A class roster is a saved list of student names you can reuse throughout the school year. Tools like Random Name Picker, Group Maker, and Seating Chart draw directly from your saved rosters instead of requiring you to retype names in every lesson.

Creating a Class Roster Manually

1. Open the Classes section from the whiteboard sidebar and click New Class.
2. Enter a class name in the “Class Name” field, such as Grade 5B or Biology Period 3.
3. Optionally select the grade level and academic school year. Grade levels help ClassHelper suggest relevant instructional templates.
4. In the “Student Names” box, enter one student per line.
5. Click Create Class.

For privacy, we recommend using first names or initials, such as Maya, Jordan K., or Sam T. Students recognize themselves instantly, while keeping student records minimal. Never enter full student legal names, addresses, or identification numbers.

Importing Rosters from a Spreadsheet

Importing student lists from your school grading software or spreadsheet takes only seconds via copy and paste:

1. In Excel, Google Sheets, or your school information system, select the column containing student names and copy it using Ctrl + C (or Cmd + C on macOS).
2. Click into the “Student Names” box in ClassHelper and paste with Ctrl + V.
3. If your clipboard contains multiple columns, ClassHelper prompts you to choose the column with student names and provides a visual preview.
4. If first and last names are stored in separate columns, select “Combine second column”.
5. ClassHelper automatically offers to convert full names into first names with last initials (for example, Theodore Miller becomes Theo M.). Click Apply to format names for data privacy with one click.

Learn more about privacy recommendations in Student Data Privacy.

Archiving Classes at the End of the School Year

1. Open the “Classes” overview and locate classes from the concluding term.
2. Select Move to Archive. The class moves out of your active daily list while remaining organized by academic year.
3. Click Show Archive anytime to reference past student groups or seating charts.
4. Clicking Restore brings an archived class back to your active list immediately.

Archiving is safer than deleting: deleted rosters are permanently erased because no trash bin is used for class lists.

Summary

Class rosters store student names for classroom selection tools. First names and initials protect privacy, spreadsheet columns paste in directly, and classes can be archived at the end of each academic year.