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Academic Calendar

The Academic Calendar is where dates for Sessions (or Terms) can be managed, denoting the dates that make up your academic sessions.

A Session defines a range of dates that comprise a school term or program offering, and which days school is in session and which are not—such as holidays, breaks, and non-instructional days. Admins can also set up custom day types like field trips, teacher workdays, or testing days. Days are color-coded for quick visuals.

To learn more about how to organize your school's Sessions or Terms, see the Terms & Programs help doc.

Creating Sessions

To use the Academic Calendar, Sessions must first be created.

To create a new Session:

  1. Go to Scheduling → Sessions
  2. In the Sessions section, click + Add Session.
  3. Enter a name for the Session.
  4. Optionally select a Program or Academic Year to place the Session within.
  5. Select the Session dates.
  6. Choose whether the Session is visible and open to students and guardians.
  7. Click Create.

Tip: To organize records (such as grades or attendance) by reporting periods (eg, Q1, Q2, Semester 1, Semester 2), create a separate session/term for each of those periods and organize them within an Academic Year or Program. For more information on how to do this, see the Sessions help doc.

Managing Sessions

Once you have created at least one Session, you can manage its dates and settings from the Academic Calendar.

  1. Go to Scheduling → Academic Calendar
  2. Select the Session you want to manage from the dropdown at the top of the page.
  • If you select a standalone Session, you can edit dates directly on the main Academic Calendar.
  • If you select a Program or Academic Year that contains multiple Sessions, click the specific Session you want to manage. A modal will open where you can edit that Session’s dates.

Within a Session, you can manage:

  • Session details and settings
  • Term day types
  • Enrolled students

Session Settings

In the Session settings, you can:

  • Change the Session name or dates
  • Add the Session to a Program or Academic Year
  • Set whether the Session is open or closed to students

Open to Students:
When enabled, students and guardians can view events, assignments, and other Session-related information in their portals.

Day Types

Each day in the session is assigned a day type, which defines its purpose. The system includes built-in types—School Days and Non-standard School Days—and you can also create custom types such as Workdays, Testing Days, or Field Trip Days. These can be edited to fit your school’s needs.

When editing the session, day types appear in the right-hand column. Day types can be added to or deleted from this list. They can also be customized by clicking on the edit symbol.

To add, remove, or change a day type on your term calendar, make your selection from the right column or the quick-select menu below the calendar, then click any date (or click and drag across multiple dates).

A summary at the bottom shows total school days and instructional hours to help you monitor attendance and compliance.

Each day type has settings that control how it’s counted:

  • In Session marks it as a school day, even for nonstandard activities like testing or field trips.
  • Onsite Instructional Hours and Virtual Instructional Hours define how much in-person or online learning occurs.
  • Standard School Day marks it as a typical instructional day when teachers can assign work and schedule class events.

A day can be “In Session” without being a “Standard School Day,” such as on testing or field trip days.

Enrolling Students

Students can be enrolled in specific Sessions, Programs, or Academic Years. This helps keep enrollment records accurate and preserves information such as the student’s level during that time period.

To enroll students:

  1. In the Academic Calendar, select the appropriate Session, Program, or Academic Year.
  2. Open the Session details:
    • For a standalone Session, click the Session title.
    • For a Program or Academic Year, click the specific Session from the list on the right.
  3. Go to the Enrolled Students tab.
  4. Click Enroll Students.
  5. Select the students you want to enroll.

You can also enroll students from Enrollment → Enrolled Students.

Using Sessions

Most data in Spark can be organized and filtered by Session, Program, or Academic Year. This helps schools quickly view the records and information that are relevant to a specific time period or organizational structure.

Filtering is available throughout many areas of Spark, including:

  • Grade Records
  • Attendance
  • Schedules
  • Classrooms
  • Enrollment data
  • Reports

When filtering data, the dropdown menu will display:

  • Standalone Sessions
  • Programs
  • Academic Years

Selecting a Program or Academic Year will automatically include all Sessions contained within that structure. You can choose to only view one or a few of the Sessions within the Program or Academic Year.

This allows you to view data as broadly or specifically as needed. For example, you might:

  • View all records for an entire Academic Year
  • View only Fall Semester data
  • Compare multiple Program Offerings at once
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