Sycamore Education

Sycamore Education is a great value.  Nearly any school, regardless of size, can afford to benefit from the over 200 integrated features that Sycamore delivers.  What many administrators don't realize is that Sycamore can quite easily be a cost neutral solution for schools. Looking at the big picture, many of our clients actually end up saving money by investing in Sycamore Education.  

How is that possible?   

1) No Need for Servers or Special Equipment
This is a big one.  Sycamore Education makes it possible for school to completely eliminate servers and specialized equipment.  We partner with RackSpace to provide unparallled safety and security, and we also automatically back up your data every single day. (In fact, we've never lost a single byte of data in 12 years.)  

2)  Uptime
How much time has your school wasted on servers that need to be rebooted, and software that has to be updated?  Go ahead...think that over.  I'll wait.  Sycamore offers 99.5% uptime, and upgrades are always done automatically and at no additional charge.  How much is that worth to your school? 

3)  Reduction of Printing, Paper and Mail Expenses
Sycamore can help your school Go Green.  Within Sycamore Education, parents and students can easily access report cards, newsletters, school news, calendars, sport schedules, etc. No more sending documents home with kids, and hoping they get delivered.  Parents can even check on lunch or tuition balances and make payments, too.  No need to send out statements via snail mail.  And students can even turn in their assignments via Sycamore's Dropbox without ever having to print it out.  Many schools save enough money on paper and postage to cover the entire cost of the Sycamore system.  

4) Happy, Informed, and Connected Parents
Sycamore Education makes it so much easier for parents to stay connected and informed.  So, how does a happy, informed and connected parent affect a school's income?  

First some anecdotal information.  My wife and I have 5 children, and they attend a private school that uses our system.  She logs into the system nearly every day to check on grades, assignments, tests, lunch, etc.  And if she has a question for a teacher, she doesn't have to call the school, leave a message, and then wait for a reply.  She just sends the teacher a quick note using Sycamore's exclusive Pass-a-Note feature.  If one of our kids fails to turn in an assignment, we know about it right away.  If someone did poorly on a test (that never happens), we don't have to wait for report cards to find out about it.  There's no doubt that our kids' grades have improved because we, as parents, know what's going on at the school. 

That same situation is happening with thousands of families using Sycamore Education.  Happy, informed parents are much more likely to keep their kids enrolled in your school, and they are going to feel better about paying that tuition bill when it comes due every month. And these same happy parents are going to tell other parents about the how organized and efficient your school is, which will likely lead to inreased enrollment.    

5) Sponsor Ads
This one's not difficult to understand.  Sycamore allows schools to to display sponsor ads within the system.  Schools can have any number of ads scrolling within the system (click here for my post on this feature), and this is an easy way for schools to generate extra income. 

You've probably heard me say this before, but Sycamore Education is so much more than just a student information system.  The system has been evolving for more the 12 years and there's an unbelievable amount of functionality that goes beyond an SIS.  We are constantly adding new features and enhancements in response to feedback from administrators, teachers, parents, and students,   A few years ago, we had a principal send us an email suggesting that a sponsor ad on the homepage would be a good idea.  We agreed, and a few days later our developers added it to the system.  ( By the way that's one of the myriad benefits of using a school administration system that is 100% web-based: new features and enhancements can instantly be added to the system with no participation necessary from users).  

Personally, I have five kids -  all of whom attend a private school - and I can tell you from experience that schools are constantly looking for ways to raise money.  I've lost count of how many cases of chocolate bars I've purchased over the years.  

Check out this screen shot:  



 If this were a live site, the ads would be constantly scrolling, and there is no limit to the number of ads showing at any given time.  The ads appear all the time when parents and students login to the system.  The ads also appear to teachers, staff and administrators, but not during school hours.  

The sponsor ad feature is an easy way for schools to generate a little extra income.  We have many clients who more than pay for the cost of using Sycamore by simply selling one or two ads and running them throughout the school year.  Car dealerships and banks are often more than happy to get a little exposure.