“Before RaaWee, there was not an easy system with access to multiple data points. RaaWee has really streamlined the entire attendance intervention process.”
James Iorio, Attendance Administrator, Student Services, Garland Independent School District, TX
PROFILE | Garland ISD, TX
Total students
55,848
Total schools
71
Student Information System
Skyward
Accelerating Campus Excellence. Garland ISD outfits their teams in support of their superintendent Dr. Ricardo Lopez’s vision of access, equity, and opportunity for all students in his district. Widely recognized for his proven success in closing achievement gaps for all learners, he’s modeled turnaround performance and provided added support for students most in need.
Leading with a vision to support students most in need, Garland ISD Superintendent Dr. Ricardo López presides over the 2nd-largest school district in Dallas County, 15th-largest in Texas and 77th largest in America. Included among his 7,185 staff is Attendance Administrator James Iorio, a team member of the Student Services Department.
“Before RaaWee, there was not an easy system with access to multiple data points,” says Iorio. “We love the intervention documentation that is located in the Student File area. This year, we added the LOC [Loss of Credit] action board to our processes and procedures,” Iorio says. “RaaWee has really streamlined the entire attendance intervention process and the data is easy to access.”
To better align with top leadership as well as state and local laws, the department was looking to improve their methods and processes. Specifically, “We were trying to better organize all campus levels to ensure that processes/procedures were in line with state and local truancy intervention expectations,” says Iorio.
School management software has its uses, but the benefits of a specialized attendance system were invaluable. “Before RaaWee, we used Skyward [a K-12 Student Information System] to implement truancy interventions. It was difficult to ensure campus compliance with interventions before RaaWee.”
Keys to Success
What ‘keys’ to success did using RaaWee reveal to administrators at Garland ISD? “Providing on-going professional development throughout the year—and having a good system to train new hires,” says Iorio.
“Since RaaWee is a highly organized program, it informs all campus stakeholders of specific student/campus interventions,” Iorio adds.
Does Iorio have any words of wisdom for others in his shoes, to overcome barriers to implementing a great new system? “My advice would be that any new program is a ‘process’. Develop a collaborative system of training and support,” he says. And how about any final words of encouragement or inspiration regarding working with the team at RaaWee? “Saleem [Qazi, CEO of RaaWee] and Saad [Ali Shaikh, Senior Developer] are an integral part of our district’s success with RaaWee. They are supportive and collaborative when issues arise and troubleshooting is needed.”
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