- In this article, we will show you how to search for students in PowerSchool
Basic Searches
Under the Student search are hyperlinks you can click that will automatically search for students that meet the criteria. For example, to search for all active students in 6th grade, click the 6.
- Grade
- Gender
- All currently enrolled students
Search for Last Name or Student Number
You can search for last name or student number (also known as SID or SIS ID) without using any search commands. Simply type in the last name or number that you are looking for. For example, to search for students with the last name Smith, type Smith in the search field.
- Last Name
- Student Number (SIS ID)
View Field List
PowerSchool stores student data in various fields. You can search for students based on those fields.
To see all the fields, click View Field List.
Then you can select a field from the list or type in the search field to filter.
Search Commands
Search commands allow you to find students who meet specific criteria or search certain fields. Search commands are made up of a field name, a comparator and a search argument. The search argument is the specific information you are searching for.
For example, to find students who have a medical alert about peanuts, you would search for Alert_Medical contains peanuts. Alert_Medical is the field name, contains is the comparator, and peanuts is the search argument.
Here are the comparators you can use in conjunction with the field list when searching for students.
Comparator | Definition | Purpose | Example |
= | is equal to | Returns an exact match of the search argument | First_Name=Robert |
< | is less than | Returns all matches less than the search argument | Grade_Level<11 |
> | is greater than | Returns all matches greater than the search argument | Grade_Level>9 |
<= | is less than or equal to | Returns all matches less than or equal to the search argument | Grade_Level<=10 |
>= | is greater than or equal to | Returns all matches greater than or equal to the search argument | Grade_Level>=6 |
# | is not equal to | Returns everything that does not match the search argument | football# (Returns all students who have the Football activity check box selected) football#1 (Returns all students who do not have the Football activity check box selected) |
in | one of the values is present in the field | Returns all matches that contain one of the search arguments | Last_Name in yang,holt (Returns students whose last name is Yang or Holt) |
contains | the value is contained in the field | Returns all matches where the search argument is anywhere in the field | Street contains maple |
!contain | the value is not contained in the field | Excludes matches of what you typed | Street !contain maple |
@ | Wildcard | Fills in unknown information in the search argument | First_Name=jac@ |
Compound Searches
To string searches together use ";". For example, to find students with the last name Johnson who are in 10th grade, you would search Last_Name=Johnson;Grade_Level=10.
Enrollment Status Codes
By default, PowerSchool only searches for active students. The enrollment status codes allow you to include students that are not active.
To use enrollment status codes, search for /enroll_status=[code]. For example, to find all pre-registered students, you would use /enroll_status=-1.
Code | Description |
-1 | Preregistered |
0 | Active |
1 | Inactive |
2 | Transferred out |
3 | Graduated |
4 | Imported historical |
Search Codes
A search code is a special type of command that searches by completing a calculation and comparing the results. Using a search code, you can search for students who were born in the month of June, who do 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 field. For example, to find students born on November 10, enter *birthday=11/10 in the search field.
Here are some examples of the search codes you’ll find in the PowerSchool SIS Field List.
Search Code | Purpose | Example |
*birthday | Finds students whose birthday is today, on a certain date, or within a specified date range, such as students with April birthdays | *birthday=today *birthday=4/1 *birthday>=4/1;*birthday<=4/30 |
*as_of | Finds students who were active on the specified date | *as_of=10/31/2018 |
*not_enrolled_in _period | Finds students who are not enrolled in a course for the specified period | *not_enrolled_in_period=4 |
*enrolled_in | Finds students who are currently enrolled in a specified course and section | *enrolled_in=MAT1100 *enrolled_in= MAT1100.4 |
*not_enrolled_in | Finds students who are not currently enrolled in the specified course | *not_enrolled_in=MAT1100 |
*has_completed_course | Finds students who have at least one historical grade entry for the specified course | *has_completed_course=SOC1200 |
*has_not_ completed | Finds students who do not have any historical grade entries for the specified course | *has_not_completed=ENG1000 |
*cumulative_ credit_hours | Finds students with the specified number of credit hours | *cumulative_credit_hours=12 *cumulative_credit_hours<15 *cumulative_credit_hours>5 |
*number_of_ classes | Finds students who are currently enrolled in the specified number of classes | *number_of_classes=8 *number_of_classes<7 *number_of_classes>5 *number_of_classes#6 |
*attendance_ points | Finds students who have the specified number of attendance points in any course, any course during a specified term, or any course within a specified date range | *attendance_points>9 *attendance_points(S1)>6 *attendance_points (8/28/18,12/19/18)>6 |
*hours_ requested | Finds students who have course requests for the specified number of credit hours | *hours_requested<7 *hours_requested>7 *hours_requested=0 |
*special_program | Finds students who are enrolled in the specified special program | *special_program=reading recovery |
*fee.fee_balance | Finds students who owe money on their student fee accounts | *fee.fee_balance>0 |