Challenges
- Costly paper-based enrollment process
- Time-consuming, inefficient administrative tasks
- Poor data quality
Products & Solutions
Results
- Significant time savings
- More parent ownership for data accuracy
- Cost savings from less overtime, technician support, and printing supplies
With so many schools and students, the Wellington Catholic School Board was using a ton of paper and printer toner to send forms to parents. Office staff worked overtime, scheduling hundreds of parent-teacher conferences over the phone and entering data on enrollment processing and permission slips.
“It really was so much extra work for our front-office staff,” says Dallas Schlitt, Client Services Supervisor for the school board, “and data accuracy was also a problem, with our staff having to decipher penmanship and go back multiple times to ensure accuracy.”
In 2017, after an initial trial period, The Wellington Catholic School Board adopted PowerSchool Enrollment Express and PowerSchool Ecollect Forms to allow parents to easily input data into PowerSchool SIS, schedule meetings with teachers, and to collect forms like permission slips.
Saving Time and Getting Parents Involved
The most dramatic change after the school board adopted Enrollment Express and Ecollect Forms, Schlitt says, was in the amount of time saved by the office staff. “The biggest thing, and I know our administrative staff will agree, is it’s much less work. It’s less data entry for them.” Schlitt uses the example of parent-teacher interviews: “When letters go home to parents about teacher interviews, the parents would start calling constantly to book them. Now, the parents go online, and they can see their student’s teachers’ availability and choose a time that works, instead of the front office staff getting 300 phone calls.”
Another benefit Schlitt has found has been in parent engagement. “Using Enrollment Express is inviting parents to be more a part of the process. By putting the onus on them to enter information, it also showcases the school a bit more, so instead of coming in cold to the school, it makes them part of the process from the get-go,” he says. Schlitt also points out that Ecollect Forms helps with even seemingly small details. “Nothing frustrates a parent more than when a form goes home and a child’s name is misspelled, so we’re now able to give parents the responsibility of entering that information directly into PowerSchool SIS, and that’s how it will appear everywhere.”
Schlitt also likes the accuracy Enrollment Express and Ecollect Forms bring to the system. “Another huge piece is data accuracy and consistency,” he says. “Because the fields are consistent with the fields in PowerSchool SIS, there’s nothing being missed because we can make important data required fields.”
Big Impacts
When it comes to the impact Enrollment Express and Ecollect Forms have made on his school board’s budget, Schlitt has a long list. “It’s a reduction in secretary coverage for data entry, a big reduction in overtime, a huge cutback in paper and toner for printers, and it’s even a cutback in having our technicians drive to the schools to fix things like paper jams or replace printers. It really ties into so many things around the reduction of costs.”
Schlitt says the implementation process was refreshingly smooth. “The working relationship we’ve had with our customer service manager has been a close and very positive relationship, and the technical support we’ve received has been great as well. They touch base with us on a regular basis, so we know that they care. We think it’s going to continue to get better and better for our users and our schools. We’re just starting to scratch the surface.”