Skyward/Family Access / Skyward/Family Access FAQs (2024)

Why should I use Skyward/Family Access?
Skyward/Family Access is a web based tool designed to enhance parent/guardian and school communication. Skyward/Family Access provides parents with near real-time information on many important areas of their student’s education including attendance, schedules and grades. Your use of the Skyward/Family Accesswebsite is voluntary.

Does Skyward/Family Access cost money or is there a fee that I have to pay?
Skyward/Family Access is provided free as a service of the Snohomish School District.

I have more than one student in the district, will I need multiple passwords?
No. Via one password you can access records for all of your students, even if they are attending different schools within the district.

Why do I pick up my password and user name at my child's school?
For security reasons, we are requesting that all parents and guardians pick up their password and user name at their child's school.Passwords sent home with students, despite our best intentions, are often misplaced or can become compromised.In addition, it is important we know that those parents responsible for educational decision making receive the right password and user name.If school staff doesn't yet know you, you may have to show identification.

Are passwords case sensitive?
Yes. Passords are case sensitive.

Can my student pick-up my password?
No. Parents and students have different logins and passwords because they have different levels of access. We want to ensure that your password goes to you directly and is not compromised by giving it to a third party.

Can/should I share my password with my student?
No. Parents and students have different passwords because they have different levels of access. Your student can pick-up their own password from the school office.

Can other people see my child's personal information on Skyward/Family Access?
Skyward/Family Access is password protected. As long as you keep your password safe it is highly unlikely that anyone else will be able to access or view your child's personal information.

Do you have a privacy policy?
Yes. We call our privacy policy the Plain English Privacy Policy, and it states - "On this web site, personal information about you is collected only when you supply it voluntarily by completing one of our forms. We make every reasonable effort possible to keep your personal information private. For instance, we do not share your personal information with any third parties except in cases that you give us permission to do so. We reserve the right, however, to disclose personal information if required to do so by law, or in good faith believe that such action is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of the public."

Does Skyward/Family Access create a lot of extra work for school staff?
Skyward/Family Access does create some extra work, but not as much as you might think. In a nutshell, everything staff members do is now done in real time. When a child charges school lunch Monday at noon, his or her lunch charge shows up on Skyward/Family Access about two minutes later.Data entry by the lunch room worker is the same data entry that has been done in the past, but the data is now "real time" data. The same is true for attendance; we have always taken attendance, but now absences and tardies show up on Skyward/Family Access almost as soon as the data inputted.When our secondary report cards are on line, the same data that was used before (and the same processes that were used before) will generate instant results.In many ways, there is no new work, just different work.

When I log on to Skyward/Family Access, I lose my connection after three to five minutes. Why?
Skyward/Family Access has a default security setting that will terminate your connection if your computer is idle for longer than three to five minutes.This feature is designed to protect against unauthorized access and can not be changed.

Are all of Snohomish School District schools on Skyward/Family Access?
Yes!All schools have demographic information, grades, food service, attendance and schedule. Our secondary schools also have grade information.

I have forgotten my user name and/or lost my password, what should I do?
Please follow these steps to receive an e-mail with your login ID/password information and a link to update or set up your Skyward/Family Access account.Or stop by your child's school and they will re-issue your username and password. Be sure to bring photo ID.

With all the talk about Internet safety and security, how do I know Family Access/Skyward is safe?
Family Access/Skyward uses Secured Socket Layer (SSL) encryption as the security layer for data presented on the Web.This is the same encryption system used by sites that accept credit card numbers and other personal data that must be secure.The district's Family Access/Skyward administrator is responsible for setting security and access to student records, as determined by district procedure. Each individual, whether student, parent, or staff member, must be given a user name and password and be designated as a member of a household linked to a student in order to view Family Access/Skyward information.

What student records are displayed in Family Access/Skyward, and how long are they kept?
The Snohomish School District may display the following student information in Family Access/Skyward, however, not all records are displayed at all schools. The length of time records are retained is shown in parenthesis:

• Food service data (deleted annually from Family Access/Skyward; not retained)
• Attendance data (deleted annually from Family Access/Skyward; kept on file six years as per state law)
• Daily grade data (deleted annually from Family Access/Skyward; retained one year)
• Student schedule (deleted annually from Family Access/Skyward; not retained)
• Student demographic information (retained and kept current on Family Access/Skyward as long as your student is enrolled in the Snohomish School District; kept on file 100 years as per state law)

Can I get my high school student's transcript through Family Access/Skyward?
Unfortunately, transcripts are not available through Family Access/Skyward.They may be requested, however, from your child's counselor. Transcript records are retained for 100 years as per state law.