At Tyndale Christian School, providing a seamless and welcoming enrolment experience is central to building strong relationships with new families. For Shincy Stanley, a key member of the school’s enrolments team, this means ensuring every interaction runs smoothly: from the first enquiry to the first day of school.
Before Veracross, Tyndale faced challenges with data integration and manual processes that slowed down efficiency and impacted communication across the community. By moving to a unified Veracross system, Shincy and her team have gained the tools they need to streamline enrolments, improve transparency for parents, and deliver a more connected experience for staff and families alike.
What were some of the biggest frustrations you and your team were experiencing with the systems you had before Veracross?
The biggest challenge was around integration, so the data flowing from our enrolment system to our SIS. We had an API in place, but that wasn’t very smooth. I was second-guessing myself every time an integration happened; whether the data was mapped into the right field or did it actually override the information. That was a big frustration that I used to face, and it challenged my day-to-day operations. It created a lot of doubts, and doubts mean delays, and delays affect efficiency. It would not allow me to focus on my actual tasks. Rather, I would be going back and doing more manual data entry, fixing the errors.
What impact did those inefficiencies have on the broader school community?
I would say it’s like a ripple effect. If the data is not mapped into the right field, the staff using those fields cannot use it to its full potential, which means the wider community will have a problem connecting to student profiles or parent communication.
Before deciding to switch to Veracross, how did you feel about the future and your ability to build the community at Tyndale?
At that time, I felt that we did have a gap, especially in the era of AI and integration. We should not be spending a lot of time fixing the errors that systems can actually take care of. I always felt that we needed to bridge that gap with a more technology-driven system.
I look forward to being more efficient in terms of meeting new parents and giving them a customer-friendly journey. Enrolment and onboarding are big things parents look into when they enrol their child. If I’m able to focus on those two areas, I’d be very happy in my day-to-day tasks.
Was there a list of non-negotiables you were hoping to find in your new SIS?
Veracross came into the picture saying it’s one system and the data flows from admission to graduation. That was a very positive point for me because if the data can move throughout this entire flow, efficiency goes up and errors are fixed on the way.
How did you and your team find the Veracross implementation process?
Veracross helped us go through this entire journey smoothly. It’s been very systematic, strategic, and I would say enjoyable. Our weekly check-in meetings guided us through, more like interactive sessions. Our implementation manager was very patient, but at the same time keeping us on our toes to follow the deadline. All our queries, what ifs, and our quirky ideas were explored and revisited, helping us to get confident. The Veracross video tutorials — that we have available 24/7 in Veracross University — are very positive and very self-explanatory. It was an amazing journey.
What has impressed you so far about working with Veracross?
What I see in Veracross is a robust, technology-driven system, which has helped us bridge the existing integration gap. This is one system where the data just seamlessly flows from admission to graduation. It means that the user experience for parents, staff, students and community is seamless.
Veracross helps us to build custom queries and custom forms, which means that the school can actually make new forms as per the requirements. Veracross is serving the school and helping the school to be in the driver’s seat, which gives us the ability to decide how we can serve the community better.
It is very agile in nature, which means that we can always go back to the workflows and make it more efficient, and we can fix it where we want to. The freedom that Veracross has given to the school is amazing.
How has the implementation process helped you reimagine workflows and efficiencies for your role here at Tyndale?
I’m very thrilled and excited to see how all the little pieces are going to come into shape and how this entire comprehensive solution is going to look for us. We have built the workflows with Veracross to be more efficient, which means less follow-ups, increasing the efficiency of staff. We are looking forward to not fixing errors the entire day. Rather, the system’s going to do that for us, which means that we can actually do the tasks that serve the community better.
It also means that the right information is given to the right person at the right time. For example, by custom queries, we can pull up different reports, be it before NCCD or for a medical report. I believe that’s very powerful.
How do you think the new system will improve communications and transparency?
We are looking forward to a better parent experience. When parents start their admissions journey, they will be given access to our Veracross admissions portal, which means they can view the status, the decisions, and see everything for the entire enrolment journey. They don’t have to wait for us or call us; they can access it anytime. So, they’re not second-guessing and it’s more efficient workflows. This is very transparent for parents and helpful when they are busy.
We’re also looking forward to communicating with our internal staff, especially the teachers when a student starts their first day in school. The teachers will have all the information already available to them.
If a school came to you and said they were going to undertake a SIS implementation, what’s one bit of advice you would give them?
I would say if you want to be one of the schools that is tech-friendly, Veracross is one of the best solutions because the data flow is seamless from admissions to graduation. There won’t be any problems that you will face. There is less time fixing errors, which improves the efficiency of staff. Your school will be faster, smarter and more agile in serving your community.
Ready for change at your school?
Book a demo with our team to learn what’s possible with a Veracross SIS.
