Nova Help Center

Adding Your First Student

Updated yesterday · 1 min read
On this page (3 sections)

There are two ways to add students to Nova: one at a time, or in bulk using Smart Import.

Adding a student manually

  1. Go to Students in the sidebar
  2. Click the + Add Student button
  3. Fill in the student’s details:
    • Name (first and last)
    • Instrument and skill level
    • Lesson duration and price
    • Email and phone (optional)
  4. Assign them to a family (or create a new one)
  5. Click Save

You don’t need to fill in every field right away. Name and instrument are the only required fields — you can add contact info and pricing later.

Using Smart Import for bulk adds

If you’re switching from another system or have a list of students in a spreadsheet, Smart Import can save you a lot of time.

  1. Go to Students
  2. Click the Import button (or look for Smart Import on the Dashboard)
  3. Copy your student data from a spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets, etc.)
  4. Paste it into the import box
  5. Nova will automatically parse names, instruments, emails, and other fields
  6. Review the parsed data and make corrections if needed
  7. Click Import to create all students at once

Smart Import is flexible — it handles various spreadsheet formats and column orders. It will do its best to match columns to the right fields.

What’s next?

Once you’ve added students, you’ll want to:

  • Set up recurring lessons on the Calendar
  • Create families to group siblings and add parent contact info
  • Enable the Student Portal so families can log in

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