eSchool News | School Administration page 1

Mark Friedman Joins Frontline Education as Chief Marketing Officer

Frontline Education™, a leading provider of school administration software purpose-built for K-12, today announced that Mark Friedman has joined the company as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Friedman will lead Frontline Education’s go-to-market strategy, business development and client communications programs, bringing 25 years of sales, marketing and business development experience to the company.

“The chief marketing officer is critical to the future success of Frontline Education as we continue to scale the company, growing our portfolio and our brand,” said Mark Gruzin, CEO of Frontline Education. “We are excited for Mark Friedman to bring his broad expertise and client-centric approach to Frontline, enhancing ur go-to-market initiatives with a proactive strategy that provides tangible value to our clients.”

Prior to joining Frontline Education, Friedman served as SVP, Global Customer Success for Genesys, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer for SoundBite Communications, President & CEO of Peppercoin and VP of Global Marketing for Lucent/Kenan Systems. In these various positions and throughout his career, Friedman has explored the organic integrations between marketing, customer success, and other customer-facing functions.…Read More

Frontline Education has Acquired Forecast5 Analytics

Frontline Education, a leading provider of school administration software and services purpose-built for K-12, today announced that it has acquired Forecast5 Analytics from Riverwood Capital. Forecast5 offers a suite of decision support software that provides financial forecasting, benchmarking, student performance dashboards and geovisual analytics to empower school administrators to make more informed financial, academic and strategic decisions. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

“We are excited to welcome the Forecast5 team to Frontline Education. Forecast5’s decision support capabilities are a natural extension of our solutions and further our commitment to innovation, supporting the growth of district staff and optimizing the management of their processes,” said Mark Gruzin, CEO of Frontline Education. “In the current climate, budgetary, financial management and planning considerations have become more complex. Together, our organizations will provide more advanced solutions and resources to address those needs for school districts.”

The acquisition expands the reach and impact of Forecast5’s data analytics and decision support capabilities by introducing the company’s solutions and expertise to thousands of Frontline Education clients across the country. Frontline’s Student Information System (SIS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) clients will have opportunities to take advantage of Forecast5’s decision support capabilities. Forecast5 clients will benefit from Frontline Education’s expansive data set as well as the company’s broad portfolio of school administration software and services for human capital management, business operations and student management. Frontline will continue to support Forecast5’s unique expertise, client success and advisor model, as well as their extensive partnerships to provide best practice guidance and resources to clients.…Read More

Frontline Education Acquires SuccessEd

Frontline Education, a leading provider of school administration software for the K-12 education community, today announced that it has acquired SuccessEd, a Texas-based K-12 software provider. With this acquisition, Frontline enhances its commitment to serving the special education community.

“This new partnership between Frontline Education and SuccessEd brings a best-in-class relationship management and customer care model together with continuous technical innovation in product functionality,” said Mark Gruzin, CEO of Frontline Education. “Our combined organization will drive additional value and an enhanced client experience for our partners in special education management across the country.”

SuccessEd team members, most of whom are former educators, have worked on behalf of special education and special programs for over 25 years. This acquisition provides Frontline Education with an opportunity to further serve its special education and special programs clients through expanded levels of Texas state-specific domain expertise. As part of the Frontline Education family, SuccessEd clients will benefit from access to a broad portfolio of connected solutions that are purpose-built for K-12 schools and proactively adapted to the changing ways schools operate.…Read More

School Health Management to Navigate a Safe & Healthy Return to School

Frontline Education, a leading provider of school administration software for K-12 education, today announced that Mobile County Public Schools will leverage Frontline’s School Health Management solution as part of their school reopening plan. Frontline School Health Management, a comprehensive electronic health records and school nursing management system, includes recent enhancements and new functionality to support COVID-19 management, tracking and reporting for students and school staff. The software is being implemented at a critical time for Mobile County Public Schools who will be responsible for the health and safety of more than 57,900 students as well as 7,950 teachers across 89 schools this school year.

