News

The new TADS Financial Aid Bridge allows PORTAL users to import financial aid data directly from TADS into the PORTAL FINANCIAL AID module. TADS Financial Aid delivers full financial audits, collects and manages all documents, customizes your financial aid formula and more, all delivered with superb support.

PORTAL is the inRESONANCE solution for Admissions and Enrollment, developed over 15 years with more than 150 independent school Admission offices worldwide. inRESONANCE is the leading provider of open, customizable FileMaker® Pro administrative databases, and related web services for education and non profits—including admissions/enrollment, registrar/student information system, and fundraising/development. inRESONANCE can help you plan for appropriate data integration. info@inresonance.com

Contact TADS for references and more information.

Congratulations to Matt Zacks, iR Web Developer, for his successful completion of the FileMaker 10 Developer Certification exam.

According to the FileMaker web site: “FileMaker Certification helps developers gain recognition as a database industry expert."

inRESONANCE is a Platinum level member of the FileMaker Business Alliance, one of a select group of independent companies that provides services, solutions, and resources based on the FileMaker technology. FileMaker defines Platinum level members as: “This select group of companies has demonstrated their expertise and commitment to customers by meeting extensive business requirements and passing a comprehensive exam proving their FileMaker technical expertise. Their experience, reliability and continued investment in the FileMaker platform ensures their ability to handle the requirements of complex projects and demanding technology needs of your business.”

University Preparatory Academy in Seattle, Washington, has been a client of inRESONANCE since 2006. Having experienced huge increases in productivity with PORTAL (Admissions/Enrollment) and KEYSTONE (Registrar/Student Information), University Prep has installed GENERATIONS (Fundraising/Development) in its Development Office.

University Prep is a coeducational day school that enrolls 430 students in grades 6–12. The school thinks strategically about its use of technology, both in the classroom and for administration of key functions. You can read about UPrep’s experience with inRESONANCE in the Resonate Gallery story, “Navigating the Open Technology Road.”

inRESONANCE solutions are open and customizable, based on award-winning FileMaker® Pro. They have been developed over more than a decade with over 250 clients worldwide, to transform productivity in schools.

Learn more about University Preparatory Academy.

Tenacre Country Day School in Wellesley, Massachusetts has boosted the productivity of its Registrar and dramatically increased its services for parents by installing KEYSTONE’s web solution, the Family Access Module (FAM). FAM allows parents to update their contact and emergency information, and view their student’s schedule and attendance online, and it allows the school to post term-end grades and comments electronically to each family through a secure portal.

Tenacre has been a client of inRESONANCE since 2009. The school enrolls 190 day students in grades PK–6. The intimacy of the school is one of its strengths: “Tenacre works hard to create an atmosphere where each child feels secure, appreciated, and special. As a small school, we are able to get to know each child completely and to understand each one’s individual strengths and challenges.” [http://www.tenacrecds.org]

inRESONANCE solutions are open and customizable, based on award-winning FileMaker® Pro. They have been developed over more than a decade with 250+ clients worldwide, to transform productivity in schools.

Learn more about Tenacre Country Day School.

Spence School, New York, New York is an all-girls, independent college preparatory school enrolling 650 girls in grades K–12, with separate campuses for Upper and Lower schools. According to its web site, “Spence has a long-standing reputation for academic excellence and admits approximately one in ten applicants. Students are drawn from the five boroughs of New York City as well as New Jersey, some commuting as long as three hours a day. Spence is committed to high academic standards, integrity, a diverse student body and a purpose larger than oneself.” [http://www.spenceschool.org]

Spence has been a client of inRESONANCE since 2006. The school manages its admissions process with the PORTAL database and related web service, and KEYSTONE brings productivity to the registrar/student information system function. Spence has recently expanded KEYSTONE with the addition of its HEALTH module.

inRESONANCE solutions are open and customizable, based on award-winning FileMaker® Pro. They have been developed over more than a decade with over 250 clients worldwide, to transform productivity in schools.

Learn more about Spence School.

Woodland Presbyterian School in Memphis, Tennessee (voted “Best Private School in Memphis,” Family Choice Awards 2008 and 2009) has installed SANDBOX to manage admissions/enrollment and student information, and also GENERATIONS, to increase productivity in fundraising and development.

Founded in 1956, Woodland Presbyterian today enrolls 5400 students in grades K-8. The school’s motto is “Growing young hearts and minds”; the school web site details the specific goals behind the motto this way:

GROWING

Partnering with parents

Providing a safe and healthy school home

Encouraging age-appropriate social and academic development

YOUNG

Serving three-year-olds through adolescents

Celebrating the opportunities of childhood

Embracing the essential goodness of children

HEARTS

Living daily by Christ’s example

Appreciating differences and seeking commonalities

Respecting oneself and others

MINDS

Teaching skills and concepts of enduring value

Drawing on the many facets of intelligence

Preparing students for success in high school and beyond

inRESONANCE solutions are open and customizable, based on award-winning FileMaker® Pro. They have been developed over more than a decade with over 250 clients worldwide, to transform productivity in schools.

Learn more about Woodland Presbyterian School.

The web site of The Little School in San Francisco—which has joined the inRESONANCE family by installing GENERATIONS for fundraising and development—asks, “What makes a great school? What are the key elements and how do they go together?”

And then we get a peek into how the Little School community processes essential questions: “The staff and community at The Little School have a passion for asking questions like these, and for working together to constantly pursue the answers. The Little School believes that a great school is made from…relationships, community, strong teachers, reflection, an individualized approach, a cycle of curriculum inquiry, and personal growth and development.” Big ideas from a school that enrolls 150 students in Pre-Kindergarten.…

Learn more about this new client at www.littleschool.org.

inRESONANCE solutions are open and customizable, based on award-winning FileMaker® Pro. They have been developed over more than a decade with over 250 clients worldwide, to transform productivity in schools.

