Frequently Asked Questions
For Parents & Guardians
The TTU K‑12 staff has been working hard during the last year to develop a new student information system to replace our current student/parent portal. The system will allow for more streamlined enrollments, course changes and access to downloadable grade reports, among its many useful functions. TTU K-12 has worked to improve our ability to provide a streamlined, efficient and consistent process for providing enhanced support services for our students and parents.
We are pleased to announce that we have completed our efforts and are launching a new Student Information System (SIS) called Focus School Software.
We look forward to continuing to serve your educational needs and we will update you as we make changes to processes to better enhance the services we provide. We will be working to continuously enhance our services in a manner that protects your confidential data and information.
We have a self-help student services portal that includes FAQs and a live chat feature. To utilize the new TTU K-12 student services portal, please go to: studentservices.k12.ttu.edu. You can also reach the call center by dialing (800) 692-6877.
If you have any questions or comments about this change please feel free to reach out to TTU K-12 at ttuk12@ttu.edu.
Table of Contents
Focus Portal- Logging In
- First Time Access (Creating an Account)
- The Focus Dashboard
- Request Forms (request accommodations, change of information, course extensions, etc.)
- Student Schedule
- Viewing Course History
- Course Shopping Cart
- Printing a Receipt
Logging into the TTU K-12 Focus Portal
The focus portal can be accessed by clicking on the link below. Upon accessing the TTU K-12 Focus portal, the system will ask for a username and password.
Focus Portal
First Time Access to the TTU K-12 Focus Portal
First time parents should create their account via the Parent Portal which will allow for creation of both the parent's and students account.
Parents that already have an account, should be able to access Focus via the TTU K-12
Focus Portal.
Parents that are in the process of creating their parent portal account for the first time, should select “I do not have an account Registered on the Parent Portal, but would like to create one”.
Upon selecting “I do not have an account Registered on the Parent Portal, but would like to create one” the parent will be presented with the following screen:
Once the account has been created, the parent should see the following options:
Upon accessing the registration system, parents will be provided with the TTU K-12 Online Application.
Parents will then be allowed to start a new application for a student, or return to continue an application that was started, but had not been completed.
After selecting “Begin Application”, the following screen will appear:
Parents will then be provided an option to select the program that best matches their student(s) needs.
If the wrong program has been selected, parents may use the previous page to update program choice.
Tuition-Free Program
Starting in August 2021, the State of Texas has designated TTU K-12 eligible to receive state funds. As a result, beginning in August 2021, we will offer a tuition-free K-12 online academic program available ONLY to Texas Residents!
There are requirements to which you must adhere if you wish to be included in the tuition-free program. You will need to withdraw from your local school district to attend TTU K-12 full-time tuition-free program.
- it must be consistent with your academic needs,
- you must be a Texas resident under the age of 25 and provide Proof of Residency,
- you must provide a copy of your birth certificate,
- you must be scheduled into at least four semester courses and maintain satisfactory course progress.
If parents do select this program, several additional information boxes will open to meet the requirements of the program:
The Student Information page will then display where parents may enter the student's information:
Parents will then be asked about their Students Demographical Information.
Parents will then be asked about the home address for the student:
Parents will then be asked about their information:
Parents will be given the opportunity to either select the school that the student currently attends, or to manually enter the school's information:
Please note, if “No School Listed” is selected, the parent will need to manually enter the school information.
If a school has been selected, then the following screen will display:
The final page will then be presented asking the parent to confirm that everything is “complete, true and correct to the best of their knowledge”.
Once the submit and finish has been pressed, if added correctly, the parent should see the following screen:
After selecting the I am Finished adding students. Please take me to the portal, you will then be taken into the portal.
Inside of the portal, the parent will be taken to their portal homepage.
The Focus Dashboard
The dashboard is your starting point for viewing your student's account, their information, accessing reports on course grades and student activity and contacting TTU K-12.
My Profile
The My Profile page will allow you to view your Primary Information, see attached students and view general information about your account.
Primary Info
Primary Info will allow you to view your Primary Info.
Attached Students
Attached Students will allow you to view the students that are attached to your account.
General
The General tab will allow you to view the date that you signed the user agreement.
Preferences
The preferences tab will allow you to update your display options, change your password and how you receive notifications.
Display Options
Display Options will allow you to update how you view your student's information.
Password
The Password tab will allow you to update your password. Please note that this will not change or update your student's password.
The rules for creating a new password are:
- passwords must be at least 9 characters long
- must contain a mix of upper and lower-case characters
- have at least 1 numeric character
- have at least 1 special character
The password-change dialogue will display a warning message in red until the typed-in password meets all the requirements.
Notifications
The Notifications tab will allow you to update your notifications. TTU K-12 recommends that you set your notifications to "daily".
Forms
The Forms tab will allow you to complete an application for a new student, request accommodations, drop or transfer courses, change an endorsement, file a grade appeal, request a transcript or change programs.
How do I view my active students?
