ClassLens · User Guide
HomeRoom
User Guide
Everything your teachers, principals, and district administrators need to get the most out of HomeRoom — from first login to end of day.
HomeRoom is a live classroom management dashboard built specifically for Eastern Kentucky schools. It gives teachers instant control over hall passes, attendance, behavior tracking, and more — all from a single screen. Principals and district administrators see real-time data from every classroom in the building.
🌐
Works in Any Browser
No app to install. Open it in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge on any device — phone, tablet, laptop, or smartboard.
📊
Data Stays With You
Everything is stored in your school's own Google Sheets account. Your data never leaves your district's Google workspace.
📶
Works Offline
If the internet goes down, the dashboard still loads from cache. Attendance and hall passes sync automatically when connection returns.
🏫
School-Branded
Each school has its own colors and mascot. A Porter teacher sees red and black. A Highland teacher sees blue. It feels like yours.
🚽 Hall Pass
Emma
Liam
Olivia
Noah ⚠
⏱ Students Out
Noah+02:14
🚽 Bathroom · Left 10:15 AM
📋 Attendance
Emma Present
Liam Present
Olivia Absent
Ava Tardy
⏲ Timer
08:42
Reading Time
🪑 Seating Chart
Emma
Liam
Olivia
Noah🚶
Ava⏰
💡
Three access levels
HomeRoom has three tiers: Teachers manage their own classroom, Principals see all classrooms in their building, and District Admins see every school at once. Each person gets their own 4-digit PIN.
HomeRoom uses a simple 4-digit PIN — no username, no password to remember. Teachers can create their own account by tapping "✦ New Here? Create Your Account" on the login screen. Principals and district administrators need a registration code from your ClassLens administrator first.
HomeRoom
Johnson County Schools
1
Open your browser
Go to your school's HomeRoom URL. Bookmark it so you can get back quickly every morning. It works in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge on any device.
2
Enter your 4-digit PIN
Tap the numbers on the keypad. Your PIN fills in automatically after the 4th digit — no need to press Enter. If you make a mistake, tap ⌫ to delete or ✕ to clear.
3
Dashboard opens automatically
If it's your first time, you'll be asked to confirm your classroom details. After that, your dashboard opens directly every time.
⚠️
Forgot your PIN?
Tap "Forgot PIN?" below the keypad. You'll be asked to enter your name, then answer your security question, then choose a new PIN. Make sure you've set up a security question in Settings first.
✦
New teacher? Create your own account
Tap "✦ New Here? Create Your Account" on the login screen. Enter your name, select your school, choose a 4-digit PIN, and set a security question. You're set up in under two minutes — no IT department needed.
Principals and district admins need a registration code from your ClassLens administrator before they can register.
Attendance is one tap per student. HomeRoom auto-saves to Google Sheets 3 seconds after your last change — no Save button needed.
1
Find the student in the Attendance card
Your full roster is listed. The summary bar at the top shows current Present / Absent / Tardy counts.
2
Tap the correct status
✓ Present — green. ✗ Absent — red. T Tardy — yellow. Tap the same button again to unmark. Tap a different button to change status.
3
Add a tardy note (optional)
When you mark a student Tardy, a note window pops up automatically. Select the reason type (Tardy arrival, Parent pickup, Bus issue, etc.) and add any notes. Tap Save Note.
💡
Mark all present at once
Tap the ✓ All Present button at the top right of the attendance card to mark every student present instantly. Then just unmark the absent ones. Much faster on a full day.
The seating chart gives you a visual grid of every desk in your classroom. Color tells you everything at a glance.
🟢
Green border — Present
Student is in class and marked present.
🔴
Red border — Absent
Student is absent today. Seat appears faded.
🟡
Yellow border — Tardy
Student arrived late. Tardy note may be attached.
🟣
Purple dot — Out on pass
Student is currently out of the classroom on a hall pass.
🎂
Cake icon — Birthday today
A student's birthday shows automatically on their seat, and on the dashboard banner, on the day it falls.
💡
Change attendance from the seating chart
You can tap any seat to cycle through attendance statuses (unmarked → present → absent → tardy → unmarked). The seating chart and attendance list stay in sync automatically.
↔️
Adjust columns
Use the columns dropdown in the top right of the seating chart card to change between 3, 4, 5, or 6 columns to match your actual classroom layout.
A large visible countdown timer the whole class can see. Perfect for tests, reading blocks, centers, or any timed activity.
1
Set the time
Tap one of the preset buttons — 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 minutes. The timer display updates immediately.
2
Add a label (optional)
Tap the label field and type what the timer is for — "Reading Time", "Math Test", "Centers". This label is announced when time is up.
