Your Hāpara back-to-school playbook for the 2025-26 school year

Kick off the 2025-26 school year with Hāpara's back-to-school guide, packed with tips, updates and resources to help educators and administrators succeed.
Your Hāpara back-to-school playbook for the 2025-26 school year
Your Hāpara back-to-school playbook for the 2025-26 school year

Hipi the Sheepicorn and Team Hāpara welcome you back to school! As a valued member of the Hāpara community, we’re here to help you kick off the year with our Hāpara back-to-school guide. 

Packed with tips and fresh ideas, this guide is your go-to resource for making the most of Hāpara. Whether you’re inspiring and teaching learners, keeping school tech running smoothly or leading the charge in professional learning, we’ve got everything you need to make this school year your best one yet. Let’s dive in!

All community members: Find step-by-step answers to your questions

Got questions? We’ve got answers! The Hāpara Support Center is your hub for step-by-step guides, videos, troubleshooting tips and helpful resources. If you’re looking for technical help or information about classroom management features, you’ll find everything you need.

Hipi’s helpful hint: Visit the Hāpara Support Center now and start exploring.

All community members: Discover back-to-school product updates

Hipi is extra excited about back-to-school updates we’re unveiling in our screen monitoring tool, Hāpara Highlights. Here’s a quick glimpse:

  • Class View is now the default page teachers land on in Hāpara Highlights
  • Teachers now have the option to close tabs instantly without selecting a reason
  • A Guide Browsing session timer will now appear at the top of Class View

Hipi’s helpful hint:: Our latest product update blog post has all the details! Start reading the blog post now. Or watch our recent webinar to hear from our team. 

Elementary educators: Support the development of executive functioning skills

Elementary classrooms are where learners build foundational skills and need more support with time management, organization, prioritization and self-regulation. Hāpara makes it much easier for you to help your learners be more successful in these areas.

Get learners on the same page

The Share Links feature ensures that all students are literally on the same page! With just one click, you can send a website straight to every student’s device, so there’s no more wasted time trying to type in tricky URLs. For younger learners, this is a lifesaver. It keeps them from getting frustrated and helps them dive right into the lesson without distractions. 

Differentiate digital learning 

The Groups feature in Hāpara is a powerful feature that can help you in your elementary classroom. Here are examples:

  • Set up student groups in Hāpara by reading level to and share resources at each group’s level. One group can read a simplified article about farm animals, while another explores a more detailed piece about habitats. Use the Share Files feature in Hāpara Teacher Dashboard to share by student group.
  • Support accommodations by setting up a group for those who need specific supports during digital learning. Share audio instructions, open translated materials or guide them to websites. For instance, you can send a picture glossary to your English learners with just a couple clicks.

Hipi’s helpful hint: Do you use Google Classroom? If you sync your classes into Hāpara, you can share the links to Google Classroom questions, assignments and materials. Even better  you can share these links and open them for student groups or individual learners.

Middle school educators: Focus learners in a digital world

Middle schoolers are navigating a world full of digital distractions, and it’s no surprise that they can quickly lose focus or feel overwhelmed by the amount of content at their fingertips. Hāpara helps you manage distractions and keep learners organized so they stay on track.

Block tabs that continue to distract

Sometimes, closing a distracting tab once isn’t enough. Middle school learners, still developing impulse control, may reopen the same tab repeatedly, disrupting their focus and learning. 

In Hāpara Highlights, you have the option to also block that tab for a duration of time so the learner can’t keep reopening it. When you click the X, you can block the URL for the student or the class.

Help find misplaced Drive files

Middle school students often struggle with organization, and it’s not uncommon for them to misplace important Google Drive files. Instead of spending valuable class time searching, you can use Hāpara Highlights or Teacher Dashboard to directly access students’ Google Drives. 

Click the Drive button to search for files using keywords or filter by sharing categories, to quickly locate and retrieve misplaced documents. 

Hipi’s helpful hint: Are they chatting in Google Docs? Middle schoolers are creative when it comes to finding ways to chat during class, and Google Docs often becomes their secret messaging platform. Keep an eye out for unusual activity in shared documents. With Hāpara, you can monitor and redirect their focus back to learning.

High school educators: Prepare learners for the future

High school teachers help learners build essential skills for life after graduation. Hāpara supports you by providing tools to reinforce digital citizenship and collaboration.

Create a Filter Session list as a class

Start a class discussion about digital distractions and responsible online behavior. Together, identify distracting websites and create a Guide Browsing Filter Session list to block them during class. 

Schedule this list to run during the class period each day as a recurring session. This approach promotes digital citizenship and helps students with self-awareness.

