Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD) Case Study

District Facts

Location: Houston, TX
PreK-12 Enrollment: 35,136
Staff: 4,000+
Certified: 2,200+
Administrators: 170+
Facilities/Buildings: 47

Demographics: 59% of students in the district reported being Hispanic, 27% White, and 7% Asian. 37 % reported being English Language Learners (ELL). 59% of students reported being economically disadvantaged.

Streamlined School Choice Boosts Parent Happiness.

The Challenge

SBISD was in search of a more streamlined and optimized process for managing their school choice program application process and lotteries. Their taxing, manual, paper-based process had become too cumbersome, and after trying a few different automated systems, they were still unsatisfied. As Mandelé Davis, the School Choice Project Manager at SBISD, explains, “We needed a system that addressed the schools’ requirements and aligned with our district processes. We also wanted a multilingual application system available on mobile devices to increase the ease of use and accessibility for more parents.”

The Results (Data Points):

Specialized Program Applications Managed

Powerful, real-time data visualization tools allowed monitoring and adjustment of marketing and family support initiatives to enable staff to do more well-informed planning.
Customized the system to support specific district needs including: complex lotteries, shared application and school ranking functionality, mobile accessibility, and dual-language features.
Reduction in the frequency of phone calls from parents with questions or frustrations navigating the system.
Enabled staff to focus more time and energy on family support and guidance instead of being burdened by time consuming data processing.

The Solution

Identify areas of enrollment deficiencies and research online platforms to fit district needs.
Conduct outreach to families about the new system to open lines of communication and ease entry into the process.
Involve all stakeholders and provide training to increase buy-in and participation.
Utilize real-time data to make informed student enrollment decisions and strengthen communication lines with families and staff.