Law Student Tracker - Val.town Project

Automates attendance tracking and cold-call selection for both T&E and L&C classes.

Vals

File	Type	Purpose
T&E (Trusts & Estates)
`oncall-selection.http.tsx`	HTTP	Algorithmically selects 6 students for cold-calling
`oncall-notify.cron.tsx`	Cron	Emails on-call list before class (3 PM)
`te-report-prompt.cron.tsx`	Cron	Reminds Sarah to submit T&E report (6 PM)
L&C (Law & Capitalism)
`lc-oncall-selection.http.tsx`	HTTP	Looks up preset on-call from syllabus
`lc-oncall-notify.cron.tsx`	Cron	Emails on-call list before class (8 AM)
`lc-report-prompt.cron.tsx`	Cron	Reminds Sarah to submit L&C report (12 PM)
Shared
`post-class-report.http.tsx`	HTTP	Receives reports, updates tracking, triggers alerts
`process-form-reports-api.http.tsx`	HTTP	Parses Google Form responses, calls post-class-report
`process-form-reports-schedule.cron.tsx`	Cron	Triggers form processing (every 10 min)
`main.http.tsx`	HTTP	Sheets connection test
`utils.tsx`	Script	Shared utilities

Environment Variables

Set these in Val.town UI (Settings → Environment Variables):

Variable	Purpose
`GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS`	Service account JSON (full string)
`REPORT_API_KEY`	Secret key for report submissions
`POST_CLASS_REPORT_URL`	URL for post-class-report.http.tsx
`PROCESS_FORM_REPORTS_URL`	URL for process-form-reports-api.http.tsx

Cron Schedules

Set in Val.town UI for each cron val. Times are UTC:

Val	EST Time	UTC Cron
T&E
`oncall-notify`	3 PM Mon/Wed	`0 20 * * 1,3`
`te-report-prompt`	6 PM Mon/Wed	`0 23 * * 1,3`
L&C
`lc-oncall-notify`	8 AM Mon/Wed	`0 13 * * 1,3`
`lc-report-prompt`	12 PM Mon/Wed	`0 17 * * 1,3`

Note: Adjust for DST. These are EST (UTC-5). EDT (summer) is UTC-4.

Report Submission

POST to post-class-report.http.tsx endpoint with:

curl -X POST "https://sahar--{hash}.web.val.run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_REPORT_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "date": "2026-01-12",
    "class_type": "te",
    "cold_calls": [
      {"student_name": "Alice Adams", "result": "completed", "performance": "great"},
      {"student_name": "Bob Baker", "result": "absent"},
      {"student_name": "Carol Chen", "result": "refused"}
    ],
    "absences": ["David Davis"]
  }'

Fields:

date: Class date (YYYY-MM-DD)
class_type: "te" or "lc"
cold_calls: Array of students called on
- result: "completed" | "absent" | "refused"
- performance: "great" | "normal" | "bad" (only for completed)
absences: Other absent students (not on on-call list)

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "date": "2026-01-12",
  "cold_calls_logged": 3,
  "absences_logged": 1,
  "unprepared_processed": 0,
  "alerts_sent": []
}

Alerts

Automatic email alerts at thresholds:

3 absences → Contact dean + student
5 concerning events → Contact student

Concerning events = absent + unprepared + refused + bad performance.

Sheet Structure

Uses Google Sheet with tabs:

Shared:

Form Responses 1 - Student self-reports (form-owned, read-only)
Cold Call Log - Audit trail of actual cold calls

T&E:

T&E Roster - Student list + cumulative tracking (columns: student_name, last_name, pool, cold_call_count, last_called, absences, concerning_events)
T&E On-Call - Daily on-call selections (for idempotency)

L&C:

L&C Roster - Student list + cumulative tracking (same columns, minus pool)
L&C Assignments - Preset syllabus schedule (columns: date, student_name)
L&C On-Call - Daily on-call cache (for idempotency)

L&C Setup

Create L&C Roster tab with columns: student_name, last_name, cold_call_count, last_called, absences, concerning_events
Create L&C Assignments tab with columns: date, student_name
Populate L&C Assignments with syllabus data (one row per student per date)

Example L&C Assignments:

date	student_name
2026-01-13	Alice Adams
2026-01-13	Bob Baker
2026-01-15	Carol Chen