Category: Security

New Release – August 1, 2022

Azroy KandanLeave a comment

In today’s release, we’re including framework improvements for our upcoming Lunch Order and Shopping Cart modules. The release also includes a mix of improvements to the Orchestra Master Scheduler, Admissions, Sign-In/Sign-Out, and security, just to name a few.

Step 4 Scheduler supports color-coding without "Organize by department"
Step 4 Scheduler supports color-coding without “Organize by department”

Here is a list of the latest QuickSchools improvements:

Master Scheduler Improvements

  • Color Code Step 4 when “Organize by department” is not enabled (See above) 

Security Improvements

  • General Security Improvements
  • Improve Privacy on Test Server

General (Functional) Improvements

  • Ability to hide Admissions Application Statuses (See below)
  • Show Custom Fields for Documents on Student record
  • Importer for Sign-In/Sign-Out App (See below)
  • Improve Report Creator support for Sign-In/Sign-Out App

General Bug Fixes

  • Improve Support for Disputed Charges in Fee Tracking with Online Payments
  • Improve Support for OneRoster (v1.1) Integration
  • Upgrade Text Messaging Framework
  • Bug Fix Alerts Framework for deleted parents
  • Bug Fix when adding new Online Test
  • Other Server Updates

Beta Improvements / Fixes

  • Lunch Ordering Support for Online Payment
  • New Shopping Cart Framework
  • Ability to Share Dashboard
  • Improvements to Bulk Charge Credit Cards via Standard Charges
  • Add support to disable Auto-Enrollment for Canvas Integration
  • Add support to automatically Un-enroll students for Canvas Integration
  • Fix District-Wide Students for Group School

Hide Application Status

In the Admissions module, when configuring the Application Statuses, you now have the option to hide certain status:

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New Release – July 12, 2022

Azroy Kandan1 Comment

In today’s release, we continue to make security improvements, PLUS a mix of improvements to the Orchestra Master Scheduler, Online Forms, Fee Tracking, and the Report Creator, just to name a few.

Master Scheduler now shows multi-period conflicts in Step 5
Master Scheduler now shows multi-period conflicts in Step 5

Here is a list of the latest QuickSchools improvements:

Master Scheduler Improvements

  • Improve visibility for Conflicts in Step 5 (for Weekly Schedule)
  • Option to Hide/Remove Course Requests in Step 5
  • Fix Conflicts tab in Step 4

Security Improvements

  • 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) via Email (See below)
  • Option to reduce Login Email Alerts based in IP Address
  • Other Security Improvements

General (Functional) Improvements

  • Online Forms Option to charge fees by Grade Level (See above)
  • Option to require files for upload when inviting applicant in Admissions module
  • Improve support for ACH only in Student/Parent Portal
  • View Assignments from Student Portal when clicking “Show All”
  • Improve notifications for scheduled tasks

General Bug Fixes

  • Bug fix for missing features based on roles
  • Bug fix when scheduling Live Stream with repetition
  • Bug fix School Message Board on Student Portal

Beta Improvements / Fixes

  • Option to automatically hide Transcript grades from future semesters

2-Factor Authentication

In our effort to improve security, we are building support for 2-Factor Authentication (2FA), starting with email. This feature can be turned on for the school under “Edit Overall Settings” (under “Settings” > “Turn Features On/Off”):

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Security Improvements

Azroy KandanLeave a comment

You may have received an email notification recently from QuickSchools letting you know about a new login to your account. This is a new security-related feature that was released recently. Basically, any time someone logs into your account either via a new IP address, or a new device, QuickSchools will send you an email notification.

Notification on "Login from New Device"
Notification on “Login from New Device”

Recent Security Improvements

There are several other security-related features included in our recent release. In addition to new login, QuickSchools will also send out an email notification if you (1) change/reset your password, or (2) add/remove users to the School Admin role. Finally, with this new release, if you do change your password, anybody currently logged into your account will automatically be logged out.

If you notice any strange activity in your account, please change your password immediately. You should also contact your school’s administrative team, or contact QuickSchools support for assistance. We can help track down what might have happened to your account.

Security-Related Summary Reports

As a school administrator, you have access to Summary Reports that show user and login history. In particular, the “Portal Login History” Summary Report shows the history of all logins for any user in your school:

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New Release – May 31, 2022

Azroy Kandan1 Comment

Today’s release contains several security-related improvements PLUS a mix of improvements to a variety of modules that include Orchestra Master Scheduler, Admissions, Standard-Based Gradebook, Fee Tracking, and the Report Creator, just to name a few.

may 31st 2022 quickschools updates
Improved Security with New Email Notifications

Here is a list of the latest QuickSchools improvements:

Master Scheduler Improvements

  • Improve new “Scheduling Algorithm” in Step 4
  • Refresh list of Subject Areas when new subject area is added
  • Report Creator support for Day and Time in Bell Schedule

Security Improvements

  • Notification Email when logging in from New Device
  • Notification Email when School Admin user is added/removed
  • Notification Email when password is changed
  • Clear active sessions when password is changed