“The health and safety of our students and staff is our first priority. In these uncertain times, we need an innovative and adaptable system in place to alleviate some of the administrative burden and allow our staff to focus on creating and maintaining a safe and healthy environment,” said Terrence Mixon, Assistant Superintendent of Mobile County Public Schools. “Frontline School Health Management represents an investment, not only in our protection against the pandemic, but in the overall health and well-being of our district and community.”

Mobile County Public Schools’ health services program encompasses everything from first aid and safety, communicable disease control and crisis intervention to health education, special education support and personnel programs. Frontline School Health Management supports these efforts with nurse office management as well as tools that provide increased visibility and early warning signs to help schools and state health officials as they work to manage the spread of COVID-19. With states across the country, including Alabama, finalizing and executing their school reopening plans, ensuring a safe environment is more critical now than ever before.…Read More

5 steps to building a future-ready K-12 network

Any investment you make in your network infrastructure should be driven by the learning objectives you’ve set. Creating a plan for your network upgrade begins with understanding how your network will be used over the next 3–5 years to advance teaching, learning, and school administration.

Setting goals should be a community-wide process, with input from students, teachers, parents, and administrative staff. If you don’t already have a forward-looking strategic plan in place or if it needs to be updated, use surveys, focus groups and a strategic planning committee. Be sure to include representation from all stakeholder groups to set your vision and identify your goals.

Download this step-by-step guide to planning a network infrastructure to help you achieve your learning objectives.…Read More

Districts turn to tech to prevent school violence

School violence regularly occupies news headlines, turning students into activists as they demand gun control and call on lawmakers and education stakeholders to drastically improve school safety.

This disturbing trend, including the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and the March 20 shooting at Great Mills High School in Great Mills, Md., has prompted many districts to turn to technology solutions to put an extra layer of safety measures in schools.

Tools that monitor social media for threats, anonymous reporting systems, and databases to track and identify potentially preventable patterns among shootings are growing in popularity as educators recognize the importance of technology in preventing school violence.…Read More

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This major city knows the secret to improving student performance

A focus on high-quality principals in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) could serve as a best-practice model for districts across the nation, according to data indicating improved student performance and principal retention.

Over the past four years, as the number of strong principals in Chicago’s public schools has increased, so have student outcomes. District leaders have identified increases in both reading and math scores for elementary school students and have seen significant improvements in freshman on-track and graduation rates at the high school level.

“Principals are truly the instructional leaders of our schools and one of the key factors behind the improvements we’re seeing for all of Chicago’s public school students–improvements that are outpacing national averages,” said Dr. Janice Jackson, acting CEO of CPS, during a panel discussion on the district’s positive results. “We know that cultivating and retaining strong leaders is essential to our progress.”…Read More

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5 tips to take your large school district into the digital age

Technology changes quickly, with educators and administrators often racing to catch up. Sometimes the bigger the school district, the longer it can take to make what happens inside classrooms as engaging as what students encounter outside our doors.

But just as chalkboards have given way to interactive whiteboards, so can your school system bring all aspects of teaching and learning into the digital age.

Here are five ways to get started in creating digital learning environments:…Read More

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#7: Greatest lesson: Teacher buy-in is overrated

[Editor’s note: This story, originally published on April 12th of this year, was our #7 most popular story of the year. Happy holidays, and thank you for tuning into our 2017 countdown!]

One of the greatest lessons my 30 years of experience in education has taught me is that teacher buy-in is, sometimes, overrated.

There, I said it.…Read More

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Innovative tech standards want your feedback

None of us would leave for a destination without a plan of action, without a direction and the right equipment to complete the journey. We all know that we want to provide the best pathways for our students to help foster 21^st century skills.

As administrators, our responsibilities cover many areas including technology, which has become a necessary component of living and work. Technology can do many things, but in order to prepare our students for the future, education professionals need a new plan for how to employ it. For example, technology can accelerate innovation in teaching and learning and inspire learners to reach their greatest potential, it can provide students a window into a world right outside their door or halfway across the world.

That is why the ISTE Standards for Administrators are so important, as they provide all of us a set of expectations to effectively lead our schools and districts in an ever-changing digital world. Truly, these standards are the roadmap to accomplish the journey our students, teachers and schools seek to complete.…Read More