EDUCATE (Infinite Campus)

All imports, except the Student Demographic import, require Student State ID numbers. Complete the Student Demographic upload first, followed by the Student Enrollment upload. After those two uploads are complete for every student, all other uploads may be submitted. To ensure you are using the most current version, download templates from this page as needed.

STUDENT templates

• Student Demographic Template (Excel)
• Student Enrollment Template (Excel)
• Program Participation Template (Excel)
• Section 504 Template (Excel)
• English Learners (EL) Template (Excel)
• Fall Enrollment Count Template (Excel)
• Fall Career and Technical Education (CTE) Template (Excel)
• Spring Enrollment Count Template (Excel)
• End of Year Attendance Totals Template (Excel)
• End of Year Career and Technical Education (CTE) Template (Excel)

Course Templates

• Course Template
• Course Section Template
• Course Staff Template
• Course Roster Template
• Course Section Student Detail Template

Staff Templates

• District Employment (Terms of Employment) Template
• District Assignment Template

Please note: Infinite Campus systems are unavailable during updates. Updates are typically applied after 5:00 p.m. on Friday and systems are restored and available the following Saturday morning. Target dates are subject to change.

Release schedule is subject to change.

Information on Infinite Campus releases

• Infinite Campus Release Notes (opens in a new tab) – Details about version updates and changes.

Infinite Campus technical references

Infinite Campus Community support resources:

• Recommended browser settings (opens in a new tab)
• Supported platforms (opens in a new tab)

NOTICE: Please do not email any student personally identifiable information (PII), including names or student IDs, to the OPI or the AIM Help Desk. Call AIM Support directly for assistance with individual student PII, or use ePass Montana for the secure transfer of larger student data files.

Montana File Transfer Service

User Guide

Campus Playbook: Beginning of the year series

• Session 1: Kickoff and Calendar Setup Slides Recording - Password CampusRecording8.21.2026
• Session 2: Building the Roser Slides - Recording  - Password CampusPlaybook8.28.2026
• Session 3: Staffing the Sidelines Slides - Recording - Password CampusPlaybook9.4.2026
• Session 4: Checking the Scoreboard Slides - Recording - Password CampusPlaybook9.11.2026
• Session 5: Finishing the Play Slides No Recording

The AIM Data Dictionary is intended to assist local education agency (LEA) staff and their student information system vendors in understanding the specific data elements and codes that must be populated for state reporting through AIM. It supports accurate and consistent data collection by maintaining standardized data element definitions that meet state and federal reporting guidelines.

AIM Data Dictionary (PDF)
Updated April 2024

The purpose of this page is to provide general information about the OPI AIM student information system, along with its purpose and processes.

Questions can be directed to the OPI AIM Help Desk at 877-424-6881 or by submitting an AIM Help Desk ticket .

The Montana state student information system

The AIM system is designed to collect demographic, enrollment, program participation, and assessment data for each student. The program also tracks special education students’ IEP data and all students’ movement from school to school and district to district within Montana. It allows for timely reporting and data accuracy through standardized reporting capabilities, and it enables school districts to submit the required student information electronically.

The AIM system provides the OPI, the State of Montana, federal entities, and the education community with timely and accurate data about the progress of our students, schools, school districts, and the state.

Please see the AIM Policy References webpage for pertinent state and federal laws that apply to AIM.

Infinite Campus: the company and software

The Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) adopted the Infinite Campus software application as its statewide student information system (SIS). The OPI calls the state-level SIS “Achievement in Montana” (AIM). The name of the company that owns the Infinite Campus software is also Infinite Campus.

State Edition. The State Edition of Infinite Campus is used by OPI staff and contains the state-reported student data from all Montana districts.

Montana Edition. The Montana Edition of Infinite Campus is provided to districts at no cost so that schools that do not use Infinite Campus as their local SIS can submit their data into the statewide Infinite Campus system for state reporting.

Montana Edition – Value Added. The Montana Edition – Value Added is typically used by small districts as their main local student information system. Districts use it to maintain enrollment, demographic, program participation, and special education IEP data. The value-added features also allow districts to maintain students’ daily attendance and marks data.

District Edition. The District Edition of Infinite Campus is used by some districts as their complete local SIS.

Movement of AIM data

Data originates at the district level and is copied to the state level of Infinite Campus by a syncing process. This syncing happens automatically when data is entered and saved in Infinite Campus or when a district runs a mass syncing process to copy data to the state level.

