Updates · December 7, 2018

Canvas/PowerSchool Clarification

The following email was sent to all secondary staff (teachers and administrators) on December 7, 2018. It provides clarification about using Canvas and PowerSchool for the rest of the school year.


Good morning,

The intent of this email is to offer clarification about how we will continue to use PowerSchool and Canvas for the remainder of this school year. Please read this message carefully.

The official gradebook for the district is PowerSchool.  All assignments and letter grades need to be in PowerSchool and students need to be directed to look at PowerSchool for grade information for the remainder of the year. We will continue to look at options and recommendations to help teachers manage the Canvas and PowerSchool relationship.
The Canvas-PowerSchool gradebook sync is working for 99% of teachers without issues as of November 30, 2018.

  • If you choose to use grade sync please make sure that all of the assignments are going over to PowerSchool and have your students confirm their PowerSchool grade.
  • If you choose to not use the PowerSchool/Canvas grade sync then you will need to enter grades in PowerSchool manually.
  • If you choose to not use the sync we still encourage you to use Canvas with your students to provide details about assignment and links to curriculum, videos, websites, materials, and assignments that make sense for the platform, but you don’t need to have every assignment in Canvas.

Options for Displaying Grades in Canvas

You have some options for displaying grades in Canvas to help ease confusion for students.

Option 1: Disable the Canvas gradebook view

You can also disable the student gradebook view (you still have access as the teacher) to eliminate questions about grades not matching between the two gradebooks. In the Canvas course, go to Settings > Navigation. Click the three-dot menu next to Grades and then select Disable.
Disabling scores still allows students to receive and submit assignments through Canvas. You can still score items (including Quizzes) and students can see those scores, BUT students do not see the overall score for the course with the Grades link disabled.

Option 2: Do not display calculated score

You can disable the total score calculation in Canvas without disabling the gradebook entirely for the course. This option is beneficial because it still allows students to see a list of assignments, their score, and any feedback you’ve left without having to click into each individual assignment.
Go to Settings > Course Details. At the bottom of the page, click on More options. Select Hide totals in student grades summary and then save by clicking Update Course Details.

Regardless of which option you choose, notify Technology Services if you are continuing to have grade sync issues by submitting a work order.