Beginning the School Year with Smart Futures

Beginning the School Year with Smart Futures


□ Step 1.  Verify that your school’s license is active.

You can verify with the appropriate administrator at your school that your subscription is in place, or simply try logging in to your existing account. If your license is not active, you will be notified when you attempt to log in.  If you need help with your license/subscription, contact us at support@smartfutures.org. 

□ Step 2. Rostering Instructors and Students

Proper rostering is an important aspect of using SmartFutres.org.  Supplying the proper information to allow us to identity both students and schools helps SmartFutures.org to make sure that artifacts and badges travel with the student as they move between districts and charter schools within Pennsylvania.  

Two key pieces of information that help us identify students and schools properly are:

  • NCES id for schools (National Center for Education Statistics)
  • PA Secure ID for students (state issued unique identifier)

There are several ways to complete rostering with Smart Futures.

  • Clever.com or ClassLink.com
  • CSV file upload
  • Manual registration

Information on rostering through these various methods is available in our Knowledge Base:

If you are a previous user returning for another year, then you only need to send rostering information for new Instructors and Students, or Students moving to new buildings in your district. Resending previous imported Students runs the risk of overwriting previously existing data. 

□ Step 3. Schedule or Access Training

There are two options for training:

  • Live web-based training 
  • Tutorials available in our Knowledge Base


Live Web-based Training

This is recommended for new districts as it will be the most comprehensive overview of how to use the Smart Futures website.

These trainings are done using Zoom meeting software, which allows us to see each other, and will allow us to share our screen while demonstrating how to use the Smart Futures website. Attendees can be in one large group, such as in a conference room, or they can attend individually using the link provided in the invitation. 

If attending as a large group, for the best experience, please make sure the computer connecting to the meeting has a web cam and is connected to a larger screen. 

To schedule your training session, go to https://calendly.com/smartfutures/integrating-sf


Tutorials available in our Knowledge Base

There are many tutorials available in our Knowledge Base, and we are adding new information all the time. This is the best option for answering specific how-to questions about Smart Futures.

□ Step 4. Ongoing support

Ongoing support is available through our helpdesk, which you can reach by going to https://support.smartfutures.org, where you can search for help in our Knowledge Base or submit a ticket, or by emailing support at support@smartfutures.org





    • Related Articles

    • Rostering Instructors with Smart Futures

      Option 1:  Registration of instructors (and students) by Clever.com or Classlink.com The best scenario is to have all rostering handled through an automated nightly process through the Clever or Classlink systems.  Prior to implementing ...

    • Navigating Classes in Smart Futures

      Classes in Smart Futures are used as a basis for generating reports. Your Classes don’t need to match your class periods exactly, unless that’s what you prefer. Some find it helpful to create Classes based on Graduation Year, while others prefer ...

    • Rostering Students with Smart Futures

      Option 1: Registration of instructors (and students) by Clever.com or ClassLink.com The best scenario is to have all rostering handled through an automated nightly process through the Clever or ClassLink systems. Prior to implementing ...

    • Smart Futures info for Parents

      SmartFutures.org is an online career planning and career portfolio platform that many school districts and charter schools in Pennsylvania use to 1) meet the new requirements for Career Readiness Indicators that are part of the Future Ready PA Index, ...

    • Navigating the Smart Futures Coordinator Dashboard

      1: Quick Links This area of the Dashboard offers links to some of the most commonly used functions. 2: Registration and Licenses This takes you to the Registration and Licenses page, where you can see if you’re school’s license is active and can add ...