FAQ - Frequently asked Questions

Prince William County Schools help desk. Our live support hours are 7:00 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday excluding school holidays and code red days. Your issue is very important to us and your email will be answered in the order it was received. Below we have included links to useful information and resources for students, staff, and parents.

Prince William County Schools Return to Learn Plan

Information about the return to learn plan for parents, students and staff as well as FAQs on a number of topics can be found here:

https://www.pwcs.edu/news/what_s_new/preparing_for_the_2020-21_school_year/return_to_learn_f_a_q Links to an external site.

Password Self Service:

Staff and students can now reset their passwords from outside the network by clicking on https://toolbox.pwcs.edu/ Links to an external site. . This self-service feature is only available to staff members who have previously entered their mobile phone number in the Contact Information Section of Employee Self-Service (ESS) and/or a personal email address in the Profile section of Toolbox. Students will be prompted for their username, student number/ID and date of birth to reset their passwords.

Frequently Asked Questions:

  1. How do I reset my password? 
    1. If you know your password and would like to change it, navigate to https://Toolbox.pwcs.edu Links to an external site. and log in using your current username (the part of your email before the @ symbol) and password. Once signed in select the Change Password button in the upper left of the interface. Toolbox will provide instructions for setting a new password. 
    2. If you don't know your password use the forgot my password link at https://Toolbox.pwcs.edu Links to an external site. and select Forgot My Password - Student. Follow the on screen instructions.
  2. How do I log in to Zoom? 
    1. From a web browser: Log into your Office 365, click on the grid in the upper left corner of the screen, select all apps, find Zoom in the list (it will be at the bottom). Or sign in at https://pwcs-zm-edu.zoom.us/ Links to an external site.
    2. From the Zoom application: Select Sign in with SSO, if asked to provide a company domain enter pwcs-zm-edu, hit continue. You will be prompted to sign in to Office 365 and then prompted to "Open Zoom Meetings". 
  1. How do I log in to Office 365?
    1. In a web browser navigate to http:\\office365.pwcs.edu Sign in with your email address (your username with @pwcs.edu or @pwcs-edu.org on the end of it) and your password. 
  1. How to login to Canvas? 
    1. Log into your Office 365, click on the grid in the upper left corner of the screen, select all apps, find Canvas in the list (it will be at the bottom). 
  1. How do I get parent access to Canvas?
    1. You will need a pairing code to access Canvas, more detail on that process can be found here: 
      https://www.pwcs.edu/cms/One.aspx?portalId=340225&pageId=42491404 Links to an external site. 
    2. The canvas login page for parents is here: https://pwcs.instructure.com/login/canvas
  1. How do I get a computer for my child? 
    1. Contact your school and verify they have you on a list for device distribution, Schools are typically available by phone on Tuesdays and Thursdays you can also email the school staff. Staff Directories are available on most school websites. 
  1. How do I log in to my child’s computer that I received from PWCS? 
    1. At the login screen enter: 

  Username: .\pwcsstudent 

  Password: pwc$stud3nt 

    1. If you receive a message, “the username or password is incorrect. Try again” confirm that the CapsLock & NumLock keys on the keyboard are off. Try using the number keys that are located directly above the letter keys. 
    2. If you receive a message, “We can’t sign you in with this credential because your domain isn’t available..” for the username field, verify that you are typing in the period and backlash key correctly (.\) before typing pwcsstudent (the backslash key (\) is the slash located above the Enter key) 
    3. If the laptop becomes “locked” due to login issues, it will automatically unlock in 30 minutes. This timer will not increase with further login attempts- it’s okay to keep trying to login.

Setting up ParentVue:

The email containing the activation code for your account was sent to the email address you used when your student was registered with PWCS.  If that email address has changed you would not have gotten the email with the code.  Please send an email to your child’s school’s registrar if you need a new activation code. You can find the emails for the registrar at…

Elementary schools here:
https://www.pwcs.edu/cms/one.aspx?portalId=340225&pageId=42050983 Links to an external site. 

 

Middle schools here:
https://www.pwcs.edu/cms/one.aspx?portalId=340225&pageId=42051784 Links to an external site. 


and High schools here:
https://www.pwcs.edu/cms/one.aspx?portalId=340225&pageId=42051863 Links to an external site. 

We strongly recommend emailing your registrar rather than attempting to call the school.

ParentVue Frequently Asked Questions:

  1. I do not see the Return to Learn Survey
    1. The Return to Learn survey has expired at this time. Please contact your School’s registrar if you still need to have your answers recorded.
  2. I do not see all of my children in ParentVue
    1. You may have multiple accounts in ParentVue, if you do not know the login for this account please reply to this email and let us know which students you see and which you do not.
  3. I do not have my Activation code for ParentVue
    1. Please contact your child’s school to obtain a new one, please email the registrar listed below.
  4. How do I reset my ParentVue password?
    1. On the ParentVue login screen, click more tools and then forgot password. A password reset email will be sent to the email address you have on file in ParentVue with instructions for changing your password.
  5. How do I update the emergency contact info in ParentVue?
    1. Parents can now update their Child's emergency contact information in ParentVue but will need to contact their school if they need to update their own contact information. 

Contacting Your School’s Registrar:

You can find the emails for the registrars on the lists below

Elementary schools here:
https://www.pwcs.edu/cms/one.aspx?portalId=340225&pageId=42050983 Links to an external site. 

 

Middle schools here:
https://www.pwcs.edu/cms/one.aspx?portalId=340225&pageId=42051784 Links to an external site. 


and High schools here:
https://www.pwcs.edu/cms/one.aspx?portalId=340225&pageId=42051863 Links to an external site. 

We strongly recommend emailing your registrar rather than attempting to call the school.

Staff and Student Public WiFi is available at:

a list of schools that have WiFi available in the parking lot is available on the  Information Technology page here: https://www.pwcs.edu/departments/information_technology Links to an external site.

WiFi is accessed from school parking lots or bus loop areas. Please remain in your car while accessing the Internet.

If not in a car, please honor social distancing guidelines and space yourself at least 6 feet from others. 

Online Learning Resources:

Prince William County Schools provides high quality resources and tools to PWCS students and staff. The information below provides information about our resources and tools and how they can be accessed by staff and students.  

  • Canvas and Zoom Information
  • Office 365 (OneNote, OneDrive, Teams, Teams Meeting (Skype), Word, Excel, PowerPoint,)  Outlook E-Mail and Conversations in Class Teams in Office 365, Grades 3-12: 
  • Clever is a single sign on portal that provides our students and teachers with easy access to many curriculum resources and tools  
  • Clever can be access using a student’s Microsoft Office 365 credentials which should be their PWCS login followed by @pwcs-edu.org   

Applications available to all students in Clever include: 

Individual schools purchase additional applications that are made available to students.    

  • Discovery Education https://pwcs.discoveryeducation.com/ Links to an external site.  
    • Access to high quality digital content that supports curriculum (video, audio, images, text) 
  • Students can create multimedia projects 
  • Adobe SPARK  
    • Accessed through Office 365 
    • Adobe Spark is a cloud-based creation/publication tool that integrates a variety of media