3
Start, pause, or reset
Tap ▶ Start to begin. Tap ⏸ Pause to hold. Tap ↺ to reset back to the starting time. When it hits zero, the timer flashes red and announces "[label] is up!"
Issue a hall pass with one tap, track exactly how long a student has been out, and get an alert if they're overdue.
1
Select a student and destination
Tap a student's name in the roster grid, then choose where they're going (Bathroom, Nurse, Office, etc.) from the dropdown. You can select more than one student at once for the same destination.
2
Pick a time limit and issue the pass
Choose a preset (5, 10, 15, or 20 minutes) or enter a custom time, then tap Issue Hall Pass. The student appears in the "Students Out" list with a live countdown.
3
Get notified if time runs out
If a student doesn't return before their time is up, you'll hear a spoken alert and a chime with their name. This works even on mobile devices.
4
Mark them returned
Tap ✓ Returned next to their name once they're back. This logs the actual time they returned.
💡
Passes survive a page refresh
If you refresh the page while a student is out, the pass and its countdown pick up right where they left off — nothing is lost.
Today's lunch menu shows automatically on every teacher's dashboard. There are two ways it gets there: typed in by hand, day by day, or scanned once from a photo of the whole month's printed calendar.
Viewing lunch as a teacher
No action needed — the "Today's Lunch" card on your dashboard shows whatever has been set for that day, whether it was typed in or scanned in. If nothing has been set for today yet, it will say so.
Setting lunch manually (admin/principal)
1
Go to the Lunch tab in the admin dashboard
Choose a school (or "All Schools" for a district-wide menu), pick the date, and fill in the entrée, side, fruit, and drink.
2
Save
It appears on that school's teacher dashboards immediately for that date.
Scanning a whole month at once (admin/principal)
Instead of typing in every school day by hand, take one photo of the printed monthly menu calendar and every day on it gets filled in automatically.
1
Go to the Lunch tab → "📷 Scan a Month's Menu"
Choose which school the menu is for, then tap Take Photo of Menu and capture the whole calendar in one shot — the more clearly visible the header (month/year) and each day's text, the better.
2
Wait a few seconds
The photo is read automatically. You'll see a confirmation like "✓ Done! 20 days filled in for 5/2026" once it finishes.
3
That's it for the whole month
Each school day now shows its own menu automatically as it arrives — no further action needed until next month's calendar comes in.
ℹ️
Scanned menus look a little different
A scanned day shows its full list of items (however many there actually are) rather than the four Entrée/Side/Fruit/Drink fields used for manual entry — real menus don't always break down into exactly four categories, so this keeps everything accurate to what's actually printed.
⚠️
A newer save always wins
If a day already has a menu set and you scan or re-enter something new for that same date, the newer one replaces it. This applies whether the older entry was scanned or typed by hand.
Log positive recognition and corrective notes instantly. Every entry is timestamped and saved to Google Sheets, giving you a ready record for parent conferences or IEP documentation.
⚠️
Corrective Notes
Redirected, Disrupting Class, Conduct Note Sent. Logged discreetly, timestamped, saved automatically. No paper needed.
💡
End of Day Summary includes behavior
The End of Day summary (📊 button in the header) shows all behavior notes from the day — positive and corrective — with timestamps. Print it or save it for your records.
Log nurse visits directly from the dashboard. Keeps a running record of how often each student visits the nurse — useful for identifying patterns or supporting medical documentation.
1
Select student and add a note
Choose the student from the dropdown. Optionally add a note — "headache," "stomach," "scraped knee." The note field is optional.
2
Tap "🏥 Log Visit"
The visit is timestamped and saved. It appears in the Nurse Visits card below and is included in the End of Day summary.
⚠️ Use this feature during fire drills, lockdowns, or any emergency requiring an immediate student headcount. Results are logged to Google Sheets instantly and visible to your principal in real time.
1
Tap "🚨 Emergency" in the header
The screen goes full red. Your entire roster appears as a grid of buttons. A counter shows how many students are accounted for.
2
Tap each student as you account for them
Their button turns green. The counter updates in real time. Students NOT tapped remain red — these are potentially unaccounted for.
3
Tap "✓ Submit Headcount"
Your count — including any missing students — is logged to the sheet and visible to administration immediately. The voice reads back the count.
📋
Students already out on passes
If a student is out on a hall pass during an emergency, they will still appear in the emergency grid. Account for them separately — check with the office or nurse about students who were out of the room.
Enable Substitute Mode the night before an absence. The moment you turn it on, a complete briefing is compiled automatically — any medical or allergy alerts on your roster, today's schedule, your full class list, and your own notes — ready for the sub from minute one.
