Prince George's County Public Schools Upgrades SIS to Better Manage Communications, Data

After an exhaustive search to replace its 15-year-old student information system, Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) in Maryland, one of the largest K–12 school districts in the U.S., chose Edupoint Educational Systems' Synergy Education Platform to replace its aging student information system and meet several other needs.

The new Synergy platform will replace PGCPS's 15-year-old SIS and also add Synergy's Online Registration, MTSS, and Analytics, to be hosted in Synergy's AWS Cloud environment.

PGCPS said it went through an extensive research and review process of several systems, finally choosing three into which to take a deep dive. The district's IT team evaluated the systems' core functionality. Then a stakeholder group of 60 parents, students, teachers, secretaries, principals, IT staff, and other central office department leaders attended a demo day to rate the three platforms. Finally, schedulers from five middle and high schools, along with 23 staff from various district areas, evaluated the systems for scheduling, data analysis, and reporting.

Synergy emerged as the top choice.

"With Synergy, PGCPS will get a state-of-the-art platform capable of meeting the varied needs of the district's broad user base while keeping pace with advancements and innovations within the district and in K-12 public education more generally," Edupoint said. Synergy includes powerful tools that facilitate convenient communication districtwide, including between schools and with parents and students. The MTSS module will allow teachers and interventionists to access all student data in one place, eliminating the need to log into an additional system to access SIS data."

Edupoint said that its Synergy platform "is unique among K-12 student data management solutions in providing an array of role-based mobile apps designed to give all stakeholders access to the tools they need when and where they need them. More than 5.5 million students use Synergy in 22 states."

Visit the Synergy platform page to learn more about its features.

About the Author

Kate Lucariello is a former newspaper editor, EAST Lab high school teacher and college English teacher.

Featured

  • students using digital devices, surrounded by abstract AI motifs and soft geometric design

    Ed Tech Startup Kira Launches AI-Native Learning Platform

    A new K-12 learning platform aims to bring personalized education to every student. Kira, one of the latest ed tech ventures from Andrew Ng, former director of Stanford's AI Lab and co-founder of Coursera and DeepLearning.AI, "integrates artificial intelligence directly into every educational workflow — from lesson planning and instruction to grading, intervention, and reporting," according to a news announcement.

  • toolbox featuring a circuit-like AI symbol and containing a screwdriver, wrench, and hammer

    Microsoft Launches AI Tools for Educators

    Microsoft has introduced a variety of AI tools aimed at helping educators develop personalized learning experiences for their students, create content more efficiently, and increase student engagement.

  • laptop displaying a red padlock icon sits on a wooden desk with a digital network interface background

    Reports Point to Domain Controllers as Prime Ransomware Targets

    A recent report from Microsoft reinforces warns of the critical role Active Directory (AD) domain controllers play in large-scale ransomware attacks, aligning with U.S. government advisories on the persistent threat of AD compromise.

  • Two hands shaking in the center with subtle technology icons, graphs, binary code, and a padlock in the dark blue background

    Two Areas for K-12 Schools to Assess for When to Work with a Managed Services Provider

    The complexity of today’s IT network infrastructure and increased cybersecurity risk are quickly moving beyond many school districts’ ability to manage on their own. But a new technology model, a partnership with a managed services provider, offers a way forward for schools to overcome these challenges.