Automatic Learning Log Signature Reminders for Parents

Last updated: October 1, 2026

When a learning period ends and a parent hasn't signed their student's learning log yet, Scout emails the parent every day to remind them. This article explains when the reminders go out, who gets them, why a parent might not receive them, and how to troubleshoot.

When reminders are sent

  • Scout sends reminders once a day, at noon Pacific time (11 a.m. Pacific from November to March).

  • Reminders cover learning periods that ended within the last 2 months and that the parent hasn't signed yet.

  • Scout keeps sending a reminder every day until the parent signs.

  • Once a learning period ended more than 4 days ago, the parent also gets a text message each day, if a phone number is saved on their contact record.

The email subject reads Action needed: Sign your student's attendance for followed by the learning period dates, for example Sep 1 - Sep 30. The email has a link straight to the student's Learning periods tab.

Who receives the reminder

  • Only the student's primary parent receives it. To see who that is, open the student, go to the Profile tab, and look at the Primary column in the Contacts table.

  • The email goes to the address in the contact's Email column. Scout only uses the Login email when the Email column is empty.

  • If your district lets students aged 18 or over sign their own log, an adult student who has their own Scout login gets the reminder instead of their parent.

When Scout does not send a reminder

Scout skips the automatic reminder in any of these cases:

  1. Parent signatures aren't required. Your district, or the student's school, doesn't require a parent signature for attendance. This is a district setting and can be set differently for each school.

  2. All emails are turned off for your district.

  3. The learning log is incomplete. The student is missing logged activity on one or more school days of the learning period. Scout only checks school days on which the student was enrolled, and logs a teacher rejected don't count. Scout only sends a reminder once every one of those days has activity.

  4. The student has no primary parent. The student's profile shows an orange Missing primary contact banner.

  5. The primary parent hasn't activated their Scout account. You can tell because the Login email column is blank for that contact.

Troubleshooting: "A parent isn't getting the reminder emails"

  1. Open the student and go to the Profile tab. In the Contacts table, check:

    • Is the right parent marked Primary?

    • Is the Email column correct? Look for typos, such as a double dot in gmail..com.

    • Is the Login email column filled in? If it's blank, the parent needs to activate their Scout account first.

  2. Go to the student's Learning periods tab (called Learning progress in some districts). Check that every school day of the learning period has logged activity.

  3. Try sending a reminder by hand with the Remind button (see Sending a reminder by hand). If Scout can't send it, an error message tells you why, for example that the student has no primary parent or that the parent hasn't activated their account.

  4. Open the parent's contact profile and go to the Communication history tab. Look for the reminder emails:

    • No reminder emails listed: Scout didn't send them. Go back to When Scout does not send a reminder.

    • Bounced, Failed, or Marked as spam: the parent's email provider rejected or blocked the email. Check the address for typos, or ask the parent for a different address.

    • Delivered or Seen: Scout did its part. The email is likely in the parent's spam folder or a different inbox.

  5. If your district syncs student data from School Pathways and allows the sync to change login emails, the sync can overwrite the parent's email in Scout, and possibly their login email. In that case, correct the email in School Pathways. If you only fix it in Scout, the old email comes back after the next sync.

Parents can sign without the email

The reminder is only a nudge. A parent doesn't need it to sign. They can log in to Scout, open their student, and sign from the Learning periods tab. Any other parent or guardian on the student's record who has a Scout login and access to the student's profile can also sign. For step-by-step instructions, see Signing Learning and Attendance Logs.

Sending a reminder by hand

Teachers, school admins, and district admins can send a reminder at any time, without waiting for the daily email:

  • From the Home page: in the Attendance status section, click Remind next to the student.

  • From the student's profile: on the Learning periods tab, click Remind in the parent signature area.

A reminder sent by hand:

  • Goes out right away, by email only (no text message).

  • Is sent even if the student's learning log is missing activity on some days.

  • Still needs a primary parent with an activated Scout account.

Related articles

  • Signing Learning and Attendance Logs

  • What Scout's Automatic Emails Look Like