When local district data is housed in a different local SIS (other than Infinite Campus), larger districts typically use a mass export and upload process to move data into the Montana Edition of AIM. Smaller districts may choose to enter their data directly into the Montana Edition. That data then goes through a nightly syncing process to be copied into the State Edition of AIM.

Once the data is at the state level, it is ready to be reviewed and validated by OPI staff for reporting purposes. OPI uses state-level data snapshot processes for some federal reporting that affects district funding. Districts use import processes to copy their state-level data into other OPI subsystems that also affect school funding (such as MAEFAIRS and Special Education). Other systems, such as the Child Nutrition Program (CNP) for free and reduced-price lunch funding, also pull data from the State Edition of AIM.

AIM data security policies

Please refer to the OPI Student Privacy webpage (opens in a new tab) for OPI data security policies.

AIM relevant state laws and rules

Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM)

Montana Code Annotated (MCA)

U.S. Department of Education

• Federal reporting file specifications (EDFacts, 2020–21) (opens in a new tab)
• Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) high school graduation rate guidance (PDF, opens in a new tab)
• Montana state plan for the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund (PDF, opens in a new tab)

U.S. Department of Education race and ethnicity policy

Federal Q&A resources

The U.S. Department of Education has finalized changes to the collection and reporting of race and ethnicity. Beginning with the 2010–2011 school year, all students must be identified using a new two-part race and ethnicity question, which recognizes Hispanic ethnicity and race as separate concepts and supports reporting of multiple races.

• Dear Colleague letter from the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development (OPEPD) (opens in a new tab)
• U.S. Department of Education race and ethnicity policy questions and answers (opens in a new tab)
• Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development (opens in a new tab)
• Race and ethnicity guidance for the collection of federal education data (opens in a new tab)

District information

The OPI has developed guidance and resource materials for districts as they implement the new federal race and ethnicity standards.

• Race and Ethnicity Guidance to Schools (PDF, opens in a new tab)
• Race and Ethnicity Reporting Form – Detailed (PDF, opens in a new tab)
• Race and Ethnicity Reporting Form – Short (PDF, opens in a new tab)
• Suggestions for Conducting Observer Identification (PDF, opens in a new tab)

Parent information

• Sample letter to parents for race and ethnicity re-identification (Word, opens in a new tab)

Additional resources

• NCES Forum Guide to Implementing New Federal Race and Ethnicity Categories (PDF, opens in a new tab)

Military Interstate Compact Commission

• Military Interstate Compact Commission rules (PDF, opens in a new tab)

External resources

• School Services of Montana (SSoM) – Infinite Campus support (opens in a new tab)
• National Forum Guide to Collecting and Using Attendance Data (February 2018, PDF; opens in a new tab)
• National Forum Guide to Data Visualization (October 2016, PDF; opens in a new tab)
• National Forum video on School Courses for the Exchange of Data (SCED) (July 2016, opens in a new tab)

Internal OPI resources

• Student Photograph Repository Project (opens in a new tab)
• GEMS (Growth and Enhancement of Montana Students) website (opens in a new tab)
• MAEFAIRS login (opens in a new tab)
• School Finance website (opens in a new tab)

Montana Early Warning System (EWS)

The Montana Early Warning System (EWS) model uses readily available school, student, and other live data to identify students who are at risk of dropping out of school before they leave. Students are identified early so that school staff can intervene and help keep them in school.

The Montana EWS is a logistic regression model that uses data such as attendance, behavior, grades, mobility, and other factors to determine whether a student is at risk. The model identifies students in grades 6–12 who may be at risk and provides indicators for the reasons each student is identified.

Watch Montana’s Early Warning System (EWS) introduction recording (YouTube, opens in a new tab)

Because the Montana EWS uses live data, it can be run at any time during the school year or summer. This allows educators to see how a student is progressing or regressing over time and to track whether interventions are working.

School-level reports are also available in the Montana EWS so educators can track their school-wide EWS results over time and compare them to statewide averages.

EWS User Guide – Montana Early Warning System: Required Data Setup (documentation in Infinite Campus Community; opens in a new tab) This documentation is intended for districts using the District Edition of Infinite Campus as their primary student information system. See the “Required Data Setup” section at the top of the page for details.

If you have questions about the Montana EWS, please contact: Kaitlyn Greenhalgh, K–20 Data and Research Analyst, Office of Public Instruction, Kaitlyn.Greenhalgh@mt.gov, 406-444-1610.