Frequently Asked Questions

Aspen is a secure, Web-based school information management system produced by X2 Development Corporation, a subsidiary of Follett Software Company, for schools and school districts. The system manages all facets of student data – from attendance to conduct, grades and schedules. Wilmington Public Schools has been using Aspen since July of 2011 with great success. We have introduced the Family Portal so parents, teachers, and administrators can work together and communicate more effectively and efficiently.

Aspen accounts are provided to parent/guardians identified via the online registration process. If the student is not registered using the online method, accounts are created for the parent/guardian identified as Contact 1. Additional parent/guardian accounts can be created upon request.  In addition, each student in grades 6 -12 will also receive their own student login.

While Kindergarten and Elementary parents will receive a login, teachers are not required to use the Gradebook feature at that level. Elementary parents may still view contact and attendance information, and update a student’s emergency information, but should not expect to see grades.

Simply visit the website: https://ma-wilmington.myfollett.com.

You can access Aspen from any computer or device with internet access. Aspen does use popups, so you may need to allow your browser to open them.

Aspen is available 24×7, but it will occasionally have down time for updates. We will post notifications in the Announcements section of the Home Page before these occur and they will normally happen after 11:00 pm. If you find you cannot connect, please wait 24 hours and attempt to access the site again. Please note that Wilmington Public schools will not provide support for your home computer or network.

For new students enrolled during the school year, parent/guardian accounts are sent out via email as soon as the student is enrolled with an "Active" status.  This will generally be on the first day of school.

For current students or those enrolled over the summer, an email will be sent at the beginning of August for all families.  This helps remind current families of their Login ID if they already have accounts, and will include a temporary password for new users. 

Family Portal Welcome Email example (English)

Family Portal Welcome Email example (Spanish)

You can use the “Trouble logging in?” link on the login page. You can recover your Login ID if you cannot remember it, and/or reset your password automatically using the links provided.

The emails do sometimes end up in junk/spam, so if you do not receive it, make sure to check there as well.  Mark it as safe so that you receive future emails from the system right to your inbox. The email will contain any username(s) associated with that email address.

If do not receive the automatic email, please email aspenhelp@wpsk12.com from one of the email accounts on record for your child with your student’s name.

Do note that we will only provide login information to email addresses already on file in the system. This would be an address you had previously reported on the student’s emergency form or registration process. This helps us protect your child’s privacy so that we do not have someone claim to be you, and get access to your child’s information.

You can use the “Trouble logging in?” link on the login page. You can recover your Login ID if you cannot remember it, and/or reset your password automatically using the links provided. 

When you request a password reset, you enter your Login ID, then you would receive an automated email with a link to set a new password.  The emails do sometimes end up in junk/spam, so if you do not receive it, make sure to check there as well.  Mark it as safe so that you receive future emails from the system right to your inbox.  You should then be able to click on the link in the email to continue with the reset.  If you have any issues, you can email aspenhelp@wpsk12.com for assistance.

Note: Login IDs are case sensitive.  You may want to verify that your CAPS Lock is not enabled or that a capital letter was not inserted inadvertently at the beginning if you are having trouble.

To protect your account from someone attempting access by trying random passwords, when the wrong password is entered 5 times, your account will be disabled. Should you get locked out, you can unlock the account by successfully completing the “Trouble logging in” process via the link on the main login page.

If you have trouble with the wizard, you can email aspenhelp@wpsk12.com from one of the email accounts on record for your child with your student’s name and your portal login name. This will help us verify that the account is secure and that the appropriate individual is receiving the account information.

No, all of your students can be included under one account. If you receive more than one login, or if you do not see all of your children on your current account, please email aspenhelp@wpsk12.com from the primary email listed on your account with your name, as well as the names of your children.

The main difference is in the tools available. The student has a widget that will allow him or her to check off items on a “To Do” list. Students will also have a “Locker” tab where they can upload documents for retrieval to work on wherever they need to. Parent/Guardian logins also allow use of the workflow that updates Contact and Emergency information. Student logins do not have that capability.

When you are logged in, just click on the “Set Preferences” link at the top right corner of the Aspen screen. From the “Security” tab, you can change your email address and/or password. Please note, however, that when you change your email address here, it will also be updated in your contact information used for the district Auto-Notification system (currently School Messenger).  You can also update all email addresses using the emergency form process.

Wilmington has also prepared some videos and guides specific to us. They are available on our website on the main Aspen Student/Family Portal page under Resources.

You can also go to the Help menu (available on any tab except Pages) for the following options: 

• Help for this page: Provides information about the current page you are viewing.
• User Guides: Click to open, download, and print a PDF version of the Family and Student Portals user guide.
• Help Center: Select then click on "Videos" in the very top menu, then "Students & Families" at the left.  There will be several videos available to demonstrate how to access different information in the portal.