Congratulations to new client Nishimachi International School in Tokyo, Japan, which marked its 60th Anniversary in School Year 2009/2010. Founded by Tane Matsukata in 1949 during the period of rebuilding following WWII, Nishimachi International School pioneered a new approach, "one that stressed the human side of learning and had peaceful coexistence with others as an objective." Nishimachi posts a comprehensive timeline of its history on the web site: www.nishimachi.ac.jp/about/milestones.html.

Today, over 450 students, representing 33 countries, attend Nishimachi International School. Two-hundred and fourteen of these children hold dual or multiple citizenships; 256 hold U.S. citizenship; and 266, Japanese. Many students are bilingual. Nishimachi is committed to a diverse student body.

Nishimachi International School in Tokyo has installed both PORTAL (Admissions/Enrollment management) and KEYSTONE (Registrar/Student Information System) by inRESONANCE. inRESONANCE solutions are open and customizable, based on award-winning FileMaker® Pro. They have been developed over more than a decade with over 250 clients worldwide, to transform productivity in schools.

Learn more about Nishimachi International School.

The Chatsworth International School, East Campus, in Singapore, has installed PORTAL, to manage Admissions, and KEYSTONE, to manage Registrar/Student Information System functions, both solutions by inRESONANCE. 

”Chatsworth East is a Primary School of some 250 expatriate students, aged 3–11 years, comprising a wide range of nationalities. Chatsworth East is an IB World School, authorized to teach the Primary Years Programme (PYP). “With an emphasis on the pastoral care of students and a student-centered learning environment, Chatsworth International School addresses the need for a holistic approach to education, putting the well-being of the child at the center of all policies and planning.” [http://chatsworth-east.com/]

inRESONANCE solutions are open and customizable, based on award-winning FileMaker® Pro. They have been developed over more than a decade with over 250 clients worldwide, to transform productivity in schools.

Learn more about Chatsworth International School.

Oak Grove School in Ojai, California, a school founded by J. Krishnamurti, has selected PORTAL by inRESONANCE as its database solution for Admissions. This coeducational boarding and day school enrolls 203 students from Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12.

Oak Grove School aims to foster “A climate for inquiry.” As an example, an article on the school web site explains the challenge of preparing children for an uncertain future: “Our children will face a future that we can hardly imagine, one that will require them to adapt, change course, change jobs, make room for the new and hold multiple perspectives in play. A traditional education that simply requires students to take in information and retain it for testing just won’t do. We are increasingly called upon to recognize ourselves as members of an inter-dependent world community with responsibilities to the whole, not just our small part. As our founder J. Krishnamurti pointed out – we are the world.” [http://www.oakgroveschool.com]

inRESONANCE solutions are open and customizable, based on award-winning FileMaker® Pro. They have been developed over more than a decade with over 250 clients worldwide, to transform productivity in schools.

Visit the Oak Grove School web site to learn more.

San Francisco Day School, a coeducational day school in California, enrolls 400 students in grades K-8. This new client has installed SANDBOX from inRESONANCE to manage admissions and student information. San Francisco Day School emphasizes: academic excellence, diversity and inclusiveness, shared values of compassion, integrity, and responsibility, and active involvement with the city of San Francisco.

The school also works to build strong partnerships with families, as described on the school web site: “SFDS strives to work in close alliance with families to inculcate in students a strong moral purpose. Students are encouraged to make judgments based on ethical principles that honor the values of equity and justice; they learn the importance of kindness, caring, and support toward and for one another. They are encouraged to stand up for their own convictions. They learn to show loyalty to the School and to take responsibility for themselves, their school and the outside community. They learn the essentials of teamwork: cooperation, collaboration, and resolution of conflict. Students are expected to live within the values, guidelines and rules set forth by the School and are guided to learn from their mistakes.” [http://www.sfds.net/About_SFDS/]

inRESONANCE solutions are open and customizable, based on award-winning FileMaker® Pro. They have been developed over more than a decade with over 250 clients worldwide, to transform productivity in schools.

Learn more about San Francisco Day School.

PORTAL 3 End-of-Year Procedures
Join us for a Webinar on July 23

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/187021024

PORTAL's end of year procedures are performed at the end of the admission season. For most schools, this is not until early August or even later. To prepare for these procedures, you may find it helpful to review them with iR's Executive VP of Client Services Susan McAllister. Here is what you can expect:

• ensure that your current season records are processed correctly and are ready for the end of the year
• process re-enrollment records: graduate, withdraw and promote currently enrolled students
• enroll new students
• set the re-enrollment fields
• archive records and set active records for the next season
• set preferences

Susan will walk through the steps using a sample set of data and there will be time for questions submitted by attendees at the end of the webinar.

There is no charge to you for attending this webinar, but registration is required.

You may view the start time for this webinar in your own time zone during the registration process. Just as a handy reference, though, here is a sample list of cities where some of our clients are located and the start time in their time zones:

San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas: 11 a.m.
Sun Valley, Denver: Noon
Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Memphis: 1 p.m.
New York City, Boston: 2 p.m.
London: 7 p.m.
Paris, Zurich, Geneva: 8 p.m.
Tokyo, Seoul: 3 a.m. on Saturday
Singapore: 2 a.m. on Saturday
Honolulu: 8 a.m. on Friday

Should you be unable to attend the seminar live, it will be recorded and a link made available to you to view it (or share it with other colleagues) a few days after the webinar.

Title:     PORTAL End-of-Year Procedures
Date:    Friday, July 23, 2010
Time:    2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT (U.S.)

