Account help
Information about online services for parents and students
Vancouver Public Schools families and the community have access to a variety of online resources to stay informed about students’ education and the district. Here you can find general information about Skyward Family Access, paying fines and fees and the district’s mobile app. We hope you’ll use these resources frequently!
Mobile app
What it is: Free mobile app that can be translated into nearly 70 different languages.
What it does: School calendars, Skyward Family Access, bus routes, elementary lunch menus, staff directory, news and more in a smartphone- and tablet-friendly format. (Note: The mobile app does not support school lunch payments.)
Skyward Family Access
What it is: Gateway to students’ current educational world.
What it does: Allows parents to send messages to their children’s teachers and pay for school lunches (unless using Skyward through the VPS mobile app). Parents of middle and high school students also can view current schedules, check on assignments, monitor progress and grades and set up helpful notifications.
Canvas Parent Access
What it is: Canvas Parent is designed to provide visibility into your child’s education.
What it does: Canvas learning management system organizes digital resources, events, assignments and announcements. Parents of students in grade three through 12 can view their child’s courses, see details for past and upcoming class assignments and events, receive notifications and alerts about your child’s activity in Canvas and view grades. Official grades will still be available in Skyward.
Check with your child’s teacher to determine specifically how Canvas is being used in their class.
Skyward Family Access FAQs
If you are a primary contact for your child, you will gain access to Skyward when you register your child for school and provide the school with a valid email address. Login instructions will be sent to the address that you provide. One other parent or guardian in your household also will receive access to Skyward automatically if he or she provides the school with an email address.
If one or more of the following applies, please contact your child’s school for access to Skyward:
- Your child lives in your household only part of the time or does not live in your household at all.
- You did not provide your email address to the school.
- You are unsure of what to do to gain access to Skyward.
Please see Skyward’s “Forgotten login/password assistance” page and follow the directions.
If you still can’t get access the system, please contact your child’s school’s office for additional assistance.
You can manage your password from within Skyward. Click on the “Account info” link in the upper-right corner. You can change your password or email address using the links on the right.
Yes. All employees who also are parents should use their Skyward staff username and password to log into Skyward Family Access. There isn’t a separate account.
If you have worked through the questions above but still can’t get into Skyward Family Access, please check the following:
- Did you request an account at least a week ago? (Processing new requests can sometimes take up to one week.)
- Is your student still enrolled in Vancouver Public Schools? (Accounts are automatically disabled when your child leaves the district.)
If you still can’t get access the system, please contact your child’s school’s office for additional assistance.
If you aren’t already receiving text messages from your school or district, you can edit your phone number in Parent Access:
- Sign into your Skyward account. If you cannot access your account, please call your school office.
- Visit the “Student info” tab (on a mobile device, click on the “+” to display menu). In the upper right corner, click “Request Changes for student,” then select “Family information” from the dropdown.
- In the pop-up window, select “Cell” and enter a valid cellphone number for each guardian. Click the “Save” button.
