A portfolio is a single PDF that documents a student's year: who taught them, what they studied, how many days they attended, what they completed, and samples of the work itself. It is what you hand to an evaluator or a reviewing official, and it is built from records OpenSky already has.
Generating one
- Go to a student's Gradebook.
- Click Generate portfolio.
- Check the Scope at the top of the panel.
- Turn sections on or off, and drag them into the order you want.
- Click Download Portfolio.
The file is named after the student and school year, like Caleb-records-2026-2027.pdf.
Choosing the scope
The Scope card at the top decides whose year you are documenting:
- Student — whose portfolio this is.
- Grade — which school year, from that student's terms.
- Semester — narrow it to one semester, or leave it on All semesters.
If you need portfolios for several students, generate one at a time — the scope covers one student.
The six sections
Each section has a switch and a drag handle, so you can include what you need and put it in the order a reviewer expects. The preview on the right updates as you go.
| Section | What it contains | Where the content comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Homeschool Profile | Your school's name, description, philosophy, and photos | School Profile in Settings |
| Teacher Profile | The parent's background, qualifications, and education | My Profile in Settings |
| Attendance Record | Days present and absent for the term | Attendance recorded on the Calendar |
| Progress Report | Courses with grades and hours | Grades and course tags in the Gradebook |
| Daily Log | Each day's completed lessons and activities with logged hours | Lessons completed on the checklist; hours adjusted in the Gradebook |
| Student Work | Files uploaded to lessons, plus the reading log | Work uploaded to lessons, and the Book List |
Each section in the panel tells you where its content comes from, so if a page looks empty you know exactly which screen to go fix.
Section options
Some sections have a setting of their own, under the chevron:
- Teacher Profile → Include photo. If no parent has an avatar, this reads No photo on file.
- Homeschool Profile → Include photos. Reads No photos on file when your School Profile has none.
- Progress Report → Split by course tags. Produces one report per tag — Core, Electives, and so on — rather than a single combined report. This needs courses to be tagged Core, Non-Core, or Elective in the Gradebook first; until they are, the option explains that no courses are tagged yet.
When a section has nothing to show
Student Work is the section most likely to come up empty, because it depends on files having been uploaded to lessons. If there is nothing to include, OpenSky tells you so and leaves the section out of the PDF rather than printing a blank page.
To fill it: upload work to a lesson from the lesson drawer, add resources directly in the portfolio panel, or log books in the Book List.
Getting a better portfolio
The quality of the PDF is the quality of the records behind it. In rough order of payoff:
- Fill in both profiles. The first two pages are written entirely from your School and Teacher profiles.
- Keep attendance on the Calendar. The Attendance Record counts from what is recorded there. See Staying Flexible with Your Schedule for how day statuses are set.
- Tag your courses. Core, Non-Core, and Elective tags are what let the Progress Report break hours down by category.
- Upload work as you go. A lesson with a photo of the finished page attached is worth more at review time than one without, and it costs nothing to add during the year.
Your section choices and their order are remembered, so next term's portfolio starts where you left off.
Looking for the old Records tab? It was retired. Everything it generated now lives behind Generate portfolio on the Gradebook, and old links redirect there.
Need more help?
Reach out any time at support@openskyplanner.com and we will be happy to help.