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Quick Start

This guide sets up a school on 4SCH in under an hour, assuming you've already gathered your basic school data (class list, staff list, student list, fee structure).

First time on 4SCH?

If you don't have a 4SCH account yet, start with Getting Started — it covers the three ways to get an account (Demo School, School Inquiry, or Welcome Email from your 4SCH support contact) and walks you through your very first sign-in.

Prerequisites​

  • Your school's sign-in URL (e.g. yourschool.4sch.com) and School Admin credentials
  • Your school's basic structure (classes, sections, subjects)
  • (Optional) Payment provider account details — Paystack, Flutterwave, or Stripe — for online fees
  • (Optional) CSVs of students and staff for bulk import

Step 0: Confirm your subscription plan​

Open Settings → Subscriptions:

  • If a Current Plan card appears at the top, your Super Admin has already assigned a custom plan — you're good to go.
  • Otherwise, pick a package from the catalog (Recurring or Prepaid tab) and click Subscribe.

See Getting Started for the full walk-through of subscription packages and first-time sign-in.

Step 1: Confirm school identity​

Settings → School Settings

  • Check your school name, address, contact email/phone
  • Upload your school logo (it appears on every report card, receipt, and certificate)

Then Settings → Payment Configuration — confirm your payment provider shows a green Connected badge.

Step 2: Create the academic session and terms​

Settings → Sessions

  • Add the current session (e.g. 2025–2026) and mark it active
  • Add terms within the session (First, Second, Third — or Semester 1, Semester 2)

See Session Year & Calendar Setup for details.

Step 3: Define classes, sections, and subjects​

Academic → Classes / Academic → Sections / Academic → Subjects

  • Add classes (e.g. JSS 1–3, SSS 1–3, or Grade 1–12)
  • Add sections (A, B, C) under each class where you have multiple streams
  • Add subjects and assign them to the relevant classes

Step 4: Add staff (teachers + non-teaching)​

Staff → Staff List

  • Add staff individually, or bulk-import via CSV
  • Assign roles (Teacher, Accountant, Driver, Librarian, Receptionist, Principal, etc.)
  • For teachers, map each one to the subjects and classes they teach — see Teacher–Subject Assignment

If you'll be running payroll, also set up:

  • Payroll Settings — your salary components (allowances and deductions)
  • Each staff member's Salary tab — base salary and component amounts
  • Leave Types — annual leave allowances per type (Staff → Leave Types)

Students → Add Student or Students → Bulk Import

  • Add students individually, or bulk-import via CSV (download the template first)
  • Add parents/guardians (or import) and link each one to their child or children

Step 6: Build the timetable​

Timetable → Build Timetable

  • Create periods, rooms, and the weekly schedule
  • Publish — every teacher, student, and parent immediately sees their relevant view

Step 7: Configure grading and exams​

Exams → Setup

  • Create exam types (e.g. CA1, CA2, Mid-Term, End-of-Term)
  • For Continuous Assessment, set component weightages so they total 100%. See Continuous Assessment
  • Set grade scales

Step 8: Set up fees (optional)​

Fees → Fee Structures

  • Define fee heads (Tuition, Lab, Transport, etc.)
  • Build the fee structure for each class
  • Generate invoices for the term

If you connected a payment provider in Step 1, parents can pay online from their dashboard.

Step 9: Notifications and welcome​

Settings → Email Settings and Settings → FCM Settings

Step 10: Go live​

  • Invite each role to sign in: teachers and parents get a welcome email automatically when you add them
  • Monitor activity from your dashboard for the first week to catch any issues early

What to learn next​

Once your school is live, these guides will help you grow into the platform:

Brand-new guides coming soon

A separate PR adds dedicated written guides for Super Admin, Payroll Processing, Staff Attendance & Leave, and Issuing Certificates. Once that PR lands, this section will be updated to link them directly. In the meantime, see the video scripts of the same names in video-tutorials/scripts/.

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