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements

PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

SANDBOX 3 End of Year Procedures
Join us for a Webinar on July 7

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/175493320

As you prepare to move your records into a new academic year, you may find it helpful to review end-of-year procedures with Brian Hollis. Here’s what you can expect:

SANDBOX, version 3
•    mark students’ returning status
•    withdraw students
•    graduate students
•    promote returning students
•    enroll new admits
•    change preferences
•    archive last years Inquiry records

Brian will walk through the steps using a sample set of data and there will be time for questions submitted by attendees at the end of the webinar.

There is no charge to you for attending this webinar, but registration is required.

You may view the start time for this webinar in your own time zone during the registration process. Just as a handy reference, though, here is a sample list of cities where some of our clients are located and the start time in their time zones:

San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas: 11 a.m.
Sun Valley, Denver: Noon
Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Memphis: 1 p.m.
New York City, Boston: 2 p.m.
London: 7 p.m.
Paris, Zurich, Geneva: 8 p.m.
Tokyo, Seoul: 3 a.m. on Thursday
Singapore: 2 a.m. on Thursday
Honolulu: 8 a.m. on Wednesday

If you are unable to attend the seminar live, it will be recorded and a link made available to you to view it (or share it with other colleagues) a few days after the webinar.

There is no charge for this webinar.

Title:         SANDBOX 3 End of Year Procedures
Date:        Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Time:        2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

Introducing Re-Enrollment Web Services by inRESONANCE
Join us for a Webinar on July 1, presented by Charlie Bailey, Executive VP Product Development of inRESONANCE

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/257840281

See how iR’s NEW Re-enrollment Web Services boosts productivity and builds parent loyalty.

• Online forms!
• Pre-populated online forms
• Shared family data between siblings on online forms
• School ability to create its own online forms
• Searchable, form data shared on campus network
• families update their own information, which instantly carries over to siblings’ forms

Title:         Re-Enrollment Web Services by inRESONANCE
Date:        Thursday, July 1, 2010
Time:        2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT (U.S.)
There is no charge for this webinar

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

A recording of the webinar will be posted on www.inresonance.com for those who cannot join us on July 1.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000
Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer)

Read more about Re-enrollment Web Services

Beacon Academy, founded in July 2004, is the only school of its kind in the nation. You’ll find the complete story on Beacon Academy’s web site: Head of School Cindy Laba, with Director of Strategic Development Marsha Feinberg, established Beacon Academy “to provide an opportunity for a small group of smart, motivated—but under-educated—Boston area eighth graders to spend a ‘jump year’ preparing for admission to and success in competitive independent and public exam high schools.” As of spring 2010, the program’s first alumni are receiving acceptances from selective colleges.

Beacon Academy has installed two open, customizable administrative databases by inRESONANCE: SANDBOX to manage admissions and student information, and GENERATIONS for fundraising and development.

Learn more about Beacon Academy here: http://www.beaconacademy.org

Stanley British Primary School (Stanley BPS) in Denver, Colorado, has installed the inRESONANCE solution GENERATIONS for fundraising and development, to complement its use of SANDBOX for admissions and student information.

The Stanley BPS story is one of evolution grown from excellence. According to the school web site, the Stanley BPS “was originally organized in 1972 as a model classroom housed in a local church. Through a partnership with Metropolitan State College and the federal Model Cities Project, the laboratory classroom was set up to demonstrate the English Primary School approach to education. The BPS program grew tremendously in popularity, and the demand for places in the classroom began to far exceed available space.

"...From a single classroom serving 28 children in 1972, Stanley BPS has evolved into a thriving school serving 400 children with an additional 250 students enrolled in its public school classrooms. The BPS Teacher Preparation Program currently prepares and licenses up to 36 teachers each year. As Stanley BPS continues to expand its horizons and to take on new risks and challenges, there is cause to celebrate its accomplishments and to look forward with optimism to its future.”

Learn more about the Stanley British Primary School here.

Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School in Saratoga, California has installed GENERATIONS, the inRESONANCE solution for fundraising and development. Saint Andrew’s is a coeducational, independent day school enrolling 325 students in grades PreK–8.

Described by the motto, “Contemporary Academics, Traditional Character,” Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School is led by Harry V. McKay, who joined the school as Head in 1998. The school is forging ahead according to the second year of the third strategic plan implemented since McKay took the helm. “Not surprisingly,” McKay writes in his welcome letter on the school web site, “there’s an underlying theme of Sustainability throughout that plan.  In fact, we’re now beginning to equate sustainability into our thinking about all aspects of our operations:  financial, environmental, programmatic, demographic, and global.” You can find the strategic plan here.
 
Here’s a tidbit you don’t see on other sites: “An accomplished pianist, McKay provided accompaniment to Saint Andrew’s Concert Choir at the 2008 Anaheim Heritage Music Festival where they received a First Place Gold Award.”

Learn more about Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School.

There's a lot of good news on the home page of The Alexander Dawson School in Lafayette, Colorado, including the story of how the Dawson community raised more than 200% of its goal to help victims of the Haitian earthquake. Students of this K–12 school contributed $9000 in allowances, piles of pennies, and checks from family and friends, then joined forces with other members of the Denver and Boulder communities to assemble more than 30,000 meals for the Haitian Relief Project. You can see their YouTube video here.

Dawson has received a long list of accolades, including a nod in Business Week magazine as “the parents’ choice for the top private school in Colorado.” On the school web site, Headmaster Brian Johnson is quick to put that designation in context. He writes in From the Headmaster, “As Jim Mitchell has noted, Dawson wants to caution families that rankings of schools—while exceptional techniques for selling magazines—tend to do families and students a disservice. Schools are complex institutions and what matters most is the match between the interests, needs, and goals of a particular child and the mission, programs, resources and goals of a specific school.”

Dawson installed GENERATIONS, the inRESONANCE solution for fundraising and development, in February. We encourage you to learn more about The Alexander Dawson School by visiting http://www.dawsonschool.org.

