Information Services

Unknown School Codes

To:	SIMS Contacts
From:	Paula O´Sullivan, Director of Information Services
Date:	February 1, 2005

In order to identify all locations where Massachusetts' students are receiving an education, we will implement a minor change to SIMS school codes. Beginning with March 2005 SIMS, the school code "08880000" that indicates that the actual school code is unknown will no longer be accepted. Approximately 750 student records were submitted in October with the school code 08880000.

We have posted Excel spreadsheets in the SIMS File Exchange Dropbox in the security portal. These files contain a list of the students submitted in October by your district with an unknown school code. The file name is "unkNNN.xls" where NNN is the district code. If you do not see a file, your district did not submit students with a school code of 08880000. To find the actual school code(s) for the students listed in the file, please go to the School Profiles/Directory section of the DOE web site: District Profiles. Once there, click on Advanced Search. You can then search for the school by organizational type, location or keyword. A successful search will result in the school being listed under Search Results. Click on the school name and you will move to another page showing the school profile and the school code in parentheses. If you are unable to find the school in the profiles, please contact the school and ask them to complete the New School Form and fax it to the number on the form. There are separate forms for public and private schools. The forms are available at the following links:

Notification of New Public School

Notification of New Private School

Once a code has been assigned to the school, the Profiles/Directory page on the DOE website will be updated. Please refer to the website as you complete your March SIMS file. If you have any questions, please contact your DOE Field Technologist or the Data Collection office at 781-338-DATA (3282). Thank you.

Last Updated: February 2, 2005