From the dashboard screen, active students will be listed on the left hand-side. Clicking on the student name will allow you to view student's information, their grades, class schedule and any forms that may need to be submitted. If your student is not showing, please go to https://ttu.focusschoolsoftware.com/focus/auth/ to connect your student to your account.
Clicking on Child Info, will allow you to view your student's account info, including:
Primary Info
Primary Info allows you to view your student's primary information.
Accommodations
Accommodations will allow you to view any accommodations that are on file with TTU K-12.
Address & Contacts
Address & Contacts will allow you to view your student's address as well as those that are authorized to view your student's information.
Adult Learning Program
The Adult Learning Program will allow you to view your student's date of birth, upload transcript documents and your student's driver's license.
Advisor
The Advisor tab will allow you to view which school your student attends as well as the endorsement that they are pursuing (TTU K-12 Full-time students).
Blackboard Progress Report
The Blackboard Progress Report will allow you to view your student's course progress. Please note that the report is updated daily (generally overnight).
Demographics
Demographics will allow you to view your student's demographic information:
Documentation
Documentation will allow you to view any documentation that was uploaded at the time the application was submitted as well as any new files that need to be uploaded.
Enrollment
The enrollment tab will show which years that the student has been enrolled in TTU K-12.
FitnessGram/PFAI
The FitnessGram/PFAI will allow students to enter their Physical Fitness Assessment Initiative (PFAI).
Graduation
For our Full-Time students, the graduation tab will show which endorsement the student has selected, along with their STAAR EOC Mastery scores.
LEP
LEP will display the student's language and their home language.
PEIMS
PEIMS will list the student's unique state id (if provided).
Program Selection
The Program Selection will list which program the student selected at the time of enrollment.
Student Application Information
The Student Application Information will list the student's information that was submitted with the application.
Student Schedule
The student schedule will list which courses the student is currently enrolled in.
Course History
Course History displays all completed courses as well as the final course grade for any completed courses.
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Shopping Cart
When it is time to purchase additional courses, students and or parents can click the Purchase & Pay menu to gain access to the internal catalog. The catalog gives the parent the ability to search via the subject for course/CBE. There are multiple ways to search for classes:
- Keyword - The keyword search bar allows users to type in key words, such as a word in the course title, and narrow the search results by the criteria entered.
- Subjects - The Subjects drop-down lists all available Subjects offered by Texas Tech University. By default, all subjects will be selected. Click in the Subjects drop-down and deselect subjects as necessary to remove courses assigned to the subject from the search results.
- Courses – The Courses drop-down allows users to narrow the search results by course title. By default, all courses will be selected. Click in the Course drop-down and then deselect the check box to the left of a course title to remove the course from the search results.
- Course Types – The Course Types drop-down allows users to narrow the search results by course type. All course types will be selected by default. Click in the Course Types drop-down and deselect the check box to the left of the course type to remove courses of that course type from the search results.
- Delivery Methods - The Delivery Methods drop-down allows users to narrow the search results by delivery method. By default, all available delivery methods will be selected. Click in the Delivery Methods drop-down and deselect the check box to the left of the delivery method to remove courses of that delivery method from the search results.
Once you have found the course that you are enrolling in, please select the "Add to Cart". Once the item has been added to your cart, catalog will update to indicate "Added to Cart".
Once all courses have been selected, they will appear to the right, with the ability to confirm the correct course, or if not, remove the course from the shopping cart.
Upon entering payment information, the following screen should display:
If payment is successful, you should receive a copy of the receipt:
Selecting the Customer Ledger underneath the student's name will allow you to view the student's payment information.
You may also either export the ledger to excel, or print out a copy.
Back to TopHow do I view my students in the Learning Management System (LMS)?
If you need to check your student's progress or view their assignment grades, click the Sign into Blackboard button underneath the alerts tab on the portal homepage. You will be taken directly into Blackboard.
How do I access the Parent Dashboard in Blackboard?
On the Blackboard Homepage, please look for "Tools". On the "Tools" page, please click on "Observer".
On the Observer page, you should see a list of your students that you are currenlty "observing". Clicking on the "Student's" individual username will allow you to view the student.
Clicking on "Username" will take you to a list of the student's enrollments.
Next to the course name, the should be an option to select "Observe". Clicking on "Observe" will tak you to the course homepage.
On the course homepage, you will have several options to view the Home Page, Syllabus, Units and Final Exam. To check on the individual student's progress, please click on the "MyGrades" option to the left.
You can view All, Graded, Upcoming, or Submitted assignments. You can also change the order in which they are viewed using the "Order By" drop down menu.
To observe another student, click on the "X" in the upper left hand corner. You will be taken back to the "Observer" page to allow you to select another student to "observe".
TTU K-12
-
Address
Drane Hall | Texas Tech University | PO Box 42191 | 2515 15th Street | Lubbock, TX 79409 -
Phone
(800) 692-6877 -
Email
ttuk12@ttu.edu