We got it straight from this new client's press release: “BAY AREA PARENTS CHOOSE ALMADEN COUNTRY SCHOOL ‘BEST OF THE BEST’ FOR BAY AREA PARENT MAGAZINE

“AUGUST 14, 2009 — Almaden Country School was voted a Gold Medal Winner for ‘Best Preschool’ and ‘Best Private Grade School’ by Silicon Valley parents for Bay Area Parent magazine. More than 3,000 Bay Area parents voted for their favorites in 30 different categories and Almaden Country school swept the gold category for preschool and private grade school.

“‘It’s an honor to win both the preschool and grade school awards in Bay Area Parent,’ says Ole Jorgenson, head of school. ‘And, it’s such a wonderful affirmation from our parents. It shows their excitement about our faculty and philosophy. ACS has been the best-kept secret in south San José for years — we're eager to get the word out!’

“Almaden Country School is in its 27th year of discovering the gifts in every child. The highly regarded south San Jose independent school offers programs for students from 4 years of age through 8th grade. Its teaching philosophy is based on the knowledge that each child has unique capabilities and talents.

“ACS, which has more than 400 students, offers Personal Learning Plans for each student; a Character & Competence program for developing strong, ethical leaders; small class sizes; a broad and challenging curriculum; and passionate teachers who share a genuine love of children.”

Almaden Country School has installed GENERATIONS, the inRESONANCE solution for fundraising and development. Soon after the installation, our implementation specialist received this thank you from Director of Advancement Janet Richardson: “We were all delighted by the training you provided.  I can't tell you when I have had such a positive experience with an implementation.  You managed the group like a ring master, keeping us all on task, but flexibly meeting our individual needs.”

Learn more about Almaden Country School

Valley School of Ligonier, in Ligonier, Pennsylvania has contracted for the inRESONANCE solution SANDBOX, which manages Admissions, Enrollment, and Student Information for Lower Schools. The school will also extend the power of SANDBOX through SANDBOX Web Services (SWS) and the Family Access Module (FAM), which provide easy access for families to submit online inquiries and applications, and to search an online Family Directory. Hosted by inRESONANCE and accessible through the school’s own web site, SWS and FAM eliminate direct data entry for information submitted online.

Valley School of Ligonier is a coeducational, independent day school enrolling 200 students in grades K–9.  Valley School was founded in 1946 by Constance Prosser Mellon and General Richard King Mellon. The school web site offers this description: “In an environment that is safe, nurturing, and disciplined, Valley School provides a balanced and strong program of study for a diverse group of children. Our goal is to stimulate in each young person lifelong habits of moral behavior, seeking knowledge and understanding, and doing good works for others.”

Head of School Clair Ward includes in her web site letter to parents this observation: “Valley is an exceptional community of learners, who feel the devotion and support of their teachers each and every day. Our children are confident, well prepared and responsible and they leave us ready to succeed in high school and beyond.”

Learn more about The Valley School of Ligonier.

The Williams School in New London, Connecticut first installed the inRESONANCE KEYSTONE solution (Registrar/Student Information System) in 2003; in 2010, the school migrates to the most recent version. Williams has recently migrated iR’s PORTAL (Admissions/Enrollment) and GENERATIONS (Fundraising/Development) as well.

The Williams School enrolls 293 students in Middle and Upper School. This college preparatory day school’s web site boasts a traditional academic program that includes a Latin requirement. Study skills are “intertwined throughout our curriculum,” and “We provide a learning experience that is appropriate for each stage of a student’s academic and emotional development and our extracurricular opportunities in athletics and the arts promote our students’ physical and intellectual growth.”

Visit the school’s web site to learn more.

7 schools, 18 grades, over 6,000 applicants, which resulted in over 30,000 list numbers, all processed in less than 1 hour!

The Success Charter Network in New York City has added three more schools to its growing network in 2010-11. This means seven different schools will enroll students selected in one grand Admissions Lottery, which took place April 13. inRESONANCE, the leader in open, customizable FileMaker® Pro-based software for schools, created the sophisticated software to run this Lottery, and has been managing it since its inception in 2006. Each year has brought more schools, and more candidates, into the process. Each year, the Lottery makes the evening news because places in these charter schools are so coveted.

Here's a report posted on Gotham Schools: http://gothamschools.org/2010/04/14/harlem-success-academies-lottery-low-key-but-high-tech/

In 2009, when the Lottery handled applications to four schools, Head of School Eva Moskowitz shared, "In August we will be opening three new schools in Harlem.  This is an unprecedented challenge, and inRESONANCE aided us in creating the program for our Admissions Lottery for all four schools.  We had 3600 applications for just 600 spots, and inRESONANCE provided us with the tools to manage this high parent demand."

Explore the Success Charter School Network’s web site to learn more. School culture is focused on college preparation, from Kindergarten forward, as explained this way:

“At Harlem Success Academy, the teachers and staff care deeply about our students and work tirelessly to ensure their success. The hallways are safe, clean, quiet and filled with colorful student work....We all know, it takes a lot to get into college. For Kindergarteners, college may seem like a distant concept and may have less meaning for them than the Way 2 Go! sticker they get for helping a classmate. How do we teach Kindergarteners to set college as a goal for themselves? We begin by referring to their class by the year they will graduate from college. They will forever remember that they are the college graduating class of 2022, 2023, and so on. We also refer to their classrooms by the college that their teacher went to....”