Note, you may see items in the Aspen guides/videos that look slightly different than what you see or are not available in Wilmington’s portal. For instance, you may notice a reference to "Creating an Aspen Account”. While we have the potential of moving to this self-service account creation in the future, it is not available currently for us.

Once you log in to Aspen, the report card will be on the landing page.  Look for the "Published Reports" section. Just click on the document name to open it. For issues logging in to Aspen or accessing the report card, please contact aspenhelp@wpsk12.com. For issues with report card grades or comments, please reach out to your child’s teacher.

Note:  Each term's report card will be only be available under the Published Reports section temporarily.  This helps avoid confusion about which one is current.  The end of year report cards are archived in the student's Documents (Family top tab, Documents side tab).

If you are on a mobile device, you may need to use the Menu and go to the Full Site to see the published reports section.

At the beginning of the year, all parent/guardians will be prompted to verify emergency information once the window is open.  Aspen will be locked until the emergency forms for all students in the family are complete, at which point, full access will be restored to the parent/guardian accounts.

When clicking on the link, if you only see a gray screen, the issue is likely a pop-up blocker preventing the form from opening.

When you make a change during the school year, once you log into Aspen, you can use the announcement on the Home page to initiate the Emergency Form task.  There is a link to click to make it easy to start the process.  If you are on a mobile device, under Announcements, touch the announcement to open it and you will then see the link to start the process (see below).  There are full instructions for completing the form under Resources on the "About the Aspen Student/Family Portal" main page.

If you need to find your student's Local ID (LASID) or State ID (SASID) number, you can click on the Family top tab, then your student's name.

A – Absent

D – Dismissed

T – Tardy

E – Excused

NC – No Call (School received notification from parent that the student would be absent so an Auto-Call telephone message does not need to be sent)

FT – Field Trip (Student is attending a school approved trip. He/she is not in the building; however this does not count as an Absence.)

Please contact your student’s main office.

Emergency Priority 1 is the first parent/guardian called for your student for one-to-one communication. This would be the first call if, for example, your child is sick and the nurse needs someone to pick him/her up. This person’s Phone 1, Primary Email and Alternate Email are used by the notification system when we need to contact the family about building or district events such as important happenings in the school or for snow days. If other phone numbers are provided for the primary contact, they would be used if someone from the school needed to talk to the parent/guardian about the student.

Emergency Priority 2 is the second parent/guardian called for one-to-one communication for your student. This person’s Phone 1, Primary Email and Alternate Email are used by the notification system when we need to contact the family about building or district events such as important happenings in the school or for snow days. If other phone numbers are provided for the contact, they would be used if someone from the school needed to talk to the parent/guardian about the student.

Emergency Priority 3+ contacts, if provided, are the additional contacts for direct communication if the school cannot reach the primary contacts. They would not receive Auto Call messages. These contacts are helpful if your student is ill and the primary contacts could not be located, for example. They are also used to identify those who can pick up your child from school.

Yes, you can update your contact information at any time using the same process for filling out electronic emergency cards. A step by step guide, as well as a video tutorial are available on the Aspen Student/Family Portal web page.

Grades can fluctuate greatly throughout the course due to factors like weighting and missing assignments. Aspen will always give you a running average based on the information currently recorded in the Gradebook.

For instance, if a project is used to demonstrate learning for several weeks during a class, the teacher might weight it as being the most important factor in the student’s grade. If the student does poorly on the project, or does not turn it in, that may significantly lower the overall grade in the class. In this example, a child could be passing one day and failing the next. It is up to each teacher to determine the factors that contribute to each grade.

Each teacher will determine the frequency with which he or she updates grades. He or she should provide you with information on those expectations at the beginning of the course.

Yes, for Middle School and High School students.  When you navigate to the Family top tab (check the box for one of your students if you have more than one), then the Notifications side tab, you can check which email addresses should get the notification.  Then, make sure the threshold is set to the level you would like.  In this example, the parent would get a notification of a grade that is lower than 75.  

Grade questions should be addressed with the teacher for that specific course.

Never provide someone else with your login! Report cards will be available to you in a printed or printable format, so you can use that to show a family member if you choose.

Aspen contains highly confidential information about your student. Wilmington Public Schools takes great care to ensure that your child’s privacy is being respected and the information is handled on a need to know basis. Not every staff member will have access to your child’s information, and even your child’s teacher may not have all of the information available that you can see. Grade information is private and considered confidential. It should not be used to compare students, teachers, and/or schools. Parents and students will be expected to act in a responsible, ethical, and legal manner. Inappropriate use could result in the cancellation of your Aspen account.