Student Information Systems

Minnesota District Picks New, Cheaper SIS

• By Michael Hart
• 01/11/16

A school district south of Minnesota's Twin Cities will save $33,000 a year with a new student information system (SIS).

In July, the West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan Area School District will begin using an SIS provided by Infinite Campus. The district chose the new system to provide better tools for instruction and data management than its current system.

Administrators at the 4,900-student school district began evaluating its current system last year by gathering input from teachers, staff, students and parents. It found via focus groups and online surveys that with its legacy system there were often redundancies in entering information and there were difficulties with navigating the system.

District leaders said they believe the new Infinite Campus system will give teachers and staff more access to data and more reporting capabilities. They said it will provide a more intuitive workflow and streamlined processes.

The district with eight schools reviewed six systems before picking this one.

"We're excited," said District Technology Director Dave Sandum. "Their software will provide teachers and staff with easy access to data and give them better reporting capabilities, which they can use to modify their teaching and make better instructional decisions. The product also integrates well with the other systems we currently use, it has an intuitive workflow and a secure, robust functionality that will help us streamline processes and manage our student data."