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There are several different ways to search for students and student data in PowerSchool. This

document will cover some of the basic search methods to find students who meet certain criteria and to

export out student field values.

Searching for Students

On the main page, click a tab under Search to select a group to search. “Students” is the default tab. On

• First letter of the student’s last name

• Grade level (Grade_Level= )

• Gender (Gender= )

• All (Current active enrollment)

Searching by Last Name or Student Number

Search for students by last name, a portion of the last name, or by the student number. If a student is

the only one with the last name you entered, the student pages for that student appear. If the student

shares his or her last name with other students in the school, the Current Student Selection page shows

the list of students who match your search criteria.

Smart Search makes searching for students and staff faster and easier. Once you start typing in the

Search Students field, the auto-completion feature suggests a list of possible student or staff names,

student or staff fields, and stored searches in a menu below the Search field. In most cases, you don’t

have to type the complete word. To select an item, click your choice. If you select a student’s name, his

or her student pages will appear. If you choose a field name, it will be inserted in the Search Students

box. Then you can complete the search command.

The choices in the Smart Search menu are color coded and labeled with an icon, making it easy to

identify the item you are looking for within the list of results. Search results for student and staff names

are represented in orange and labeled with an icon that looks like a person. Search results for student

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2) Select Interface

3) Check the box for “Enable Smart Search”

4) Click the blue Submit button

NOTE: Another Interface option is to “Include Inactive Student/Staff Results”; however, it is not

recommended for users who primarily work with Active students. Inactive students can be included in a

search easily on an as needed basis, and as discussed in future Search topics.

Using Field/Value Search Commands

Use search commands to find students who match specific criteria and to search student fields.

To see a list of the student fields available in PowerSchool, including any custom fields your

district/school created, click View Field List on the Start Page. Then, you may scroll through the list to

locate the name of the field that contains the information you want. Click the field to automatically

enter it in the Search Students field.

Search for information by using the correct comparator in your search command. Note that if a

comparator contains letters, you must include spaces between the field name, the comparator, and the

search argument. (See a list of Search Comparators on page 3)

The search argument is the specific information for which you are searching. For example, if you are

searching for all of the students with the last name Smith, then Smith is the search argument. The

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PowerSchool Search Comparators

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Using Compound Searches

You can search the database using multiple search commands simultaneously. When you enter more

than one search command in the Search Students field, separate the search commands with a semicolon

(;). A semicolon between search commands means and. For example, to find all the students in Mr.

Bowe’s homeroom class whose street contains Maple, enter home_room=bowe;street contains maple

in the Search Students field at Apple Grove High School, and press Enter.

are currently enrolled are considered active. Occasionally, you may need to search for students who

preregistered for next year, transferred or dropped out of school midyear, or graduated early. Students

in one of these classifications are inactive. Students who have re-enrolled in another school in your

district are not considered inactive. Search for the students at their current school or the district office.

To access inactive student records, begin your search command with a forward slash (/). Preceding a

search command with a forward slash searches all student records. For example, to find all active and

inactive students with the last name Flowers, enter /last_name=flowers in the Search Students field and

press Enter.

Searching based on Enroll Status

You can use the following to search based on the student enroll status (Enroll_Status=value). For any

not have a Period 1 class, who were active as of November 10, or who are enrolled in the Gifted and

Talented program.

Enter search codes as you would any search command in the Search Students field. For example, to find

students born on November 10, enter *birthday=11/10 in the Search Students field and press Enter.

(See Search Code examples on page 5).

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Search Code Examples

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Creating Stored Searches

If you know you will be using a set of search commands over and over, create a new group of students

for whom you and other users can search. Stored searches find preset groups of students. You can

either set up and save the searches you use most, or use a search that someone else has set up.

To create a stored search, click Stored Searches and click New. Then type the search command or

that group of students in the future, click on the Stored Selection link on the start page and click Go

Functions.

PowerSchool Advanced Search Feature

PowerSchool has the ability to add students to a previous search, to remove students from a previous

search or to further search within a selection of students.

The PowerSchool Advanced Search is slightly different in its layout and in some of its functionality.

When checking the Advanced box, you will see three main areas: The Search Criteria area, the Search

Results Area, and the Current Student Selection area.

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However, instead of automatically setting this group as your Current Selection, it will display the search

parameter in the Search bar, and your Search Results will appear in the list below.

After your initial search, you need to then set your Current Selection with the blue Set button below

your Search Results.

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After your Current Student Selection is set, you will then have to ability to conduct further searches

without affecting your Current Student Selection. Your subsequent Search Results can then be added to

or subtracted from your Current Student Selection by using the blue “Add” or “Subtract” buttons, or you

may opt to conduct the additional search within the existing Current Student Selection by using the

“Within” button.

The most basic export function that you can use is the List Students function. To use this function,

select your students and then select the List Students function. Provide a Report Title, and then select

the Student fields that you wish to export out. You can also identify how you want the page to appear,

by including Cell Padding, additional rows between student records, including gridlines, as well as

sorting by the selected fields. There is an option to export as a text tab-delimited file.

Quick Export

Quick Export provides the same functionality as the List Students with Export function; however, you do

have the ability to further format the file by including a Field Delimiter, a Record Delimiter, to include or

not include column titles on the 1

Templates for Exporting. These templates can export out a simple text tab-delimited file of the selected

columns (most commonly used) or a text file where the columns are of a fixed width (which can be used

for importing into systems where the data is required to be in a specific format). To create an export

template, select Special Functions > Importing & Exporting > Templates for Exporing. Click the new

button. Name the Template and provide the configuration of the Export Template and click Submit.

Then, navigate to the created template and click the on the number in the # Columns column to identify

the desired fields and the order in which the fields should appear. To create each new Field, click the

New button, provide the Title of the column, select the desired field, a value if the student field is blank

(optional). You may also identify the Column Number, Width (for fixed-width files) and the field

alignment.