> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.deandesk.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # 4. Staff, learners and families > Create the correct school accounts and family relationships before sending invitations. > [!NOTE] > > **School-level feature** — managed within your school portal at `yourschool.deandesk.com`. Use the school **Admin Dashboard**, not the institution dashboard.Create the correct school accounts and family relationships before sending invitations.**Where to go:** **People → User Management**.## Video walkthrough \ Download English captions [Download the video](/videos/school-setup/people-and-families.mp4)> [!NOTE] > > This walkthrough uses the real DeanDesk interface with fictional school data and a calm, AI-generated English voice. It demonstrates the steps; it does not perform changes in your school.## Follow along**1. Search before creating**Select **Staff, learners and families** in **School setup**, then **Open User Management**. Begin with **Search Users** to check for existing accounts. These are school **Users**, not institution **Identities**.**2. Prepare a batch**Open **Create Users**. Add rows manually or use **Upload CSV** or **Paste CSV**. Map source columns and review validation errors before importing rows into the table. Enable **Create child accounts** when you need child fields and parent linking. Keep separate batches for people who need different roles.**3. Choose access deliberately**Review the batch roles and optional course, roster or program destinations. Give Admin access only to intended administrators. For children, check birth dates and parent email fields rather than inventing missing information. Importing CSV rows into the editable table does not create accounts yet.**4. Control activation delivery**In **Activation emails**, turn **Send now** off while preparing the school if you do not want invitations sent yet. Choose **Review and create**, then review the confirmation and click **Create users** when ready. Inspect created accounts, updated existing accounts, new parents, deferred emails and failed rows. Reconcile results before retrying.**5. Check families and enrollments**Open **Families** to inspect parent/child links. Use **Course Enrollments** to check the learner’s access. Keep payer, guardian and learner distinct. Return to the setup checklist and mark **I reviewed staff, learners and families** after checking a representative sample.> [!TIP] > > Creating accounts and sending activation emails are separate decisions. Keep invitations deferred until you have checked the school’s complete experience.## Video transcriptLet’s bring your community in carefully. Open User Management from the people step. These are school Users. Institution staff accounts, called Identities, are managed separately in the institution dashboard.Begin with Search Users so you do not create an account that already exists. Review the person’s school role and account status. Separate staff and learner batches when they need different permissions.In Create Users, add rows manually or use Upload CSV or Paste CSV. Review the field mapping, roles and destinations. In Activation emails, turn Send now off if you are still preparing the school. Confirm the results after creating the accounts.Use Families to check parent and child links. Then review Course Enrollments for the correct learners. Keep the guardian, payer and learner distinct, and reconcile any failed rows before retrying an import. Mark this step reviewed when the accounts and relationships are correct.## More help- [Create and import users](/setup/users.md) - [Student records](/sis/student-records.md) - [Institutions and schools](/getting-started/institutions-and-schools.md)[Back to the school setup guide](/school-setup.md). This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.