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Omaha Public Schools
Matthew Ray
Supervisor Student Personnel Services
Omaha, Nebraska
47,000 students

Omaha Succeeds with Large Scale Implementation
Omaha Public Schools (OPS) is the largest district in Nebraska, serving more than 47,000 students. It was looking for an integrated student information system (SIS) that could provide features such as special education and elementary school lesson planning to more than 100 schools and programs, and achieve implementation for a staff of 7,000. Infinite Campus scored the highest of all vendors presenting demonstrations and was awarded the OPS contract.

Selecting a New System
When OPS learned that SASI would no longer be supported, it seized the opportunity to research other vendors. A comprehensive request for proposal (RFP) with more than 130 pages of requirements was prepared.

Essential criteria for the selection included scalability of the system, so it would grow with the district, and the availability of maintenance and support. Infinite Campus has a proven record of working with districts of all sizes, and training and support have consistently received high marks from customers. OPS asked them to return as a finalist.

Matthew Ray, Omaha Public Schools Supervisor of Student Personnel Services says, “Infinite Campus demonstrated their system to more than 100 people over the course of five days. Vendors were scored on the product capabilities as well as their RFP responses. Infinite Campus received the highest score and was selected to be our new SIS.”

Laying the Groundwork
Implementing a new SIS is a challenge for any school. But for a district of this size, OPS faced logistic challenges unique to a large district. To insure a smooth transition, they began preparation for their new SIS as soon as Infinite Campus was chosen.

Infinite Campus and its partners are experts at managing a district transition from the legacy system. Professional services were provided for project management, data conversion, custom development and application hosting.

Infinite Campus created an accelerated implementation methodology (AIM) that provides the most efficient and cost effective approach of moving OPS to Infinite Campus with the least amount of impact to its operation, while ensuring the system is well understood and implemented in the most effective way possible to stay on time and on budget.

“The first part of our preparation started early. We set up an Infinite Campus/OPS forum to answer questions and received feedback from several sources within the district on what issues we would need to address in implementation,” says Ray. “We knew our data would have to be reviewed and cleaned before conversion to a centralized database. It was going to be a large task and we needed everyone onboard.”

OPS used the Campus Data Health Check report to validate data after trial conversions. It showed where source system data could potentially be changed as well as conversion rules that would provide for better results in subsequent conversions.

OPS Gets Ready
OPS established a hierarchy of internal training personnel, beginning with a core team of trainers and technical support staff. Next, a cadre of building coaches was trained and, finally, a group of teacher coaches were prepared to work directly with frontline instructional staff. The core team and technical support were available to the building coaches for problem solving. Then each building coach responded to questions from the teacher coaches and the teacher coaches addresses the needs of the classroom teachers. It was a team effort.

Infinite Campus and Computer Information Concepts, Inc. (CIC), the Campus Channel Partner for the district, worked closely with OPS to set clearly stated project management guidelines and direct OPS through the training process.

Ray says, “Infinite Campus and CIC were supportive throughout the implementation process. They made it clear they wanted us to be successful.”

Go Live with Process Consulting
In addition to the typical planning for implementation and training, OPS wanted a thorough analysis of its current procedures and how best to utilize the system. Because of its size, OPS recognized the establishment of best practices was imperative from the first day.

Referring to the importance of Campus Process Consulting as an integral part of preparing for system implementation, Ray said, “We were willing to spend a considerable amount of our time learning how Infinite Campus would impact our district and what changes we must make in our procedures, as well as the in-depth understanding of the functionality.”

The OPS Core Project Team worked closely with the Campus Process Consultant, with measurable success. “I would encourage other districts to use this option from day one,” says Ray. “I am not sure how a district would implement without it.”

Making it Work
Often users are resistant to change and want everything to work like their old system, even though the new system better fills their needs. District personnel needed to learn a new system and give it a chance to demonstrate its benefits. The success of the OPS implementation was good communication, collaboration, and a commitment towards success. OPS displays an Infinite Campus banner in its training room that reads, “It is what it is, it does what it does, it doesn’t do what it doesn’t do.”

“We’re new in using Infinite Campus, but already our end users love it,” says Ray. “Teachers have expressed enthusiasm. The ability to enter assignments and grades from the comfort of home is a real asset. They have secure access to important student information to manage lesson plans and they enjoy increased communication with parents, so there will be no surprises at conference time.”

The 2009-10 school year will be the most crucial time of the implementation process, according to Ray. “All OPS secondary schools, secondary programs and the first five elementary schools began using the full grade book at the start of the school year. The remaining elementary schools are entering final grades and rolling on to full utilization of the grade book in four waves. The training team will be supporting schools currently using Infinite Campus while training schools in the next waves.”

As a result of thorough planning, hard work, and strong leadership, OPS has experienced a successful go live on Infinite Campus. As the district continues to grow, change, and face new challenges, it knows Infinite Campus will be there today and well into the future.