Two Texas Districts Choose Skyward for SIS Work

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 07/23/15

Two Texas school systems have recently adopted online student information system (SIS) Skyward. Mesquite Independent School District chose the application based on its reputation among other Texas schools. Charter school Village Tech Schools selected it to improve communications and other operations.

Mesquite will start using Skyward's Student Management Suite in the fall of 2016 to improve data integration, according to a prepared statement from Denise Kutch, Mesquite's assistant superintendent. Other buying criteria included data accuracy and security of student data, usability of the software and data storage capabilities. And, Kutch added, "Skyward's reputation within the state of Texas is impeccable."

Village Tech adopted the same suite as well as the company's School Business Suite, which provides functionality for human resources, payroll and accounting, and staff and asset management. In his statement, Village Tech Chief Technology Officer Jeremy Jameson said,  "Skyward brings everything under one roof; it's a one-stop shop for grading, scheduling, communicating with parents and managing business operations such as payroll and inventory. Having the option to bring the student and business systems together will help our district move forward, so we don't have to constantly keep cross-referencing data." The school system deployed the student management suite last spring and is currently implementing the business suite.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • illustration of a human head with a glowing neural network in the brain, connected to tech icons on a cool blue-gray background

    Meta Introduces Stand-Alone AI App

    Meta Platforms has launched a stand-alone artificial intelligence app built on its proprietary Llama 4 model, intensifying the competitive race in generative AI alongside OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI.

  • AI microchip under cybersecurity attack, surrounded by symbols of threats like a skull, spider, lock, and warning shield

    Report Finds Agentic AI Protocol Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks

    A new report from Backslash Security has identified significant security vulnerabilities in the Model Context Protocol (MCP), technology introduced by Anthropic in November 2024 to facilitate communication between AI agents and external tools.

  • stylized human profiles, tablets, and floating icons

    From Feedback to Flexibility: 5 AI Tools Teachers Should Try

    As a fifth-grade teacher and AI School Champion in the St. Vrain Valley School District, I've seen firsthand how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming education. Here are five AI-enabled tools I've found especially powerful in my classroom and professional practice.

  • digital dashboard featuring a shield icon, graphs, a world map, and network nodes

    IBM Launches Agentic AI Governance and Security Platform

    IBM has introduced a new software stack for enterprise IT teams tasked with managing the complex governance and security challenges posed by autonomous AI systems.