Since the days of one-room schoolhouses, teachers have tracked students' grades in secret spiral-bound notebooks kept in heavily guarded canvas totes or zipped inside leather briefcases. But no more.

In the past few years, more teachers in more school districts across the state, including Concord, have begun tallying grades electronically. With a click of the mouse, teachers can print progress reports, review attendance records and e-mail all of the information to parents, if they choose.

Some districts, like Merrimack, have gone a step further, allowing parents to directly access all of their child's grades, including tests, quizzes and homework assignments. By logging on to a website, Mom and Dad can see which assignments were passed in and which were eaten by the dog. They can also see if their child was late to biology class and what he bought with his lunch money.

Concord and other local districts are following suit, but at a slower pace. In April, parents of Concord High School students will be able to log on and see final grades, discipline reports and daily attendance. Next school year, they may have access to much more.

District Technology Coordinator Steve Rothenberg calls the system, known as ParentConnect, a "killer app," industry lingo for a technology that dramatically changes the norm. It could revolutionize school-to-home communication, he said, but not without "causing a ruckus."

"It's a serious can of worms,"Rothenberg said.

Concord High Principal Gene Connolly agrees. That's why he's introduced the system cautiously, first allowing teachers to adjust to recording their grades on the computer instead of in a notebook. The next step is to train them to communicate with parents, who will soon be afforded unlimited peeks inside those grade books.

"Culturally, it's a change for teachers," Connolly said. "It will be a big step, but it's coming."

The school will have to educate parents, too. Administrators fear that teachers' inboxes will be flooded with e-mail from concerned moms and dads, questioning their child's grade on a pop quiz. School officials, and perhaps teachers themselves, will be faced with the task of explaining that each teacher grades differently, and it may take time to understand the different systems.

But in the end, officials hope it will foster more-involved and better-informed parents. Kids will no longer be able to hide their report cards, and parents won't have to leave voice mails for teachers when they want to ask how their children are doing.

"By letting the parents know the kid has a 69, you're creating a more proactive environment,"Rothenberg said. Instead of parents asking why they weren't informed that their child was failing a class, they'll hopefully ask what they can do to help him pull his grades up.

That's been the experience at Merrimack High School, which has used a similar system since September. Both parents and students have access to the information, and parents can sign up for daily, weekly or monthly e-mail progress reports.

Irene Count, whose fifth child is a senior this year, said she loves the program. She receives weekly updates on 17-year-old Kira, who checks her grades more often than her mother does. Count said it makes her feel more involved in her daughter's schooling.

"It's just the handiest," she said. "It gives parents a little bit more parental control. Nothing is hidden."

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