A student information system (SIS) does many things. It helps teachers organize academic information, facilitates communication with families, and gives visibility into classroom trends. It’s also your primary school database.
Your SIS manages a wide range of information including names, addresses, grades, family relationships, financial details, extracurricular activities, and more. This information helps inform nearly every aspect of school operations including communications, academic records, and fundraising.
But not all student information systems are created equal. Keep reading to learn why a single-record SIS is the preferred choice for today’s private and independent K-12 schools across North America.
Simplified Data Management
You might be wondering what a single-record database even is. Have you ever searched your SIS to find a student’s academic record and were met with multiple variations of their history at your school? For instance, a search for “Sam Jones” may result in records for “Sam Jones,” “Samantha Jones,” and “Samantha Jay Jones.”
Upon further research, it’s clear that these three records belong to the same individual, but they are disconnected in your SIS. These disparate records impact your school’s data integrity and can lead to confusion, inaccurate reporting and communication, and overall frustration for school staff and families.
With a single-record solution like Veracross, every member of your school community exists exactly one time in your database. One person equals one record. When a student moves from grade to grade, graduates, donates to the school, becomes a parent at your school, or joins the school board, their record simply updates to reflect their current status as well as their historical data. There’s no need for a separate record for each new phase of a constituent’s relationship to your school.
For communities like Randolph School, a single-record database was non-negotiable in their search for a new SIS. Deborah Brink, Director of Information Services, knew that having multiple records for a single individual would have a huge impact on the quality of the school’s data. They unanimously voted to switch to Veracross from Blackbaud because of the one-record capability.
Similarly, Pegi Keeler, Head of Technology and Curriculum at Unionville College in Ontario, quickly saw the value of a singular record for their multi-campus school. “Having looked at other systems, if you’re using and juggling multiple systems, you just have to go to the single database,” says Keeler. “It’s so much simpler. You’re able to switch to an all-in-one solution instead of trying to get different programs to talk to each other.”
Full Picture of Each Constituent
Having all relevant constituent information in one place increases visibility into student happenings and school trends. At any given moment, school staff can pull up a student’s record and see every interaction they’ve had with the school.
“Are they in the play? When are the practices for the play? Are they also playing football? All of those details are kept in Veracross, so we have a pretty good portrait of what a student is going through,” says Brink.
This whole-child information helps facilitate informed conversations and makes sure nothing slips through the cracks. It also allows for personalized communications and solicitations based on an individual’s unique interests and relationship to the school.
Improved Parent Experience
As an independent school, family satisfaction should be your top priority. This extends to everything from school communications to tuition management, report cards, and even simple things like website navigation. The easier it is for parents to find the information they’re looking for, the more satisfied they will be with your school as a whole.
Schools that have multiple databases often struggle with the best way to share information with parents because said information lives in different places. On the contrary, a single-record database provides one source of truth and a single login for parents and staff.
Before moving to Veracross, “we had multiple places where [parents] had to go to pay, look at report cards, and sign up for events,” says Brink. “Now we can link to everything in Veracross.”
Cost Savings by Consolidating Systems
From one-off applications for communications, fundraising, and accounting, having multiple disparate databases is not only a data management problem but a budgetary issue. You’re likely paying more than you realize for redundant systems.
During the evaluation process, Unionville College felt they were underutilizing their systems, disjointed as they were. Today with Veracross, Keeler “[feels] like we’re getting a good ROI on what we’re doing. It was hard with our old SIS to see so many applications sitting empty, knowing we were paying for them. We’re not doing that anymore — we’re engaged and we’re using it!”
Similarly, Randolph School was able to reimagine a few different staff positions after adopting Veracross due to increased efficiencies and automation.
Moving to a Single-Record SIS
If you want to simplify data management, have informed conversations, improve family satisfaction, and consolidate software systems, your school will benefit from a single-record SIS.
As the one-person, one-record school management platform for independent K-12 schools in the United States and Canada, Veracross helps schools unify their communities with one source of truth. Interested in learning more? Request a demo to explore our innovative solution.
