> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.zionapp.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Report card templates

> Build and manage the school's report card layout, including the logo and which sections appear

Administrators control what a report card looks like from the template builder at **Admin > Report Cards > Templates**. A template sets the school logo and which of the five report sections appear, in what order. If a school has never created a template, Zion falls back to a built-in default automatically.

<Info>
  The template builder is administrator-only. Supervisors and monitors can generate and distribute report cards, but they cannot create or edit templates.
</Info>

## Creating or editing a template

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Templates">
    From **Admin > Report Cards**, click **Templates**. This link only appears for administrators.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start a new template or edit an existing one">
    Click **New template**, or **Edit** on a template already in the list.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name the template">
    Enter a name. This is required.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Upload a logo (optional)">
    Upload a JPG, PNG, or SVG file. Other file types are rejected before upload.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Toggle sections on or off">
    Turn each of the five sections on or off depending on what the school wants printed.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Reorder sections">
    Use the up and down arrows to set the order sections appear in on the finished PDF.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set as default (optional)">
    Turn on **Use as the school's default template** if this template should be used whenever staff generate report cards without picking one explicitly.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Save the template. It becomes available to select the next time staff generate report cards for a term.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  The default template cannot be deleted. Its delete button is disabled in the template list until another template is set as the default.
</Note>

## The five sections

A template controls five fixed sections. You cannot add custom sections, only enable, disable, and reorder these:

| Section key          | Label              | What it shows                                      |
| -------------------- | ------------------ | -------------------------------------------------- |
| `pace_grades`        | PACE Grades        | The student's PACE percentages and PACEs completed |
| `test_scores`        | Test Scores        | Finalized test scores for the term                 |
| `attendance`         | Attendance         | Present, absent, and late counts for the term      |
| `goal_check_summary` | Goal Check Summary | Goal Check completion for the term                 |
| `character_notes`    | Character Notes    | Parent-safe notes only                             |

## Data rules for each section

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Term scope">
    Test scores, attendance, and Goal Check Summary are bounded to the selected term. PACE Grades is the one exception: the "Completed" count is labelled "Completed (overall)" because it reflects all-time PACEs completed, not just the current term.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Character Notes are parent-safe only">
    Only public notes (notes marked visible to parents) appear in the Character Notes section. Private notes are never included in a report card, at any stage of compilation.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Empty sections">
    If a section has no data for a student in the selected term, it renders as "No data for this term" rather than being hidden.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Warning>
  There are no numeric thresholds to configure in a template. The only threshold in report-card generation is fixed by the system: zero finalized test scores for a term blocks generation until acknowledged, and finalized scores with none passing produces a non-blocking warning. See [Generating and distributing report cards](/features/report-cards/generating-and-distributing) for how these warnings appear during generation.
</Warning>

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Report Cards Overview" icon="file-lines" href="/features/report-cards/overview">
    What a report card contains and how term data is compiled.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Generating and Distributing" icon="paper-plane" href="/features/report-cards/generating-and-distributing">
    Select a term, review readiness warnings, generate, and send to parents.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Permanent Record" icon="book" href="/features/report-cards/permanent-record">
    The multi-year academic record, separate from term report cards.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Roles and Permissions" icon="shield" href="/features/organization/roles-and-permissions">
    Who can generate, distribute, and configure report cards.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>