How to Organize PE Classes, Students, and Sessions Without the Chaos

June 2026 · 5 min read

You teach multiple PE classes. Each class has its own roster, activities, attendance, and records. New students show up mid-year. Others transfer out. And someone just asked you for a clean view of student activity this semester.

If your system is a binder, a spreadsheet, or a stack of printouts — it's only a matter of time before something falls through the cracks. Here's how to set up a system that actually works.

Start with Classes, Not Individual Students

The biggest mistake is organizing by student name. You end up with a giant alphabetical list where 3rd Period and 6th Period are mixed together, and you can't see who's in which class without scrolling.

Instead, organize by classes. Each class represents a class period, a grade level, or however you naturally think about your students:

• "Morning PE - K/1st"
• "Midday PE - 2nd/3rd"
• "Afternoon PE - 4th/5th"
• "Coach Smith's 6th Grade"

When you create or open a session, you pick a class. Only that roster shows up for attendance and activity records, so the workflow starts with the students actually in front of you.

Getting Students In: Three Ways

QR Codes: Print Once, Use All Year

Once students are in the system, print their QR code cards. Each student gets a unique card with their name and scannable code.

• Go to Settings, then open QR Codes
• Select a class
• Print the QR cards for that class
• Cut and laminate them if you want a reusable class set

Most teachers keep a class set in a bin by the gym door. Students grab their card at the start of PE and drop it back after. No lost cards, no reprinting.

Running a Session

This is the core workflow:

1. Create or open a PE session for the class
2. Add the school activities students will complete, such as Running Laps, Pushups, Plank, or Daily Participation
3. Start the session when class begins
4. Mark attendance
5. Record activity results, including QR scanning for lap-based activities when that fits the class

For Running Laps, each saved lap record can be converted into distance using the activity's distance-per-lap setting. For other activities, the same session can hold reps, seconds, points, or custom counts. When class is over, the records flow into reports by date, class, student, and activity.

End of Year: Bulk Actions

When the school year ends, you don't have to delete and re-create everything. Running Kiddos has bulk actions for common end-of-year tasks:

• Promote grades — Select all students, click "Promote." Every student's grade moves up one level (K→1, 1→2, etc.)
• Deactivate graduates — Select graduating students, click "Deactivate." They're removed from active lists but their data is preserved
• Reassign classes — Move students to new class periods in bulk

All historical data stays intact. If an administrator asks "How did last year's 3rd graders do?" the data is still there.

Multiple Teachers, One School

If your school has multiple PE teachers, each teacher can have their own login under the same school. Teachers work from the same school roster, class list, activities, sessions, and reports.

Admin users can add and remove teacher accounts from the Settings page. No IT department needed.

The Result: Everything in One Place

When it all comes together, your organization system looks like this:

• Classes match your class periods
• Students are assigned to classes with their grade level
• School activities define what teachers can add to sessions
• QR cards are printed and ready when lap scanning is useful
• Sessions connect a class, date, attendance, and activity records
• Reports pull from saved records, not memory
• Search and filter by name, class, or grade to find any student in seconds

No binder. No spreadsheet. No "I think she ran 7 laps but I'm not sure."