* SchoolFusion hosted content mgmt. system for schools
In the past, I’ve written about my son’s school entering the Internet age in various Network World articles (see I-Gallery: The perfect ASP photogallery and Looking for a proxy for examples).
Our new, dynamic principal has taken this initiative much further over the last year by increasing the student/computer ratio considerably and recently signed up the school to use SchoolFusion.
SchoolFusion is a hosted content management system that provides school administration and communication services for K-12. Provided by Centrifuge Solutions, SchoolFusion is the educational version of its platform designed for similar business-oriented functions.
The SchoolFusion Web site has some good introductory demos but there’s a problem: The site is completely Flash-based which means I can’t direct you any specific content. While the presentation is undeniably slick and effective it does rather overdo the sliding, zoom and expanding of content to the point where a little plain HTML starts sounding really good.
To show you what a running SchoolFusion implementation looks like check out the Web site for my son’s school, St. Paul’s Parish Day School.
Schools can purchase from a number of modules that include sports listings, e-mail, staff-only communications, etc. The general content organization model works well and provides sections for explanatory content such as school orientation, admissions policy, conduct, and so on, as well as multiple calendars, class information, and events listings with schools being able to organize the sections as they wish.
SchoolFusion provides an unlimited number of Web pages; customized design service; WYSIWYG and HTML editing; multiple administrators with different levels of access; file management for downloads; multimedia content; unlimited forms (with a simple form creator) with integrated database filing and sending via e-mail; a sophisticated multi-level calendaring system with automated event notification and RSVP support; Map Quest integration; equipment and facility reservations; and a cafeteria menu.
The SchoolFusion Classroom system allows teachers to manage each class and provides parent access. Using the Web site teachers can e-mail the entire class, or individual members and parents and students can e-mail teachers. There’s even a live chat facility and student quizzes.
The SchoolFusion system manages access to protected content using name and password control and provides the ability to read your child’s class schedules and assignments, check grades, and communicate with staff. Unfortunately, the system doesn’t provide SSL support. While this might not bother the average parent, the rich and the famous, particularly those who get hounded by the paparazzi, might have concerns for the privacy of themselves and their children.
For parents to gain access to the private areas of a school Web site requires that the school authorize each parent account. To associate a child with a parent account requires that the child or the school authorizes the relationship. I’m surprised that this information isn’t set up for the school to pre-define when a parent account is initialized.
A feature that is particularly welcome for parents trying to schedule their lives is the ability to download calendar data in various formats including directly into Outlook (although not under the Firefox browser – see the next Web Applications newsletter for a discussion of the product behind this feature).
Our school is just getting to grips with the SchoolFusion system and so far, the staff and particularly the principal are very happy with it. As one of the first parents to get access to the new Web site, I am really excited. Not only does the SchoolFusion system do everything I ever wanted the old homegrown Web site to do I no longer have to have to maintain it. Excellent.
SchoolFusion is hosted by Level3, one of the top hosting-providers, to ensure maximum service availability and performance – requirements for providing service at the level needed for day-to-day school operations.
SchoolFusion for a moderate sized school costs in the region of $5,000 to $10,000 depending on the number of students, number of staff, and specific functional modules selected.
