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Pasadena Waldorf School

This custom Access database was created for the Pasadena Waldorf School to meet the school's needs for tracking data about students, parents, faculty and staff, inquiries, the annual fund drive, etc.  In addition it automates the production of various reports and forms needed for student enrollment, individual class rosters, the school roster, etc.

To help you get an idea of my work, below are sample screen shots (used with permission) from the database, along with my commentary on their functions and features.  (Depending on your screen size you may need to scroll right to see the entire screen-shot).

Keep in mind this database is customized for this particular Waldorf client.  Databases are fully customizable and are created only after detailed consultation with the client to ensure that they reflect your exact needs, administrative methods and business model.

Main Menu:

Form Purpose

The Main Menu is the "hub" of the system and all of its data-entry forms and reports are available from here by clicking on the appropriate button.  Each data-entry form in the system has a button to return to the Main Menu form.

Primary Household Data Form (top and bottom)

Form Purpose

The Primary Household form is one of a series of interrelated forms that link information about students and their parents.  It stores data about the main household in which the student lives.  The form is flexible about both the number and relationships of the students' caregivers, thus accommodating one and two parent households as well as other relationships such as guardians, stepparents, etc. [NOTE: There is another identical form called "Other Household" whose table stores data for a parent who is not currently living with the student (as, for example, in cases of divorce).  It's accessible from the Main Menu]

Features

  • Annual Fund sub-form: In addition to storing parental data, there is a sub-form at the bottom for storing information about yearly contributions to the school's "Annual Fund".  The sub-form permits entering of multiple records, so that a complete history of contributions is kept for each student household.
  • Form "quick" buttons: The form footer features custom buttons to make using the form easier to use, including grouped sets for record navigation, record operations and record searches.
  • Direct link to Student(s): In the form header (top screen shot) is a button which, on clicking, opens the Student form automatically filtered to show only the student (or students) that are members of that household. (See Student Form)
  • Add Student: Also in the form header is a button for adding a student from this household.  When clicked, this button opens the Student form and creates a new record automatically linked to the household.  In addition, to speed data-entry, it automatically transfers the last name from the household into the last name field of the student.  This is the main method for adding a new student; thus the sequence is to first fill in the information for the primary household, and then add the student (or students) who live in that household.

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