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Synergy program will allow students, teachers, parents to stay in touch with online program

By Wesley LeBlanc wesley@opcfla.com
Posted 2/24/21

FLEMING ISLAND – The school district is looking at a new program called Synergy that could change the way teachers interact with parents.

Synergy is an education platform that synthesizes all of …

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Synergy program will allow students, teachers, parents to stay in touch with online program


Posted

FLEMING ISLAND – The school district is looking at a new program called Synergy that could change the way teachers interact with parents.

Synergy is an education platform that synthesizes all of the district’s current functions into one easy-to-use place. Parents, students and teachers can view grades and classroom performance in Focus and then parents can view their child’s behavior in a separate program called Class Dojo. Other programs are used for other functions and it’s a large web of software functioning individually.

“One thing we’re really excited about is it takes multiple platforms and condenses them into one platform,” Clay County School District supervisor of technology services Sabrina Thomas said to the school board during their Tuesday, Feb. 23, agenda workshop. “This is an all-integrated application just like you’d see with anything modern and professional.”

The program was supposed to launch earlier in the district but like with everything else, COVID-19 delayed that. One feature especially neat about Synergy is that it allows teachers to send messages and pictures to students. If a student is doing well in class, a teacher can let the parent know for an immediate feedback reaction. The same goes for discipline.

“It’s a very good classroom management tool,” Thomas said.

There’s also points that can be given to students for good behavior, which is another facet of the feedback loop that makes Synergy better than what the district currently employs.

“Right now, parents have Focus to see the grades, class dojo to see behavior and so on,” Thomas said. “We’re condensing that into one app so parents can see behavior, grades...and everything else...in one place.”

Training for Synergy began in January for school administrators, school counselors and secretaries. District staff will begin to receive email flyers with information about the Synergy rollout plan in May and the rollover will begin in June with an official planned launch on July 1. Teachers and instructional staff will receive training in July and August, which is the same time a media campaign will launch to inform parents of how it works. Synergy will be integrated into the district at that point and will serve as the new home for grades, behavior records and more.

Staff that have already used the program are “very pleased” with the program and excited for the full rollout.

In other business, the school board is planning to hold a workshop next month to review its code of conduct for students, specifically the code’s technology section. School board Ashley Gilhousen said a lot of disciplinary action stems from cell phone usage. She proposed that the board create new rules for technology based on grade levels – elementary, junior high and high school. She said the district needs to figure out a way to stop students from abusing the privilege of technology in school while also encouraging the use of cell phones and other technologies because of how integral and essential it is in modern learning.