Turn to the web site of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Day School in San Mateo, California for a glimpse into the culture of the school. First, a reader immediately sees this description: “St. Matthew’s Episcopal Day School was founded in 1953 as an independent, co-ed Episcopal Day School. The Day School enrolls 230 students in Preschool through Eighth Grade. We offer an enriched academic program that develops intellectual curiosity, self-confidence, moral courage, and the habits of heart that prepare them to be leaders of positive change, in their high schools and their world.” And just a click away, on the head of School’s welcome page, one finds insight into the heart of the school, through the Headmaster’s blog: Mark’s Idealab, in which the Pictures of the Week tell as much of the story as do McKee’s columns about accreditation, and dreams.

St. Matthew’s Episcopal Day School has been a client of inRESONANCE since 2008. The school runs a full suite of iR solutions: PORTAL (Admissions/Enrollment), KEYSTONE (Registrar/SIS), GENERATIONS (Fundraising/Development), PORTAL Web Services (Online Inquiries),  and KEYSTONE Web Services (Family Access Module for Online Attendance and Grades/Comments). The school has contracted for a customization that will bring enrollment contracts into PORTAL.

To learn more about St. Matthew’s Episcopal Day School, visit www.smeds.info

Re-enrollment Web Services debuted to rave reviews.

Saint Andrew Catholic School in Fort Worth, Texas decided upon a bold agenda: give current families two days in which to re-enroll their students, and then open the doors to prospective students for two additional days of registration. Manage the entire process online, with computer stations set up in the school for the convenience of parents. And be the first adopter of a new solution by inRESONANCE.

Some in the school were skeptical, but Database Manager Mary Gillilan was not worried. She has a solid track record with inRESONANCE (an iR client since 2003), and knew her relationships with current and prospective families were in good hands. Mary was confident that the school’s move to online re-enrollment with iR would be a positive experience.

On the third day after implementing RWS, Mary shared her thoughts with iR.

“This has been wonderful," she said, adding, “Parents had nothing but praises. One long-time supporter of our school, who is now raising his grandchild, came in to see me when he was done. He found me, gave me a  hug and a kiss, and said, ‘This made an amazing first impression.’ PWS and RWS are GREAT!

“What we used to do before RWS was we would 'find' all the returning students and print out the application forms with all the data from KEYSTONE and PORTAL. Then we’d send it home and say make all your changes, sign them, return them—and they would come back and I would check them all manually, one-by-one, and then make the data correct in the database.

“This time, we had at least 25 or 30 calls from parents who said, ‘I must have done something wrong, it was way too easy and way too quick!’

“One mother told me, ‘I did three children in 45 seconds! In the forms for the first child, I had to change my email and phone number. When I got to the second child, and the third child, it was already changed, all I had to do was click the button. Three kids in 45 seconds! I was sure we had missed something.’"

Then Mary repeated it:  “It’s been wonderful for me. You saved me so much work!"

Oh, and while we’re sharing: we heard from Mary again, later in the day. She wanted to tell one more story...this one, a comment made during a break in the action by Academic Technology faculty member Bruce Shields, who was helping parents with the enrollment process. He was reflecting upon iR’s support to help him troubleshoot a technical glitch he had had due to some settings on the school’s computers.

"Where else in the world do you get this kind of technical support?" Bruce said to Mary, "Where they know it's a big event for you and they care that it goes well?"

Mary added this comment: “Thank you and all the folks at iR, this has been a great experience.”

Read more about Mary, and Saint Andrew Catholic School, in our iR client story, “I want my Cadillac back.”

or visit the school website, www.standrewsch.org

Cardigan Mountain School in Canaan, New Hampshire will dramatically increase the productivity of its Admissions office by adding PORTAL Web Services. Families will have the ability to submit inquiries and applications online, and the school will be able to direct its energies away from data entry and toward building relationships with prospective students.

A client of inRESONANCE since 2007, Cardigan Mountain School is a Junior Boarding and Day School for boys in grades six through nine. According to the school web site, more than 200 boys are enrolled in this school, whose central “mission is a formula for educating young men that seeks to find the promise in each individual and leads each boy on a path of purposeful and effective living.”

Learn more about Cardigan Mountain School at www.cardigan.org

Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School (BB&N) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a client of inRESONANCE since 2001, will migrate PORTAL (Admissions/Enrollment), KEYSTONE (Registrar/Student Information System), and ADVOCATE (College Counseling) so as to benefit from all current features, and the school has also contracted for customizations regarding passwords, access for shadow teachers during the summer term, and activities.

“Summer @ BB&N” was established in 1949, and offers programs to students from Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12, regardless of the schools they attend during the school year. Camps specialize in crew, golf, volleyball, field hockey, wrestling, fencing, and even Spanish Immersion.

Learn more at www.bbns.org

Brimmer and May School in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts is a client of both inRESONANCE and WhippleHill. In order to increase productivity, the school has contracted with inRESONANCE to build scripts for data export from the database into the web site. Brimmer and May will also implement Single Sign-On (SSO) to make access easy for their parents.

Brimmer and May School has been a client of inRESONANCE since 2003. The school enrolls over 400 students from Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12. Its motto is “Joy, Growth, Success.” According to its web site, Brimmer and May School “remains committed to educating thoughtful, wise, and ethical citizens for our country and the world community.”

An early member of the Coalition of Essential Schools, Brimmer and May follows an Active Learning approach: [also from the web site] “Brimmer and May seeks to empower students to be involved actively in their own learning process. With teachers serving as thoughtful facilitators, students are asked to lead discussions, to solve problems, and to carry out independent research. We offer students an interdisciplinary approach to learning. Taking multiple perspectives on a particular subject helps students develop a deeper appreciation and understanding of the interconnectedness of ideas.”

Learn about Brimmer and May School at www.brimmer.org

The American Trauma Society (ATS) in Upper Marlboro, Maryland has contracted with inRESONANCE to build a FileMaker® application that will give them direct access to an in-house MySQL database. ATS has been an iR client since 2009.

