Administrative leaders will use the ParentSquare technology platform as an example as they explain how to align technology implementations with districts’ strategic goals
Santa Barbara, CA — June 14, 2023 — Most school districts have added school-home communication technology platforms one program at a time, resulting in educators using a mishmash of legacy systems. Different groups of educators then develop preferences for different systems, making it difficult for districts to successfully streamline communication processes later. At ISTELive 23, taking place June 25-28 in Philadelphia, three administrators from Cherokee County School District (CCSD) in Georgia will share how they aligned their implementation of the ParentSquare platform with the district’s strategic goals, thereby improving overall organizational effectiveness.
The one-hour Ed Talk presentation, titled “Aligning People, Processes and Platforms for Successful Technology Implementations and Organizational Effectiveness,” will take place on Wednesday, June 28 at 1:00 p.m. in Room 126A at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The presenters will be Dr. Debra Murdock, CCSD’s chief operations officer; Bradley Orth, the district’s executive director of business information services; and Dr. Shannon Carroll, CCSD’s supervisor of instructional technology.
CCSD aligned its implementation of ParentSquare with five mission critical areas of their strategic blueprint:
- Student Achievement; Access and Opportunity
- Organizational and Operational Effectiveness
- Family, Partner, and Community Engagement
- Positive Culture and Climate
- Quality Workforce
“We developed a highly successful approach that can be replicated with any new technology acquisitions,” Dr. Murdock said. “But we’re also looking forward to sharing communication-specific insights, such as what we learned about equitable and inclusive communication practices and how a communications platform can support a district’s strategic goals.”
Session attendees will also hear how the platform allowed communications across multiple audiences – parents, students, staff, and the community – and assisted in areas of instructional, extracurricular, and athletic activities for CCSD’s students. “We ensured that faculty, processes, and technology platforms worked in concert to ensure consistent connections with families for improved student academic outcomes,” Dr. Carroll said.
“We’ll also share how CCSD achieved a real return on its investment through both soft and hard cost savings with the communications platform,” Orth added. “We reduced printing and postage costs and eliminated duplications in disparate, disconnected legacy apps and technologies. But the best gains were undoubtedly our strengthened school cultures and parents’ increased confidence in us.”
Dr. Murdock has held several positions during her 26-year career at CCSD, including middle school teacher, assistant principal, principal, director of school operations, executive director of administrative leadership, and executive director for social and emotional learning. While serving as a principal, she was named the Georgia Association of Secondary School Principal’s (GASSP) 2014 High School Principal of the Year.
Dr. Carroll has been a CCSD educator for 25 years. She has served as a classroom teacher; the district’s K-12 Math, Science, PE & Health Curriculum Coordinator; and a Teacher on Special Assignment for Race to the Top and Professional Development. She holds several certifications and was recognized twice as Teacher of the Year.
Orth has over 25 years of experience in state, local, and K-12 organizations. He has extensive experience in business process reengineering and software implementations and is a certified government chief information officer.
About ParentSquare
ParentSquare is the leading provider of modern family and community engagement solutions for K-12 schools. Millions of educators and families in 49 states rely on the multipurpose unified platform that includes mass notifications, classroom communications, school websites, and other communication-based services, all supported by visual dashboards. ParentSquare’s technology platform features comprehensive integrations with school administrative systems, translation to more than 100 languages, and app, email, text, voice, and web portal access for equitable communication. Founded in 2011, the company is headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA. Learn more at https://www.parentsquare.com.
