. As a reminder, once back up, the Express Check-In system will remain open for a couple of weeks (we recommend that families complete the Express Check-In process by the first week of August). We are working closely with our school principals to adjust the check-in close dates as needed to accommodate the successful completion of this annual student check-in process.
We invite you to check back tomorrow after noon to access the Express Check-In System. In addition, the application for bus passes will open Monday, July 25.
Thank you for your patience.
Sincerely,
Mark Blair
Chief Technology Officer
Douglas County School District