The Royal and Ore City Independent School Districts (ISDs) have implemented the Skyward Student Management Suite.
Royal ISD, located outside of Houston, implemented the Skyward state-sponsored student information system at the beginning of the 2012-13 school year to experience real-time monitoring of critical student data such as grades, scheduling and attendance, and to facilitate school-to-home communication. Ore City ISD, east of Dallas, began using the Skyward Student Management Suite in 2008, when it was looking for a student information software and later transitioned to the state-sponsored version to take advantage of the benefits under the TEA state-sponsored student information system.
The districts value the complete data reporting assistance Skyward offers, including monitoring of state requirements and notifying districts of changes or variations to state reporting standards. Since the districts rely on this information for funding, it’s crucial that the data be accurate.
Stephanie Leal Hardman, director of special services for Royal ISD, oversees the Public Education Information Management System data reporting process, which is required for all Texas school districts by TEA. Before the district implemented the Skyward Student Information System, it was responsible for manually editing codes for data reporting during this process.
“Our district is saving so much time on the programming end of student data reporting since implementing Skyward,” said Leal Hardman. “Whereas before we spent quite a bit of time scrubbing data to prepare it for shipment to the state, Skyward takes care of the entire process. They are also proactive in keeping our district well informed of any changes to state reporting requirements. I am quite impressed with the comprehensive service and attention to detail Skyward provides.”
Lynn Heflin, superintendent of Ore City ISD, said that when the district implemented Skyward’s Student Management Suite in 2008, it selected a vendor that offered a multitude of resources to support its students and staff. He felt the district’s choice to implement a growing company like Skyward was further validated after TEA selected the software vendor’s student suite as a recommended statewide student information system.
“Ore City ISD wanted a system that was robust, yet easy for the staff to use,” said Heflin. “We were very pleased when TEA named Skyward as a preferred vendor, because our student system was already implemented and would now be fully supported by the state.”
A key product enhancement that was developed in conjunction with TEA is Skyward’s New Student Online Enrollment, which enables parents to register their students without waiting in line or having to visit campus. Parents can securely enter their child’s information and upload supporting documents online at a time that is convenient for them. Skyward plans on releasing the product later this year for all customers.
