See detailed instructions for all clearances and training with examples here. 

Employees are responsible for any associated fees.

General Notes - Applicable to All Clearances

• The appearance of various clearances/certificates may vary, particularly if you have older clearances that are still valid and you do not need to obtain new ones at this time. Please pay careful attention to the examples provided in the PDF above to be sure yours matches one of the valid versions.
• All documents must be delivered in one of two ways: saved as a PDF and emailed to clearances@shadysideacademy.org or printed, with all required information and watermarks clearly legible, and hand-delivered to the front desk at Bayard House on the Senior School campus. Screenshots or photos of documents are unacceptable under the law. If you are unable to save as a PDF or to print clearly at home, contact us at clearances@shadysideacademy.org for instructions.
• Always retain copies of all clearances for your own records.

PA Child Abuse History Clearance

Download Instructions & Examples

1. Got to the PA Child Welfare Portal. (If this is your first time on the site, complete steps 2-7. If you already have your login information, skip to step 8.)
2. Choose “create individual account” and enter the requested information.
3. Check your email for a message with a temporary password.
4. Return to the link above, choose “login.”
5. Enter the Keystone ID (aka username) you created in the first step and the password sent in the email.
6. When prompted, change your password to something of your choice – note the very specific security requirements listed for your password.
7. Be sure to keep track of your login information – you will need to access this account should you ever have cause to report suspected abuse.
8. Login again with your Keystone ID and newly created password.
9. Accept the terms & conditions and move on to submitting your clearance request.
10. Choose “school employment” or “volunteer,” as appropriate, as the reason for your request.
11. Complete the application. Be prepared to enter every previous name you’ve ever used, every previous address at which you’ve ever lived, and every person with whom you’ve ever lived. They will accept partial information if you don’t remember all the exact details but missing information may delay processing.
12. Review your information and continue to the payment screen.
13. Enter your credit card information to pay the fee (if you are an employee – there is no cost for volunteers).
14. Print and retain your confirmation.
15. You’ll receive an email when your request has been processed; login to your account to access your results.

FBI Criminal History Report

Download Instructions & Examples

1. Go to Identogo
2. Enter the appropriate service code. NOTE: You must be accurate with your service code. We cannot legally accept a volunteer clearance for a paid employee.
   EMPLOYEES: 1KG6V5
   VOLUNTEERS: 1KG6ZJ
3. Follow the site instructions to choose a location and schedule an appointment for your fingerprinting.
4. The confirmation screen will list the date, time and location of your appointment; identification documents you will need to bring, and the cost of the fingerprinting, which you will pay in person at the time of your appointment. There is a slightly reduced rate for volunteers.
5. Within a few days after completing your fingerprints, you should receive an email with your unofficial results. NOTE: the link provided for your results is valid once only and expires quickly – please follow the link and download your results as quickly as possible. The results will be marked “unofficial”; the Academy must use this information to access your official results on a secure website.

Approved Child Abuse Recognition and Reporting Training for Mandated Reporters

Download Instructions & Examples 

1. Go to Report Abuse PA. (If this is your first time registering for the course, complete steps 2-4. If you already have a user name and password, skip to step 5.)
2. Click the “Registration” link in the blue bar across the top.
3. Enter the requested personal information.
4. You will be assigned a username and password.
5. Return to the welcome page and login with the username and password provided in the previous step.
6. Click on the link for the course “Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse.”
7. You will likely need to disable the pop-up blocker in your browser in order to launch the course.
8. The course is presented in 10 sections; at the end of each section you will have the opportunity to save your progress and exit, to continue at a later time.
9. The course will take approximately three hours to complete.
10. During Section 9, you will learn how to report suspected abuse to ChildLine through the self-serve system. The web site and account used for reporting are the same as those used for obtaining the PA Child Abuse History Clearance.
11. Upon completing the course and the survey, enter your full name on the signature page.
12. Upon signing, your certificate will appear in the next window. Save/print it, and confirm that all information (particularly your name and that date) appears clearly on it.

PA State Police Criminal History

Download Instructions & Examples

1. Go to PA Access to Criminal History
2. Click the button for “Submit a New Record Check” if you are an employee, or “New Record Check (Volunteers Only)” if you are a volunteer.
3. Read and accept the terms and conditions.
4. On the next screen, choose “individual record check” and click “continue.”
5. Enter your name, address, social security number, and any other names you have used (e.g., maiden name, previous married name, or aliases/nicknames.)
6. Enter your credit card information to pay the fee (if you are an employee – there is no charge for volunteers)
7. Print and retain your confirmation.
8. The next screen will show the control #, your name, the date of request and the status. In most cases, requests are processed immediately and the status will reflect a result. This is NOT your valid clearance certificate.
9. If your status shows a result, skip to step 14. If it shows “under review” or other language indicating that a result is pending, continue to step 10.
10. Print the screen showing your status, or write down your control #, your name exactly as it appears on the screen, and the date.
11. Wait a day or two and use the link above to return to the site. On the first screen, choose “Check the Status of a RecordCheck.”
12. Enter the information you saved from the status screen on the date of your request. This will bring up the same status screen.
13. Repeat steps 11-13 as necessary until your results appear, then move on to step 14.
14. Double click the control number. The next screen will show expanded information and you will see “certification form” in blue type above a “back” button. Double click “certification form.”
15. A pop-up screen regarding formatting may appear – click “ok” and your certification form (the final, valid document for submission) will appear.