1
Tap "🔄 Sub Mode" in the header
A panel opens. Write notes for your substitute — where things are, what's planned for the day, who to contact, any special instructions.
2
Tap "✓ Enable Sub Mode"
A purple banner appears at the top of the dashboard, and a full substitute summary opens automatically for you to review or print before you leave.
3
Substitute logs in with your PIN
The sub sees the purple banner with a View Full Summary button — tapping it shows the same medical alerts, schedule, roster, and notes at any time during the day.
4
Disable when you return
When you're back, tap "🔄 Sub Mode" → "✕ Disable Sub Mode" to turn it off.
✚
Medical alerts come first, on purpose
If any student on your roster has medical or allergy information on file, it's shown at the very top of the summary in a highlighted box — this is the one thing a substitute walking in cold genuinely can't afford to miss.
Tap ⚙️ Settings in the header to open the settings panel. Changes save automatically to Google Sheets.
👤
Classroom Info
Update your name, school, room number, and grade level. These appear in the header and on all reports.
📋
Student Roster
Add or remove students, paste a new list, or sort alphabetically. For each student, you can also add parent contact info, a medical/allergy note, grade level, and birthday (month and day only). Changes take effect immediately.
📅
Daily Schedule
Build your schedule using dropdown time selectors (5-minute intervals). The schedule strip at the top of the dashboard highlights the current period automatically.
🔑
Change PIN
Enter a new 4-digit PIN and confirm it. Your new PIN is active immediately.
🔒
PIN Recovery
Set a security question and answer. Used to reset your PIN if you forget it. Pick a question only you would know.
✚
Medical/allergy notes show up automatically
Once entered, a red ✚ appears next to that student's name in the roster list, the attendance grid, and (if you use it) the substitute summary — no separate step needed.
The Admin Dashboard is for principals and district administrators. Open it at /admin.html on your HomeRoom URL. Teachers cannot access this dashboard — their PIN will be rejected.
classlens.live/admin.html
📊 Overview
👥 Roster
📢 Announcements
🍽 Lunch Menu
📅 Schedule
🏫 School View
⚙️ Users & PINs
🏫 School View — Drill-Down Navigation
The School View tab lets principals and district admins drill down from district level all the way to individual classroom detail.
1
District level — all schools
District admins see every school as a card with the school logo, mascot, and live attendance counts. Principals see only their school.
2
School level — all classrooms
Click a school to see every classroom card — teacher name, room number, present/absent/tardy/out counts at a glance.
3
Classroom level — full detail
Click a classroom to see the full picture — every student's attendance status, all hall passes (with whether they returned), behavior notes, and nurse visits for the day.
A separate, no-login tool built specifically for cafeteria staff to quickly check how many students to expect for lunch — by grade, in real time.
1
Open the link — no PIN needed
The cafeteria dashboard lives at its own address, separate from the teacher and admin dashboards. Bookmark it on the cafeteria's computer or tablet.
2
Choose a building, then a grade
Tap "Grade School" or "High School" at the top, then tap the specific grade you need — a big, easy-to-tap button for each one.
3
Read the numbers
Present and Absent update automatically every 20 seconds. A third number — 30-Day Avg — shows the typical number present over the past month, which is especially useful earlier in the day before every teacher has finished taking attendance.
ℹ️
Only counts are shown — never names
Since this dashboard doesn't require a login, it's built to only ever show aggregate numbers, never individual student information.
A separate, parent-facing site where families can check attendance, behavior notes, and lunch menus for their own children.
1
Register with an access code
Each student has a unique parent access code, provided by the teacher or school. A parent enters this once to link their account to their child.
2
Add additional children
A parent with multiple kids in the district can add each child's access code to the same account — all children show together after logging in.
3
Check in any time
Attendance history, behavior notes, hall pass activity, nurse visits, and today's lunch menu are all visible for each child.
⚠️
Same-day absence alert
If a child is marked absent, a clear banner appears at the top of the portal the moment a parent logs in that day — no need to dig for it.
📅
This Week at a Glance
A short summary of the past 7 days — days present, any absences or tardies, and behavior notes — so a parent gets the gist without scrolling through the full history.
🔒
Forgot password?
A parent can set a security question when registering, used to reset their password if needed — no need to contact the school.
⚠️
Keep your PIN private
Your PIN gives access to your classroom data. Don't share it with students. If you think your PIN has been compromised, change it immediately in Settings.
