Armbrae Academy is a Preschool through Grade 12 institution located in Halifax, Nova Scotia with 350 students. They adopted the Veracross student information system in early 2024. 

The Challenge 

As a smaller school, Armbrae Academy relied on a custom-built student information system for many years. During the 2019-2020 school year, they adopted a FileMaker Pro-based system as their data management needs began to outgrow their homebuilt system’s capabilities. 

While it had many features the school wanted, faculty and staff were resistant to the new system, expressing frustration over its slow speed and awkward interface. As a result, the adoption rate was low.  

“We never really got full buy-in,” says Alex Rhinelander, IT Director. “Even modules that were included in the previous system, people were reluctant to use because it was less responsive. They were going out and adopting new software packages that were additional costs… it was discouraging.”  

In 2023, Armbrae Academy started the hunt for a replacement system that would better satisfy their community and help improve efficiency. Their main criterion for a new SIS was one source of information. “We observed that people were going to different places for different things,” says Ally Read, Deputy Head of School. “And sometimes those systems didn’t talk to each other well. There would be gaps or overlap or just mistakes… moving as much as possible to one system was a big push.” 

The Process 

Rhinelander led the search for a new SIS. Through a combination of research and online forums with fellow technology directors, he narrowed his search to a few vendors in both the high-end and middle-grade price points.  

After speaking with each vendor, Rhinelander shared his findings with the school’s executive team. He created a comparison matrix to compare different features across the systems and assess each SIS’s strengths and weaknesses. The matrix was also helpful for identifying which systems could be eliminated by the new system and what the cost savings might be — an important consideration for a small school.  

Ultimately, Armbrae Academy chose Veracross as their new SIS. They were impressed by the one-person, one-record database and excited at the prospect of having one source of information for their community. Additional factors like system speed, ease-of-use, functionality, and user satisfaction made Veracross the top contender in their SIS search. 

Another important consideration was Veracross’s sole focus on K-12 private and independent schools. Like many schools, Armbrae Academy wanted a software partner that understood their unique needs.  

“We’re a small independent school and some of the high-end solutions out there have broader customer bases than Veracross that are less focused on the needs of a small independent school,” says Rhinelander. “The match between a company that really caters to the independent school world is going to be tighter than one that also has other major constituencies they’re trying to keep happy.” 

The Impact 

Armbrae Academy began implementing Veracross in early 2024 and launched the SIS ahead of the 2024-25 school year. With one data source powering their entire school, Armbrae Academy has been able to improve organization, strengthen communication, and streamline their access to information. Here’s how.  

Academics 

Teachers use Veracross to take attendance, manage class enrollments, and monitor students’ locations throughout the day. Before Veracross, there was often confusion if a student went home sick or said they had an early dismissal for an away game. “It’s helped reduce some of the potential misinformation,” says Read. “It’s easier to know what’s going on when everything is posted in the same place… teachers can block out some noise.”  

Communications 

The school relies on Veracross’s integrated communication tools to share information with their community. “The communication side is really superb; just the ease of contacting different slices of your constituency with the email groups,” says Rhinelander. “I see a lot of people using it already without a whole lot of training, just natively adopting it and taking advantage of it.” 

Portals 

They also use portals to share information with students, parents, and faculty. Teachers and parents, in particular, are thrilled that they have a one-stop shop for relevant information like school calendars and student grades.  

“We didn’t have any parent visibility into our SIS at all in our previous systems,” says Rhinelander. “We rolled out our Parent Portal at the very beginning of the year and have had lots of great feedback from parents who are so happy to have that visibility into the life of their students in the school.” 

Athletics 

Armbrae Academy’s Athletic Director was an early adopter of Veracross. He sends a weekly email to keep the community informed about upcoming games and practices. He also posts the athletic events in the school’s portals for easy access to the most updated schedule.  

Veracross and Armbrae Academy Today 

As Armbrae Academy continues to expand their use of the Veracross platform, they are excited to unlock new levels of connectedness and productivity through integrations and flexible user roles.  

“As a small school, people wear lots of different hats,” says Rhinelander. “Veracross is very flexible in how you can allocate different roles to different people. You can customize what a person’s job is and give them the tools to do the jobs even if they’re doing two separate jobs.”  

To learn more about Veracross, request a demo to see our one-person, one-record database in action.