Using Aspen for Staff Attendance

How to Use Aspen for Staff Attendance & Substitute Replacement

The West Warwick Public Schools partnered with Follett many years ago to use the power of Aspen for staff attendance and substitute replacement. We have three different workflows that staff members use for attendance and replacement purposes. Each one of the workflows will be explained below.

How to Fill-out the Staff Absence Request Workflow in Aspen

If a WWPS employee is going to be out for any reason that doesn't require approval they fill-out the Staff Absence Request Workflow. Sick, personal, bereavement, family illness, district sanctioned professional development, IEP meetings, and religious days are all examples of absences that do not need administrative approval. Staff members simply need to fill-out the Staff Absence Request Workflow. View the directions below for the one-step process.

Once a staff member completes the Staff Absence Request Workflow an attendance record is created that allows substitute teachers, teaching assistants or clerks to log into Aspen and claim the job for the day. 

How to Fill-in for a Staff Member as a Substitute Employee

All employees in the WWPS (including our substitute employees) have an Aspen account, a Google account and a Chromebook as a member of our organization. Substitute employees receive an email similar to the one below alerting them to all available positions.

Once a substitute request becomes available via the Staff Absence Request Workflow a substitute employee can select the position. The video clip below illustrates how to select an available position.

Substitute teachers can view the Aspen Substitute Teacher's Manual for additional instructions on using Aspen as a substitute teacher.

How to Use the Short-Term Leave Request Workflow in Aspen

The WWPS uses one more workflow for absence requests. This workflow is used by teachers whenever they are requesting to participate in professional development activities outside of the pre-sanctioned district PD activities. Classified personnel also use this workflow to request the use of vacation time. This workflow is used in a limited fashion by our employees and is completed by superintendent approval. Please contact your building level administrator or supervisor if you are unsure of which workflow to use for your absence.

What do I do if I can't log in to Aspen?

If an employee is unable to log into Aspen to request a staff absence they can use the Google Voice number to call in and leave a message. This message line should only be used if your school is not in session and you do not have access to a Chromebook/computer to log into Aspen. This message line is checked late (between 10 PM and midnight) each evening and early (between 5:30 AM - 7:30 AM) each morning. If you need to call the Google Voice line for absence requests please call, (401) 249-0714.

Future Blog Post - How does this magic work in Aspen?

In a future blog post, I will explain what happens in the backend of Aspen to make all of this magic happen. As an aside, many of my colleagues and some of our substitute employees have asked why we don't use a third party substitute replacement system. Besides saving close to $100K since we've implemented this solution; the answer is actually quite simple. Using Aspen as our absence/replacement system means all of the data is in one place (where it belongs) and we can easily connect different data sets to make better decisions about students and the adults that serve them. Our substitutes quickly praise the choices we've made because the soon see the power of connecting them to the staff member that they're covering. The get access to the teacher's students for the day and they're able to see the teacher's schedule as well as take attendance using Aspen.