Encourage collaboration

Organize project groups based on student interests, such as investigating the impact of social media on mental health or exploring the history of artificial intelligence. Share group instructions using the Share Files feature in Hāpara Teacher Dashboard.

Then use the Announce feature in Hāpara Highlights to provide quick feedback or motivation.

Hipi’s helpful hint: Have sub plans ready to go by creating a Guide Browsing template. Make it easy for the colleague who is covering your class or the substitute teacher who is supporting you for the full day you’re away.

Technology administrators: Simplify software management

As a tech administrator, you’re the backbone of your school’s digital environment, and we appreciate all that you do. Hāpara is here to make your back-to-school setup as smooth as possible.

Streamline your setup

Integrate Hāpara with OneRoster, Google Classroom, ClassLink, PowerSchool or Clever for seamless account creation and rostering.

Hipi’s helpful hint: Ensure a seamless start by choosing the right data-loading method. Check out our guides:

Turn on features for teachers

Give teachers more choices

Do teachers only have one reason to choose from when they close a student tab? Give them choices! 

Hāpara admins can designate up to four reasons for teachers to choose from. Enter them in your Hāpara Admin Console, under “Reasons for Closing Tabs.” Add them now on this page

Save teachers a click

Do teachers use Hāpara Highlights (screen monitoring) more often than Teacher Dashboard (Google Drive visibility)? By changing their landing module to “Highlights,” teachers will launch directly into a view of student screens. 

Find this setting under “General” in your Hāpara Admin Console. Select this setting now

Hipi’s helpful hint: For instructional consideration about settings in the Hāpara Admin Console, read our support article.

Professional learning leaders: Support educators’ growth

Professional learning leaders are key to driving teacher adoption and success with Hāpara. Here’s how you can make an impact.

Provide training with an expert

Choose from virtual sessions or in-person workshops with Hāpara experts. Get a training session on the books this semester to help teachers refresh their Hāpara skills and explore new features. Reach out to your Engagement Manager or Account Manager for more details.

Hipi’s helpful hint: Request training for this semester now

Join us for Hipi-Palooza 2025

Hipi-Palooza is our annual series of online learning sessions about all things Hāpara. This year’s event for administrators and educators begins August 4 and runs through September. 

Hipi’s helpful hint: Share the registration with your team: https://hapara.com/hipipalooza/

Collaborate beyond your school community

The Hāpara Community is a space to connect with educators worldwide and share best practices. Invite your team and be sure to join the Hāpara Community yourself to find answers to questions and connect with other professional learning leaders! 

Hipi’s helpful hint: Share the page to join: https://community.hapara.com/

Take advantage of our short online courses 

Hāpara’s Learning Bytes courses are free for all Hāpara customers and cover each of our classroom management tools. Educators can take these short online courses any time! 

Hipi’s helpful hint: Share this registration: https://hapara.com/micro-badging

FAQ for the new school year

1. As a teacher, what happens to my classes and data from last year?

At the end of each school year, Hāpara archives all student data according to school and district preferences and removes last year’s classes. Teachers can still access their Hāpara Workspaces. If you use Google Classroom, you can sync your new Google Classroom classes through their own Hāpara account. Otherwise, your Hāpara administrator will create rosters for you.

2. How do I set up Hāpara for the new school year as an administrator?

Administrators can use the Hāpara Admin Console to upload classes, manage students and configure settings. For a detailed checklist, visit our support article for administrators.

3. How do I access the Hāpara Admin Console?

Administrators can log in to the Hāpara Admin Console at app.hapara.com/admin using their domain admin account. This is where you can manage classes, rostering and configuration settings.

4. As a teacher, how do I manage distracting websites for students?

Teachers can use Hāpara Highlights to block specific tabs or websites that distract students during lessons. You can also schedule guided browsing sessions to keep students focused on approved resources. 

Check out our support article about the Class View tab for ways to manage websites.

5. What free professional development resources are available?

Hāpara offers a variety of professional learning options, including:

  • Hāpara Learning Bytes: Short, asynchronous courses to build skills.
  • Hipi-Palooza: An annual back-to-school event with webinars, resources, and self-paced learning opportunities.

Hāpara Community: A space to connect with educators worldwide and share best practices.

6. What’s new in Hāpara this year?

Hāpara has introduced several exciting updates to our screen monitoring tool and our new partnership with Gaggle for student safety. Stay informed about the latest features by visiting our news and updates section of the blog.

Let us help you make this your best Hāpara experience yet

As a Hāpara customer, you have access to powerful tools that simplify classroom management, enhance student engagement and promote digital safety. This school year, take full advantage of Hāpara’s features to create a thriving learning environment!

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