When educators send report cards home with elementary-school students, there's a pretty good chance that mom and dad will get their hands on them by day's end. But with middle and high-school kids, well, given their busy after-school lives involving art, athletics and romance — and the fact that they are teenagers — you can't always bet that mom and dad will immediately see their grades.

But now parents with computer access can check their child's progress via the Pinnacle Gradebook system, which displays grades, homework assignments, and attendance records online. Santa Fe Public Schools has been using the Pinnacle system for three years, and in an effort to encourage more parental involvement in student achievement, the school hosted a free training session on it Thursday during parent/teacher conference day.

"It holds students accountable, knowing their parents have their eyes open and can access their grades, and it can start a dialogue between the two," explained Maria Hanley, a software support coordinator for Santa Fe Public Schools. "We're always looking for different strategies to get parents involved with student achievement."

The system can be accessed by parents, students, teachers and school administrators — all of whom have their own passwords. Parents and students get a "view only" pass, which does not let them change any data, while teachers and administrators can update grades, attendance records and homework assignments on a daily basis.

Julie Leyba popped by for a quick lesson and to check on her daughter's grades Thursday. Within five minutes, Hanley took Leyba through the necessary steps to view the data. Leyba said she had been aware of the system for some time, but didn't know how to use it.

"It's as easy as getting on any site on a computer," she said after the training. Asked how often she'd be looking up her daughter's grades, she smiled and said, "Oh, I'll be checking." Would her daughter be happy about this? "Probably not," Leyba said.

Keiko Giacona couldn't access Pinnacle from home, so she came in to talk to Hanley about it. Within minutes, Giacona was looking at her son's grade book online.

"Pinnacle is another way for me to know what's going on. I don't want to police him, but I want him to know I'm aware," she said.

Giacona said a letter about Pinnacle sent to Santa Fe High parents at the beginning of this semester was missing vital Web address elements, making access impossible. Hanley acknowledged the mistake and said it had since been corrected.

There have been few other problems with the system within the district, Hanley said. But last month, in Manchester, Conn., high-school students hacked into the system and gave themselves better grades. Diligent school administrators caught the culprits, who had apparently watched as an administrator accessed the system with a school code.

Hanley said it's vital that teachers and administrators who can change Pinnacle data ensure that unauthorized personnel — like students — are not standing behind them while they use their passwords.

Hanley also urged computer owners to update software before attempting to access Pinnacle. For those who don't own computers, Santa Fe High offers access to one in the administrative building, Principal Robbe Stephens said. Hanley said if parents are having trouble reaching the site for any reason, they should call their children's school and ask for help.

The easiest way to view Pinnacle information is to go to the district's Web site at www.sfps.info and click on the "Parents" menu, and scroll down to Pinnacle. Pinnacle does not display records from last year. Parents who need that information should contact the school's administrative office, Stephens said.

For now, the system only serves middle and high-school students, Hanley said. By August 2010, a new computer system called Power School should be in place offering online grade book information for K-12 students.

Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.

Editor's note: This article first appeared Nov. 14 on Santafenewmexican.com and is being re-published so those who did not see it during the weekend can do so now.