Canvas - Stafford County Public Schools (2024)

Parents and guardians often desire the ability to see their students’ course assignments, due dates, announcements, and other content. Stafford County Public Schools values and encourages parent and guardian participation in the student learning process. This document will guide you in creating your observer account in Canvas in five steps:

1. Acquire the student pairing code
2. Creating an Observer account in Canvas
3. Accessing the Canvas Parent App
4. Adding additional students to your account
5. Setting your Observer Notifications

What can observers do in Canvas?

• Read course announcements
• See the course assignments page
• Preview course documents
• View the course syllabus
• See course outcomes (learning standards)
• View the course calendar
• Examine their student’s grades on assignments
• Access their student’s conversations
• Communicate with the course instructor

What can observers NOT do in Canvas?

• Submit assignments
• Participation in course discussions
• Take quizzes
• Join course groups
• Send messages to students (other than the one they are observing)
• See course rosters
• See unpublished courses

Please be aware:

• The permissions referenced above are given to parent and guardian observers, but individual teachers are able to customize their course menus to better suit the needs of their specific classes. You may not be able to view each of the features listed under “What can observers do in Canvas?” if a classroom teacher does not make use of a specific feature.
• The student must have an account and be enrolled in Canvas courses before the parent or guardian can sign up to observe the student.
• While the Parent mobile app provides an on-the-go glimpse at course calendars, assignments, and due dates, Canvas provides a much richer observer experience on desktop browsers, where more content is available to view using an interface similar to a student’s. We encourage you to access Canvas via a desktop browser to view more content.
• Before beginning to create an account in Canvas, please ensure that you are using a supported browser. Canvas supports the current and first previous releases of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge.
• Please note that grades listed on the Canvas mobile app are not official. Synergy remains the official source for Stafford Schools student grade information.

Prior to Enrolling as a Parent Observer

Have your student generate a student pairing code from their own account in Canvas.

Obtaining Student Pairing Code Directions

1. Click on Student Account Icon.
2. Click on Settings.
3. On the right hand side of the screen, click on the Pair with Observer button.
4. In the pop up window, copy the code located in the box. Take note once this code is generate it will only last for 7 days or after one use.
5. Write down the pairing code which is case-sensitive. You will need the code during the next steps.

Creating an Account

The parent or guardian must first sign up for a Canvas account online.

1. Go to the Stafford Schools Canvas Login Page.
2. For New Accounts click on the link that says Parent of a Canvas User? Click Here For an Account.
3. Fill out the Parent Signup
   1. Enter your Name.
   2. Add your Email (this will be the email you use to sign in)
   3. Create a password.
   4. Re-enter the created password
   5. Enter the Student Pairing Code you obtained from the Student Pairing Code Directions from above. This is case-sensitive.
   6. Click on the Captcha check box.
   7. Click the Blue Start Participating Button.

Using the Canvas Parent App

While the Parent mobile app provides an on-the-go glimpse at course calendars, assignments, and due dates, Canvas provides a much richer observer experience on desktop browsers, where more content is available to view using an interface similar to a student’s. We encourage you to access Canvas via a desktop browser to view more content.

1. Locate the Canvas Parent App on your Android or iOS Device App Store
2. Download the App
3. Open the App and Click on Find School
4. Type in the Find your school or district box the words: Stafford County Public Schools (Parents)
5. Enter the Parent information you created when signing up for the account in the previous directions
   1. Enter your Email Address
   2. Enter your Password
   3. Click Log In

Adding Additional Students

Remember to repeat the Student Pairing Code Directions before starting these steps

1. Click on Account
2. Click on Observing
3. Add Student Pairing Code
4. Click +Student button
   1. You will notice the additional student listed under Students Being Observed

Observer Notifications

When logged in as an Observer you can customize the notifications you receive from Canvas. Each notification is set to a default preference. To change a notification for a contact method, locate the notification and click the icon for your preferred delivery type.

1. Click on Account
2. Click on the Notifications
3. To receive a notification right away, click the check mark icon.
4. To receive a daily notification, click the clock icon.
5. To receive a weekly notification, click the calendar icon.
6. If you do not want to receive a notification, click the remove (X) icon.