The American Trauma Society is a leading spokes organization for trauma care and trauma prevention in the United States. ATS hosts the Trauma Survivors Network and the Trauma Information Exchange Program. According to the ATS web site, “For over 30 years, the American Trauma Society has dedicated its time and resources to the formation and operation of trauma systems across the country.... ATS works with its members to insure that they are the best informed and the best prepared to provide unsurpassed medical best care in their communities.”

Learn more about the American Trauma Society at http://www.amtrauma.org.

NEW HOSTED WEB SERVICE MAKES RE-ENROLLMENT AS EASY AS MAKING AN ONLINE PURCHASE, REDUCES LABOR AND PAPER FOR SCHOOLS

Northampton, MA—February 24, 2010—inRESONANCE (iR), a leading developer of technology solutions for schools and non-profit institutions, today launched Re-enrollment Web Services, a hosted web service that fits directly into organizations' websites and synchronizes data seamlessly with PORTAL, iR's open, customizable FileMaker Pro solution for admissions and enrollment management.

Re-enrollment Web Services offers three options that can be used in any combination, including the ability to put re-enrollment forms online, publish contracts online, and allow parents to indicate their intent to re-enroll and pay a deposit. Re-enrollment Web Services gives families the convenience of quickly submitting forms and paying deposits online in a confidential, secure environment, making re-enrollment as easy as making an online purchase. Re-enrollment Web Services displays each item needed, a due date, and the status of each form.

With Re-enrollment Web Services, schools can move their re-enrollment process to the web, eliminating printing and typing contracts, doing away with mailings, reducing response times, and importing data directly into PORTAL. Re-enrollment reports can be updated with the click of a button.

“Re-enrollment is all about forms. The re-enrollment process for schools is one of the most paper-intensive, labor-intensive projects of the year for both parents and the school staff,” said Kevin McAllister, president and CEO of inRESONANCE, Inc. “The new Re-enrollment Web Services module will dramatically change the entire process, allowing parents to input and update their information online. Getting that information back to the school in an efficient, timely matter benefits everyone.”

If there are multiple children associated with a family, each child will appear within the family account as a separate individual with a personalized contract and appropriate forms. The forms can be easily completed and submitted online.  Once completed, the forms are downloaded into a FileMaker Pro database that is accessible to multiple offices simultaneously. From the duty person, advisor, nurse, and business office to the athletic director and deans, every office in the school can have access to the forms database, eliminating the need to distribute paper copies throughout the school.

“inRESONANCE has once again anticipated our needs by releasing a product that promises to significantly cut down on staff time and mailing expenses, while providing our parents with the ease of accessing their child's records they expect,” said Steve Taffee, director of technology for Castilleja School in Palo Alto, CA. “Re-Enrollment Web Services will enable us to take the myriad forms that we currently mail to families, many of which must be individually signed by the parents, and provide secure, password-protected web access to them with electronic signatures. Coupled with Portal Web Services for online inquiries and applications, Re-enrollment Web Services makes all aspects of the enrollment and re-enrollment process better for parents, better for the school, and better for the environment. We’re excited to be among the first adopters of Re-enrollment Web Services.”

Availability
Re-enrollment Web Services is available immediately. For more information about the solution, or to schedule an online demo, contact Ryan McFarlane at ryan@inresonance.com or inRESONANCE at 413.587.0236.

About inRESONANCE, Inc.
inRESONANCE (iR), based in Northampton, MA, provides database solutions, and web services to schools and non-profits. iR focuses on developing a long-term strategic partnership with clients, providing strategic IT consulting in conjunction with solutions and training. The company has deep roots in education, with a combination of more than 40 years of experience in independent schools and non-profits. For more information, go to http://www.inresonance.com.

###
Customer Contact: 

Ryan McFarlane
Director, Strategic Sales
inRESONANCE, Inc.
32 Industrial Drive East, Suite 1
Northampton, MA 01060
ryan@inresonance.com
c(413) 561-5192
www.inresonance.com
 
Media Contact: 

David Templeton 
DBT Communications
dbtcom@gmail.com
203-483-7373
 
©2010 inRESONANCE, Inc. All rights reserved. inRESONANCE is a trademark of inRESONANCE, Inc. FileMaker and FileMaker Pro are trademarks of FileMaker, Inc.

Attention all FileMaker developers for independent schools: Join us for iR DevCamp from April 21–23, 2010: three days of collaborative developing!

We look forward to April 21–23, 2010, when the 19th session of inRESONANCE University (iRU) will bring clients and consultants from around the nation and the world together to increase their productivity with iR solutions and broaden their professional networks.

iRU—three days of comprehensive training—is a professional development conference hosted twice a year (spring and fall) for iR clients and FileMaker developers.

Click here for iRU conference details.

iR clients often send Teams of iR database users to iRU, so all who use the databases can hone their skills and broaden their knowledge on iR’s major solutions: PORTAL for admissions/enrollment, KEYSTONE for registrar/student information systems, GENERATIONS for fundraising/development, and SANDBOX for K-8 admissions/student information. There is also a track for advanced users, “Customizing Your Solution.” Participants choose from a variety of hands-on sessions offering training on individual products, customization, and server support—by skill level.  iRU training is beneficial to users at all levels, from novices to experienced users and system administrators.

Past participants have shared their enthusiasm about iRU:

"iRU is a great class. This time I was in the highest level training. It was helpful to be able to sit down, hands on, with different iR people. I could ask for advice about how to approach certain situations. I think it is beneficial to meet different people who are doing the same work I do in other institutions." — Lisa Smith, Admissions and Financial Aid Assistant, Lakeside School, Seattle, WA

"Our dean of students attended two iRUs. Since then, he has been modifying like crazy. He's leveraging the data in KEYSTONE for many uses that were previously done laboriously, by hand. Here's one example: our seniors do a service learning project independent of the school. This year, for the first time, we managed this project using KEYSTONE. It was very easy." — Michael Langlois, Director of Technology, Brimmer and May School

You can see photos of October 2009 iRU on our facebook page.

