Family App Troubleshooting and Frequently Asked Questions

How do parents and guardians register to use the Family App? Have them go to https://family.tpsapps.org and click the Register button.

Follow the steps and screenshots on the Register page.

The Family App checks data in eSchoolPLUS for registration

In eSP, users must be the guardian of students they will see in the Family App.

The email address the user enters on the Register page must match their address in eSP.

HAC Access must be enabled for the user.

The guardian didn't receive the email from Microsoft Invitations on behalf of Tacoma Public Schools. • Have them check their spam and junk mail folders. • Go into eSchoolPLUS to verify: o the email is correct for all of their students o ensure they are set as the student's guardian o the HAC Access box is checked for all of their students The guardian can't access the registration page.

• The Family App relies on modern standards-based browsers. We recommend Chrome and Edge. • Internet Explorer does not work with the Family App – Microsoft has stopped development on Internet Explorer. • Safari (default iPhone and Mac web browser) usually works, but some people have experienced problems. If they are having trouble, we recommend downloading/using Chrome.

The guardian is stuck at the point of the registration process where they are supposed to enter the verification code. The system won't allow them to go back and enter the code after they get it from their email.

• Make sure that they are opening a new tab or window to access their email and retrieve the code, then return to the original "Verify email" tab or window to enter it. The guardian is being logged into the Family App with the wrong Microsoft account, and when they try to logout, the browser automatically logs them back in again. They cannot get out of this logout/login loop.

This can happen if they have multiple Microsoft accounts. Try one of the following options: • Use an Incognito tab or window in Chrome or an InPrivate window in Edge to access the Family App. This feature lets them open a new window that doesn't remember they are logged in through the other tab or window – it's like using another browser. • They can also try to keep their Microsoft accounts separated by always using one browser for the Family App and its associated Microsoft account, and a different browser for their other Microsoft account(s). The guardian received the Microsoft Invitation, clicked Accept, and created/logged into their Microsoft Account, but when they try to log into the Family App they get an error that says "User account '______' from identity provider '_____' does not exist in tenant 'Tacoma Public Schools' and cannot access the application."

When they login to the Family App, they are really logging into their Microsoft account. Then Microsoft tells the Family App if the login worked and what their email address is. If they are having trouble logging in, the problem is likely happening during this step.

The best way to manage their own Microsoft account and see which email addresses may be associated is to login at account.microsoft.com (Sign in > Your info > Manage how I Sign in). They might have a Microsoft account and not even realize it. Their Microsoft account could be associated with a Gmail address, a work address, or any email address - it does not have to be from Microsoft. The password that they set for their Microsoft account may be different than the password they set for the associated email account.

If they have multiple email addresses associated with their Microsoft account, they need to use the primary email address in the account to login to the Family App. For instance, say the email address on file at their child's school is [email protected], and their Microsoft account lists that one but [email protected] is set as the "primary alias." They should login to the Family App using the primary address (the hotmail one in this example), and Microsoft will tell the Family App about the other one as well.

In their Microsoft account, view the page titled Manage how you sign in to Microsoft.

Sign in with their eSchoolPLUS email address and Microsoft account password where prompted:

View the Account aliases and find the primary alias. This is the email address they will need to use to sign into the Family app.

For more details, see Microsoft's documentation on Linked Accounts (available in multiple languages).

• If the above information does not help, please submit a Help Desk ticket • Please include the guardian's name, email address, and student's ID #, along with a description of the error they encountered and where they were in the process when they discovered it. • When using the Online Self-Service Portal to submit the request for assistance, please also include a screenshot of the error if possible. When the guardian tries to login into the Family App, they get blocked by a message from Microsoft stating, "You've lost access to your email" or "Your account has been locked."

• These error messages come from Microsoft, not TPS, so TPS is unable to address them directly. They can attempt to recover their Microsoft account by following the directions here: How to Reset & Recover Microsoft Account. • Alternatively, they can create a new Microsoft account by navigating to account.microsoft.com, then clicking on "Create a Microsoft Account." Once they have set up their new account, they will need to contact the child's school to update their email address. Now they can re-register for the Family App using their new email address. The guardian completed and submitted the COVID survey for their student for the day, but when the school looked up my student in their system, it says their survey has not been done.

• Please double-check that they were in the Family App at this address when they completed their survey: https://family.tpsapps.org. The guardian doesn't see all their children in the Family App.

• Ensure their correct email address is set up in the student system for all of their students, they are set up as a Guardian, and the HAC Access box is checked. How soon are changes in eSchoolPLUS reflected in the Family App?

• Changes made in eSchoolPLUS are immediately updated in the Family App. If you make a change while meeting with the parent or guardian, ask them to try to register or login into the app right then. The guardian still has problems that we haven't been able to resolve. What should they do?

• Please submit a Help Desk ticket. It can be submitted directly by the guardian or by the school staff on behalf of the guardian. • Include the guardian's name, email address, and student's ID #, along with as much detail about the problem or error they encountered as possible and where they were in the registration, login, or system process when they encountered it. • If the Online Self-Service Portal is used to submit the request for assistance, please also include a screenshot of any associated errors if possible.