General (Functional) Improvements

  • Ability to relabel period names for Subject-Based and Period-Based Attendance (See below)
  • Ability to unselect radio button when taking attendance
  • Ability to schedule tasks for every other week (i.e. Bi-Weekly)
  • Reformat Student Name when converting Inquiry to Application (in the Admissions module), based on configured Student Name format
  • Report Creator support for (1) subject Custom Fields and (2) Online Payments
  • API Support for OAuth2

General Bug Fixes

  • Fix Subject line when using Email Template from the Admissions module
  • Fix Family Name tag when using Email Template from the Admissions module

Beta Improvements / Fixes

  • Bulk Charge Credit Card using Standard Charges (See Below)
  • Improve Search Student specifically by Student Name, Grade Level or Tag
  • Ability to hide “View Complete Record” from Student Portal
  • Ability to restrict deletion of Fee Tracking transactions to specific users/roles
  • Ability to disable “Add Standard” for teachers in the Standards-Based Gradebook
  • Ability to disable “Override Gradebook Settings” for teachers in the Standards-Based Gradebook
  • Ability to hide “Call Number” when creating new books in the Library App
  • Show Subject Abbreviation is Student Self-Enrollment History screen
  • REST API support for OneRoster v1.1
  • Improve framework for Integration via File Transfer (SFTP)

Relabel Attendance Periods

You can now relabel the period names for Period-based and Subject-based Attendance. Just click on the new “Customize Period Names” button under “Attendance” > “Settings”:

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Privacy Shield

Azroy KandanLeave a comment

As an online software provider, the security and privacy of your data is super important. QuickSchools does not share your data with third party vendors without your expressed consent. To that effect, we have certified ourselves with the EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA). Details below:

We are looking to certify with the Student Privacy Pledge too. You can see a current list of signatories here:

Expect to see us on this list of signatories in the coming weeks.

If you have any questions or comments about our privacy policies, please feel free to chat with us, or send us an email.

QuickSchools Security

Azroy Kandan4 Comments

We wrote an article 3 years ago to address some of the concerns with using an online service like QuickSchools. Although many of the responses are still relevant, we wanted to expand a little bit on the section regarding our security features.

Our QuickSchools infrastructure has matured tremendously since we officially launched in 2009. We are now hosted on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Virginia. This means that in addition to the cloud-based infrastructure that allows us to scale and meet the growing demand of our customer base, we also get to piggy back on many of the security features provided by AWS. This includes network, hardware, software and on premise security. We have some details here:  http://aws.amazon.com/security/Read More »

Why worry?

Azroy Kandan3 Comments

Users are always very concerned about software that is delivered over the internet. But here’s why we say, “Don’t worry”:

Is the software secure?

Yes, we employ standard SSL Encryption, which is what banks use for their online portals. All passwords are encrypted, even in the database. We consistently monitor for external attacks, and employ standard protocols for network and server protection.

Will my data be safe?

We use database replication to keep a real-time backup of all accounts. Each account is also backed up nightly to a separate location. You can read more about it here.

Who owns the data?

The data is owned by the respective schools. We have no right to the data. You can request that your data be deleted at anytime. Data from expired / cancelled accounts are also deleted automatically after 60 days.

Will my data be shared with others?

No, your data will absolutely not be shared with others. All software maintenance and support is done in house, so your data will not be accessed by third party vendors.

What if I want to leave?

There are no cancellation fees. You can cancel at any time. You can also download an XML backup of your data before ending your subscription.

Is there a contract?

No, there is no contract. You can start or end your subscription at any time. We do require payment every month to keep your account active.

Will you charge me more later?

We have held the same price since our official launch in 2009. And we have no plans, immediate or long-term, to change our pricing. This is our way of staying competitive in the market place.

Is this a stable company?

Our company was established in 2003. We originally built custom solutions for large supply chains, which allowed us to develop and test our own software platform using J2EE as our core technology. We branched into education in 2007, and officially launched QuickSchools in August 2009 after receiving VC funding earlier that year. Since launching QuickSchools, we’ve removed ourselves from the custom software development market and are focused completely on the smaller school market. We’re now expanding aggressively into North America.

Security of your credit card information

Azreen Latiff1 Comment

Since schools pay for the monthly QuickSchools.com subscription fee with a credit card, a natural question would be how safe it is to enter the credit card number online and the Security of your credit card information.

Paying for goods and services online is very common these days, to the tune of more than USD130 billion in the US in 2006. The technology for doing this safely and securely is very well-defined.

QuickSchools.com uses RBS WorldPay as our credit card payment processor. They are part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, the fifth biggest banking group in the world. When you enter your credit card details, you are actually entering those details with WorldPay. And WorldPay has worked hard over the years to build the most secure system that they possibly can.

QuickSchools.com doesn’t store your credit card information, and we can’t even see the full credit card number. You’ll notice this when you enter your credit card information online. You’ll see that the browser bar will display the WorldPay address, which means you are entering your credit card securely with WorldPay.