The Regis School of the Sacred Heart is an independent pre-K through 8th grade all boys school in Houston, Texas serving 250 students. They began searching for a new student information system in fall 2019 as the solution to their school’s growing needs. Veracross was able to not only fulfill their requirements, but provide exemplary customer service at the right price point.
THE PROBLEM
The Regis School of the Sacred Heart had been with their previous software provider for 12 years before they decided to search for a new solution. “It was an accumulation of issues over several years with our previous product that made it clear things weren’t working,” says Angela Scott, Website Manager.
The primary concern was system availability. Parents and student users were not consistently able to access their software due to unexpected downtime and technical issues. This led The Regis School of the Sacred Heart to begin the conversation about new solutions.
It made us realize that there were new options on the market [since 12 years prior] that we could afford and could meet the school’s need. We started looking because of downtime and realized we had a lot of things that were important to us in our search. We just didn’t think our previous system could take us through to the next phase of work. We needed lots of things that they weren’t able to provide.
In addition to improving system uptime, The Regis School of the Sacred Heart was looking for a software provider with:
- One central database that didn’t require school to sync data across multiple systems
- Single Sign-On to increase data privacy and security
- Improved learning management system (LMS) to support academics
THE PROCESS
As The Regis School of the Sacred Heart assessed potential new software partners, Veracross stood out for several reasons.
System availability: as the only 100% online SIS for private and independent schools, Veracross is proud to provide 99.9+% uptime for our applications.
Integrated product: while many systems claim to be fully integrated through one data management center, Veracross is the only student information system that provides one database and source of truth for your entire school through our one record for life data architecture. This cohesive solution provides both structural and operational integrations that streamline workflows, improve user experience, and save valuable administrative time.
When someone makes a donation using the online giving form in Veracross, that automatically goes into the development module, a donor record is created, and I can create an acknowledgement with two clicks. To me, that is very integrated. Veracross Tuition Management in particular was an integration that was a gamechanger for us. If I have a parent that wants to register their student for summer camp, they can fill out a form and pay via their VC Pay account. It’s helpful, friendly, and integrated.
Customer service: from the first sales touchpoint through implementation and beyond, Veracross’ customer service was “obvious and extraordinary,” says Scott. “We can’t say enough about the customer service!”
Pricing: Veracross was able to provide all of the things the school needed while accommodating their budget.
THE VERACROSS SOLUTION
The Regis School of the Sacred Heart began their Veracross implementation during the ‘19 – ’20 academic year. Due to the onset of COVID-19 and internal staff changes, there were a string of unusual circumstances that could’ve impacted the process; however, through close alignment with the Veracross implementation team, they were able to move forward and meet expectations.
They worked closely with their Veracross implementation team to set milestones, ask questions, and ensure progress was made on schedule. Scott credits their implementation manager with continuously finding ways to make Veracross work even harder for Regis and solve new challenges as they arose.
The implementation was completed in time for the ‘20 – ‘21 school year. As with any school-wide change, there was some hesitancy from internal stakeholders at first. “Once faculty saw the wins from Veracross, they bought in very quickly,” says Director of Technology Blake Alderfer. “Anything new is going to be stressful for people and understanding that human element is important, but taking the time with your team to plan for success can deescalate that stress and help garner buy-in.”
VERACROSS AND THE REGIS SCHOOL OF THE SACRED HEART TODAY
Several years later, the school relies on Veracross as their single source of truth from Academics to Admissions, Accounting, Athletics, Communications, Development, Facilities, and beyond.
Every department uses [Veracross] every single day. Every constituency from faculty, students, parents, staff, and our board use it to access information.
Parents love it, too. The Regis School of the Sacred Heart has received great feedback from parents about the platform’s ease of use, training videos, Single Sign-On, grade accessibility, and more. The parent and student portals have increased transparency and access to vital school information in ways that just weren’t possible before.
Beyond partnering with Veracross, The Regis School of the Sacred Heart has been recognized for its technology innovation, leadership, and educational excellence. They were recently named an Apple Distinguished School for 2022 – 2025. Veracross is proud to work with such a progressive institution, and we look forward to many more years of collaboration.
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