All solutions by inRESONANCE are open, customizable FileMaker® Pro.

With a goal of simplifying the user experience for parents who visit a school web site looking for information that (unknown to them) resides within the school’s Student Information System, not in the web site database, inRESONANCE has completed seamless integration projects with all three major web site providers to the independent school market. Today WhippleHill posted a demo on its web site of a single sign-on (SSO) integration with iR.

While an institution has good reasons for separating the school’s core database from the website, parents and students do not need to know these functions are separate. Schools can use inRESONANCE databases and web services in combination with a web site powered by either WhippleHill, finalsite, or Silverpoint and grant SSO access to parents, students or both. This integration allows users instant access to iR’s Family Access Module (FAM) for KEYSTONE, where grades/comments, attendance and graphic schedules can be posted.



"Schools understand the benefit of tight integration between their flexible, customizable FileMaker® Pro-based databases and their iR web applications like online applications and FAM," says Kevin McAllister, President of inRESONANCE.  "But at the same time they want parents to easily access these services from within the school's general website. Our partnerships with the web companies give them this balanced choice."



For more information, e-mail Ryan McFarlane at inRESONANCE: sales@inresonance.com.



To read the news item from WhippleHIll, click here.

To watch WhippleHill’s demo of the SSO, click here.

Welcome New Client, West Side Montessori Center, with three campuses in Toledo and Perrysburg, Ohio. West Side Montessori Center has contracted to install SANDBOX—a pared-down version of PORTAL and KEYSTONE designed for Lower Schools—to manage Admissions and Student Information.

The school enrolls more than 400 students from 13 months old through grade 8. The school has three campuses: McCord Campus (Lower Elementary) and Bancroft Campus (Grades 4 to 8) in Toledo, and PrePrimary classes in Perrysburg. Founded in 1975, West Side Montessori Center is the largest private Montessori school in Ohio. On the school website, you can view videos of the campuses.

The mission statement explains:

To learn more about West Side Montessori School, visit www.wsmctoledo.org

All solutions by inRESONANCE are open, customizable FileMaker® Pro.

The Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts, which has been a client of inRESONANCE since 2001, will increase productivity for the Registrar with the addition of the Family Access Module (FAM) for KEYSTONE. FAM grants parents and students secure online access to term-end grades and comments, graphic schedules, attendance, and a searchable family directory.

Founded in 1926, Brooks enrolls 356 students, 70% of whom Board. On the school web site, Head of School John R. Packard explains his vision:

Learn more about the Brooks School at http://www.brooksschool.org.

All solutions by inRESONANCE are open, customizable FileMaker® Pro.

Newark Academy in Livingston, NJ has contracted to add iR’s Family Access Module (FAM), a hosted web service that extends the power of KEYSTONE by publishing grades and comments, graphic schedules, and attendance to a secure account accessible by individual families. FAM also includes a searchable directory of students and parents.

Newark Academy has been a client of inRESONANCE since 2003. The school was founded in 1774 by an advisor to George Washington. Today, Newark Academy enrolls 565 day students from 81 communities in Grades 6–12. Newark Academy was the first school in New Jersey to grant the International Baccalaureate diploma. Among the 98 students of the Class of 2009 were 29 National Merit Scholars, one Hispanic Scholar, and 26 IB Diploma Candidates.

According to the school web site:

Learn more about Newark Academy at http://www.newarka.edu

All solutions by inRESONANCE are open, customizable FileMaker® Pro.

The Christian Academy in Japan (CAJ), which is located in Tokyo, has contracted to add PORTAL and PORTAL Web Services for its Admissions Office, and KEYSTONE, HEALTH, and the Family Access Module web services for the Registrar. inRESONANCE will also develop a custom Student Billing module for KEYSTONE.

According to the school web site, The Christian Academy in Japan is a K-12 school; it was established in 1950:

The school aims to “equip students to become:

All solutions by inRESONANCE are open, customizable FileMaker® Pro.

Join us for a Webinar on January 14, 2010:  finalsite & inResonance - See the Possibilities

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/590446200
finalsite invites you to take a tour of the productivity tools developed by inRESONANCE (iR) — and see the ways iR and finalsite can be integrated for your benefit.

For more than a decade inRESONANCE (iR) has been the leading provider of open, customizable administrative database solutions for the independent school market. From Admission to Registrar to Development, iR solutions bring unparalleled power, flexibility and ease of use. iR combines powerful, flexible FileMaker® Pro-based campus databases with hosted web technologies to bring balance and choice to our clients.

iR believes that managing integrated data across a campus is not about buying plug-in widgets, but about a long-term partnership and a commitment to self-examination, training, adaptation and innovation. More than 250 schools across the country and around the world depend on iR for advice, support, customizations and training year after year. The diverse and knowledgeable iR team is committed to your success and helping your school take control of your own data.

In this session, hosted by inRESONANCE, finalsite’s Director of Business Development Rob DiMartino will introduce Ryan McFarlane, Director of Sales and Market Development for iR. Ryan will discuss current iR-finalsite collaboration leading to greater cohesion between the two companies’ offerings. The Webinar will also provide helpful tips and context for considering this kind of synchronization.

Title:         finalsite & inRESONANCE: See the Possibilities
Date:        Thursday, January 14, 2010
Time:        2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

The iR Developer Community sprinted ahead on three open source projects during iR DevCamp in Northampton, MA October 5–7, 2009. FileMaker developers from independent schools collaborated with inRESONANCE developers on
Teacher data entry of grades and comments on the web
Teacher data entry of attendance on a mobile device
Student interface to KEYSTONE

These projects and more can be accessed through the iR Developer Community.

