Overview

Tutoring centers often juggle spreadsheets for enrollment, schedules, attendance, and payments. I built a focused Django application that centralizes operations: admins create classes, enroll students, assign tutors, mark attendance, and reconcile payments. Role-based dashboards surface what each user needs to do next and simple reports highlight class capacity, revenue, and student engagement.

Architecture

• Backend: Django apps for enrollment, scheduling, billing, and reports. REST endpoints via DRF for integrations and future mobile clients.
• Data: PostgreSQL with tables: students, tutors, classes, class_sessions, enrollments, attendance, invoices, payments. Uniqueness constraints prevent double booking.
• Logic: Conflict detection when scheduling; invoice totals from session attendance; late-payment flags.
• Frontend: Django templates with progressive enhancement; JS fetch for async actions (mark attendance, quick enroll).
• Security: Django auth + role-based permissions (Admin, Tutor, Staff); CSRF on all forms.
• Deployment: Gunicorn + Nginx (Docker); environment-based settings; static/media collection pipeline.

Highlights

What I Learned

• Designing normalized schemas that support reporting without complex joins.
• Combining server-rendered Django with small AJAX endpoints for a snappy UX.
• How to enforce business rules (like conflict checks) both at the DB level and in the service layer.

Next Steps

• Parent portal with payment links and class calendars.
• Automated reminders via email/SMS for upcoming classes and overdue invoices.
• Recurring classes, coupons, and multi-location support.