From the Pinnacle Internet Viewer (PIV), parents/guardians and students will be able to access grades, assignments, and attendance. This secure access requires a username and a confidential password issued by Day Middle School. We hope this resource will provide you with the information needed to stay informed about your child's progress.

What is the Pinnacle Internet Viewer (PIV)?

The Pinnacle Internet Viewer (PIV) is a web-based communication tool that allows parents/guardians and students secure access to grade, assignment, and attendance information. Assignments and student performance can be viewed as soon as entries are made by teachers into their electronic gradebooks. The program is straight forward and quite user-friendly - just point and click!

The PIV is not meant to replace direct communication between students/parents/teachers or other school staff members. If there is a question about grades or attendance, please discuss the information with your child first. Students are strongly encouraged to discuss class progress directly with their teachers. If further clarification is needed, then parents should contact the teacher directly. Although PIV is a very useful tool, it is not intended to replace direct communication between students, parents, and school staff members.

PIV Security and Accountability

Each student/parent account will require a username and a password. The username required for access is the student's permanent ID number. If the number begins with a "9", do not add leading zeros. If it begins with a "1", just type all ten digits as is. The initial password is the first eight letters of your child's first name. If there is a space in your child's name, put in the space. The password field is not case sensitive. Parents should change the initial password for security reasons. Please share this password with your child so he/she can check grades and attendance. Please use the help link on the DMS PIV page to request your password be reset if your password has been compromised. Passwords will not be reset by student request or over the phone.

What You Will See with PIV

After clicking the link to PIV, you will be required to enter or select the following information:

1. Enter Username (Student permanent ID)
2. Enter Password (Initially, the first eight letters of your child's name)
3. Select James L. Day Middle School from the drop-down menu

When looking at assignment and grade information with PIV, please be familiar with and understand the following information:

0 - A zero score will not be counted as a missing assignment for reports, but will affect the student's grade.

Z - A zero score that will be seen as a missing assignment for reports and will affect the student's grade.

X - An excused assignment that will not show as a missing assignment and will not affect the student's grade.

Blank (no entry) - A missing assignment that will show up on the Missing Assignment report, but will not affect the student's grade.

Letter grades are based on the following point scale except for period 7, which is pass/fail:

School attendance codes are as follows:

Note: if you called in to excuse an absence, this may not show up in the PIV for up to three days beyond the absence. Please be patient and check back before becoming alarmed.

The following reports are currently available with PIV:

Progress Report - Displays progress report information for the current term in real time.

Student Assignment Report - Displays assignment and grade/score information for the current term by class.

Missing Assignment Report - Displays missing assignment information for the current term by class.

The various reports can be selected by using the listed drop-down menus. Click on the Request Report button after making your selection.

1. Select a class - Choose one from the list displayed.
2. Select a a report - Choose one of the three listed.
3. Select a marking period - Two semesters with quarter progress reports.

Information displayed is for the current marking period.

Grades

Due to the variety of classroom and instructional reasons, some gradebooks may be updated more frequently than others. For example, due to their complexity and the teacher's desire to ensure scoring is careful and thorough, some assignments such as special projects or research papers may take longer to grade than others.

Course grade/scores may seem inaccurate or fluctuate from day to day. Some of the reasons for this may be as follows:

1. Early in the marking period, there may be fewer graded assignments, and so occasional high/low scores will have a great influence on the cumulative grade.
2. Teachers may have weighted some assignments more than others so that particular assignments may count more heavily toward a cumulative grade calculation. A "Z" (or zero) might be issued for as assignment that can be made up later. This could drastically lower the grade. Once the assignment is made up, the cumulative  grade may increase accordingly.
3. Teachers may allow students to redo an assignment in certain circumstances. Assignment scores and cumulative grades may increase as a result.
4. Updates, changes, or corrections are being made to the gradebook.

Please note: The PIV only provides unofficial progress information. On rare occasions, the final grade/score through PIV may be different from the final printed report card due to extenuating circumstances. The official grade/score is the one that appears on the printed report card.