“Our goal was to identify projects that would be of interest to a range of schools, and which we could move to a proof-of-concept stage within our three-day conference,” explained Charlie Bailey, leader of the conference and CTO/EVP Product Development for inRESONANCE. “The projects were selected by the group on the first day. We had one group that wanted to explore writing code for mobile devices, another that challenged itself to consider web-based interfaces, and the third chose to develop a user interface from a student perspective. The projects went through stages of progress and departure; we assessed our choices as we worked. Each of us benefitted from the opportunity to collaborate.”

Tessy Smith, of Noble and Greenough School, wrote afterward of the value of iR DevCamp: “irDevCamp gave me the opportunity to spend valuable time with other Filemaker developers. I had so much fun and everyone was so willing to share the things they had done. It was extremely useful to me as I was able to learn everything necessary to be able to go back to school and within a week develop what I need to allow teachers to take attendance in their classrooms on an iPod touch. There were also many references to things people are using that I am hoping to look into and use in our version of PORTAL.  I also learned about a number of things that iR is
working on that we may be able to purchase and integrate into our solutions.”

The October meeting was the second conference of the iR Developer Community, which is coming together as a service to the industry. A larger group of developers is connected virtually; those who can come together once a year for face-to-face discussions. The Developer Community is open to all who may be interested in helping independent schools and non-profits meet their missions, while building useful connections.

The growing list of projects under development can be found in the Developer Community site. Anyone who wishes to join the iR Developer Community is encouraged to email Charlie Bailey at iR or go directly to the iR Developer Community website.

inRESONANCE celebrates 10th anniversary

October 1, 2009 marks the 10th Anniversary for inRESONANCE. We take pause to look at our current status, to consider our journey, and to gaze into the future.

Current Status
This last 18 months has been a challenging economic period by any measure. During that time, nevertheless, iR has added 35 new client organizations, 4 employees, and completed the two best years in the company's financial history. We are growing our client base significantly in Canada, Asia, San Francisco, Ohio and Virginia, among many other areas. In addition to our independent school growth, we have added important new clients in related areas such as student scholarship programs like PrepForPrep and Steppingstone. We have maintained our better than 95% historical customer retention rate. We have assembled an outstanding Advisory Board that meets regularly, and established strategic partnerships with the three major web companies in the market.

In the last year, we launched the FAMILY ACCESS MODULE web services for KEYSTONE, completed a data bridge or Single Sign-on (SSO) with finalsite, Silverpoint, and WhippleHill, and added another new productivity tool in the form of an annual data/procedures checkup for PORTAL clients. We also inaugurated the iR Developer Community, where FileMaker developers working in schools collaborate to create free, open source projects to benefit independent schools. We launched iRIS, a free web listing service for companies and organizations that work in the independent school market.

The Journey
iR began in 1999 as a partnership, the logical growth to my seven-year consulting work with more than 40 independent school clients. Many of you have been with us for much of our 10 year iR life, but still others have used our services for close to 17 years. Charlie Bailey, the current VP of Product Development,  came on board in December, 1999. Susan McAllister, the current VP of Client Services, joined in January of 2001. We grew to a fairly stable size of 10 employees and remained there through 2006.

A significant faction of the company departed in early 2007. For six months during this transition, we struggled to both support our client base and bring on new organizations. Since that time, we have recruited several excellent employees, which now total 20. This strong growth has allowed us to reorganize and we now have four separate teams:  development, implementation and support, finance/billing, and sales. We have significantly stronger and deeper teams than ever in our history and our success in these difficult times is a testament to that strength.

The men and women of iR form an impressive tapestry of skills and personalities. Our clients also represent a tremendous diversity of talent, expertise, and creativity. We especially enjoy working together at our inRESONANCE University events.

The Future
We understand that there is increased demand to provide more web services for your constituents. That said, we do not believe that the solution is to move all data and functionality to hosted web services. There is considerable downside to that choice. The general lack of flexibility and customizability means that unique independent schools and non-profit organizations must compromise their pedagogical principles to accommodate those databases.

We are committed to providing open, customizable, FileMaker Pro-based data solutions for your campus, and extending those with powerful, well-integrated web services. Our popular online application and inquiry service, PWS, is a good example of this, as is FAM, the FAMILY ACCESS MODULE, which lets families see grades, attendance and schedules online. We will soon announce the release of ONLINE REENROLLMENT services as well as an ONLINE DONATIONS module. In the area of finance, we will release a STUDENT BILLING module as well as a DATA-CONNECTOR for QuickBooks and GENERATIONS.

We remain in close association with FileMaker, Inc. as Platinum Partners. We remain confident that this software platform is healthy and improving, and that it is a solid investment for the future.

In a close knit, vertical market like ours, success depends greatly on the trust and opinions of you, our clients. We thank you all for your conversations and recommendations to your colleagues on listservs, at conferences and on the phone. We also appreciate your frank and direct communication with us when you feel that we are NOT providing you with the kind of products and services that you deserve.

We believe that our success comes from a very simple equation: provide powerful tools combined with expert advice in a long-term partnership. Technologies change, personnel change, but your need to think through your challenges with an expert partner is a constant.

We enjoy telling your stories in our Resonate Gallery on our web site and hope that more of you will contact Cathy Katz to participate. We will be launching our new inRESONANCE Facebook page soon where you will be able to interact with all the other people in the iR Family. It will not replace our support network. Facebook is for community building. You will still have the same direct connection to our support team for your individual support needs.

Thank you for being with us as we mark this exciting milestone. We value our relationship with you and hope for a long and mutually beneficial partnership in the years to come.

Best,
Kevin

Reply to: Kevin McAllister