The district is offering parents a free online service to help them stay up to date with how their children are doing in classes. Parents can also see if kids skipped class and if they turned in their latest assignments.

Parents just go to their child's school Web site and click on the STI link. After typing in a password, they can check their attendance, grades, what assignments they turned in, and even send an email message to their teacher.

Principals and teachers hope this is a great new tool for parents. Parents have to go to the school and show an ID to get the password.