Your district administrator will fill in the table below with your school's actual PINs before distributing this guide.
| PIN |
Role |
Name |
School / Room |
Dashboard |
| ____ |
District Admin |
_______________ |
All Schools |
/admin.html |
| ____ |
Principal |
_______________ |
_______________ |
/admin.html |
| ____ |
Principal |
_______________ |
_______________ |
/admin.html |
| ____ |
Teacher |
_______________ |
Room ___ |
/index.html |
| ____ |
Teacher |
_______________ |
Room ___ |
/index.html |
| ____ |
Teacher |
_______________ |
Room ___ |
/index.html |
| ____ |
Teacher |
_______________ |
Room ___ |
/index.html |
| ____ |
Teacher |
_______________ |
Room ___ |
/index.html |
⚡ Quick Reference
Teacher Dashboard URL
________________________/index.html
Admin Dashboard URL
________________________/admin.html
Support Email
support@classlens.live
Forgot PIN?
Tap "Forgot PIN?" on login screen
Log a tardy arrival or early dismissal in a few taps, right from the attendance grid — no separate screen to find.
⏰
Logging a Note
Tap the ⏰ icon next to any student in the attendance grid. Choose the type — Tardy Arrival, Early Dismissal, or similar — add an optional reason, and save. It appears instantly in that student's Parent Portal.
✏️
Editing or Deleting
Today's notes appear in a list right below the attendance grid, each with its own Edit and Delete button — fix a typo or remove one entirely without any hassle.
💡
Only today's notes show in this list
The list below the attendance grid only shows notes logged today — that's by design, to keep it focused. Older notes are still saved and visible in the student's Parent Portal record.
Schedule a meeting with a parent directly from the attendance grid — no phone tag, no note sent home that gets lost in a backpack.
📅
Scheduling a Meeting
Tap the 📅 icon next to any student. Pick a date (today or later), a time, and an optional purpose — "Discuss reading progress," for example. It shows up immediately in that parent's own portal.
🗑️
Cancelling a Meeting
Upcoming meetings appear in a list below the attendance grid, each with a Cancel button. Cancelling removes it from both your dashboard and the parent's portal right away.
A 30-day, board-ready rollup — the kind of numbers a superintendent can bring straight into a board meeting.
📈
What's Included
Attendance rate, behavior note balance, hall pass volume, and nurse visit count — all over the last 30 days, with a day-by-day attendance trend chart. District admins also see a school-by-school breakdown.
🖨️
Printing or Saving as a PDF
Tap "Print / Save as PDF" at the top of the Analytics tab. Your browser's print dialog opens with a clean, board-ready version of the report — choose "Save as PDF" instead of printing to get a file you can attach to a board packet.
A district's data always belongs to the district — download any of it as a plain CSV file, anytime, no request needed.
📤
Exporting Data
In the Data Export tab, choose a school (district admins only — principals see their own school automatically) and a data type — roster, attendance, behavior, hall pass log, nurse visits, tardy notes, meetings, or mood check-ins. Tap Download to get a CSV file immediately.
💡
Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet program
CSV is a universal, standard format — the downloaded file opens directly in Excel, Google Sheets, or virtually any other spreadsheet tool, ready to filter, sort, or analyze further.
My dashboard shows the wrong school. What do I do?
Your browser has saved old settings. Open Settings (⚙️), update your school and room number, and tap Save. Or open the dashboard in a private/incognito window to start fresh.
My attendance isn't showing up in the admin dashboard.
The admin overview only shows classrooms that have logged activity today. Make sure at least one student has been marked present, absent, or tardy. The data auto-saves — no need to press anything extra.
The page says "Syncing..." and never finishes.
Check your internet connection. HomeRoom uses Google Apps Script which can occasionally take a few extra seconds on first load. Wait 10-15 seconds and refresh. If it still fails, your network may be blocking Google Scripts — contact your IT coordinator.
Can two teachers use the same PIN?
No — every PIN is unique. If you try to register with a PIN that's already taken, HomeRoom will tell you and ask you to choose a different one.
Can students see the dashboard?
Only if they know a PIN. We recommend not sharing your PIN with students and locking the dashboard (🔒 Lock) when you step away from your desk. The screen locks immediately and requires the PIN to unlock.
How do I add a new teacher to the system?
New teachers can self-register by tapping "✦ New Here? Create Your Account" on the login screen. Teachers don't need a registration code. Principals and district admins do — contact your ClassLens administrator for the code.
Where is my data stored?
All data is stored in your school district's Google Sheets account. ClassLens never has access to your student data. Your district owns it completely.
Does HomeRoom work on a smartboard?
Yes. Open it in the browser on your smartboard and it works perfectly. The large timer and seating chart are especially useful on a big screen where the whole class can see them.
📞 Contact ClassLens Support
Email Support
support@classlens.live
Response Time
Within 1 business day
Product
HomeRoom by ClassLens
Built in
Eastern Kentucky 🏔
When contacting support, include your district name, school name, and a description of the issue. Screenshots are always helpful.