# Setting up your school: a checklist

> Academium SMS Help › Setting up your school
> For: School Owner, School Admin
> Web page: https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-school-setup-checklist
> Last updated: 2026-10-06

Use this checklist when your school starts using Academium SMS. The order matters: later steps depend on earlier ones. For example, you cannot allocate fees until classes and terms exist.

> **Note:** When you create a new school, the setup wizard and the [first-time setup](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-first-time-setup.md) already create your session, classes and assessment pattern (such as "Two C.A.s and an Exam"). Everything they create can be changed later.

## 1. School details

Add your logo, contact details, currency and admission number prefix.

→ [School settings](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-school-settings.md)

## 2. Sessions and terms

Check that the current session and its three terms have the right dates. Attendance, fees and exams all belong to a term.

→ [Sessions and terms](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-sessions-and-terms.md)

## 3. Classes and sections

Review the classes the wizard created, put them in order, and add sections (arms) such as A, B and C. Assign class teachers.

→ [Classes and sections](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-classes-and-sections.md)

## 4. Subjects

Add your subjects (Academium can fill in a standard Nigerian list for you) and assign them to each class.

→ [Subjects](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-subjects.md)

## 5. Staff and their permissions

Add your staff, give each one a role, and check what each role is allowed to see and do. Then get each person signed in.

→ [Adding and managing staff](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-adding-staff.md) · [Staff roles and permissions](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-roles-and-permissions.md) · [Devices and access](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-devices-and-access.md)

## 6. Fees

Create your fee types, build fee templates for each class, and allocate them for the term.

→ [How school fees work](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-how-school-fees-work.md)

## 7. Students and families

Admit your students one by one or import them from a spreadsheet. Each student's guardian becomes a parent record, and siblings are linked through it.

→ [Admitting a student](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-admitting-a-student.md) · [Importing and exporting students](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-importing-and-exporting-students.md)

## 8. Exams and grading

Set up the term's exam and its mark components, and check your grading ranges.

→ [Setting up an exam](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-setting-up-an-exam.md) · [Grading ranges](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-grading-ranges.md)

## 9. Report cards and ID cards

Upload your fonts, backgrounds and signatures, then design your report card and ID card templates.

→ [Setting up printables](https://helpcenter.academium.com.ng/academium-sms/article/sms-setting-up-printables.md)

## 10. Optional modules

Set up whichever of these your school uses: transport, hostel, school accounting, payroll, inventory, extracurricular activities, the school gallery and the front desk. Each has its own section in this help centre.

> **Tip:** Once the basics are in place, **Catch Up** on your dashboard keeps track of what still needs doing, such as a term with no fees allocated or classes with no register today.

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