Stevenson High report cards going digital
Paper report cards are joining chalkboards, slide rules and inkwells as educational relics at Stevenson High School.
Starting this fall, students at the Lincolnshire school and their parents will receive report cards via email. The documents formerly had been mailed to students' homes.
The change applies to more than end-of-semester report cards. Progress reports and six-week term reports for Stevenson's 3,942 students will be sent digitally, too.
Electronic delivery should ensure parents receive the reports, Stevenson spokesman Jim Conrey said.
"It's more expedient and faster," he said. "Ultimately it's just more efficient."
Although cases of report cards being lost in the mail were rare, officials were concerned about parents who divorce and move away from their kids, Conrey said.
Officials tested electronic report card delivery during two sessions of summer school, Conrey said. All 1,632 students enrolled in summer time classes got their grades via email.
Students will receive grade reports at their official Stevenson High accounts. Parents will get the reports at the email addresses they gave the school during online registration.
The emails will include links that will allow people to download PDF copies of the grade reports.
Parents who prefer the old delivery system can request paper reports, Conrey said.
Conrey expects more schools will shift to electronic report card delivery. Many schools already allow parents to check their kids' assignment grades online.
"I think the presence of online grading is ubiquitous and this is just the logical extension of that," he said.