{"id":2886,"date":"2024-04-01T01:26:40","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T01:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolstatus18.wpenginepowered.com\/?post_type=resource&p=2886"},"modified":"2024-11-29T08:38:35","modified_gmt":"2024-11-29T08:38:35","slug":"prince-william-county-case-study","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.schoolstatus.com\/resource\/prince-william-county-case-study","title":{"rendered":"How SchoolStatus Became Prince William County’s Educational Game Changer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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District Overview<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

District: <\/strong>Prince William County Schools
Size: <\/strong>Over 92,000 students across 100 schools
Location: <\/strong>Virginia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facing big communication and data management hurdles, a large school district in Virginia turned to SchoolStatus to boost family engagement and cut down on chronic absenteeism. The results have been remarkable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prince William County Schools (PWCS), the second-largest school district in Virginia, serves over 92,000 students across 100 schools and centers. Their leadership team saw the need for a unified solution to tackle communication and data management issues, especially to support their diverse student population, which includes a large number of minority and ESL students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/path><\/svg><\/span>96% of teachers feel better equipped to meet student needs<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>87% of families responded positively to engagement and texts<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span>68% of students who received one attendance letter did not miss additional school<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Navigating Challenges and Seizing Opportunities<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Before bringing in SchoolStatus, PWCS faced a lot of challenges. The district dealt with disconnected data systems, unreliable tools, and poor customer service. As their technology leadership team noted, they did not have a strong plan for the use of data within their systems. This disconnection was particularly problematic for their 70% minority student population and 40% ESL students, creating a significant gap between teachers, staff, and families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their search for a solution, PWCS wanted a platform partner that could provide reliable tools and excellent customer service. They found SchoolStatus, which offered a comprehensive data and communication platform. Their leadership team liked that the data, IT, and student information were centralized and directly connected to the messaging platform, allowing easy creation of custom data-driven groups and subgroups to target communications and interventions effectively. The auto-translation feature was especially crucial for engaging with non-English-speaking families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SchoolStatus Connect & Attend: <\/strong>
A Dynamic Duo<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

PWCS piloted and then fully implemented SchoolStatus Connect and Attend. The benefits were immediately clear and with integrated student data, analytics, two-way communication tools, and an attendance management system, SchoolStatus was a game-changer for PWCS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With SchoolStatus Connect\u2019s single-screen Student Card, educators can see all the data they need to communicate effectively about student progress. From this screen, they can effortlessly exchange messages with families in their preferred language and through their preferred channel, whether by text, phone, video call, or email, greatly improving their ability to reach every family and support every student. School administrators can see a record of all communication with families and view recordings to monitor and intervene when necessary. The auto-translation feature allowed the district to bridge the language gap, making it easier for teachers and staff to engage with all families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The implementation of SchoolStatus significantly reduced the administrative burden on schools. “The administrative overhead for the schools to manage the amount of attendance letters they were having to send out, we have taken that off their plate. Which was a big win,” said Director of Information Technology Services, AJ Phillips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The full adoption of SchoolStatus has led to principals and teachers feeling better equipped to meet student needs. \u201cWe\u2019ve been able to tell them, \u2018hey you can use it for communication, but look at this cool dashboard,\u2019 and now we are at a stage where we want to use it and do even more,\u201d Ms. Philips explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The platform has improved communication and data management, enabling the district to focus on at-risk students, easily provide reports, and make data-driven decisions to support student success. Ms. Philips noted, \u201cIn our division, we all need to provide data at our quarterly updates with the superintendent.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“It\u2019s easy for our principals to go, \u2018These are the kids that I\u2019m focusing on, and these are the plans I have in place, and this is why and what the data is telling me.\u2019\u201d AJ Phillips, Director of Information Technology Services, PWCS<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Immediate Impact and Achieving Goals<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n