“District on the Move” Adds Geovisual Analytics Technology for Strategic Planning

EAGAN, Minn. - June 23, 2015 - PRLog -- Leading the way in California, Cotati Rohnert Park Unified School District chooses GuideK12

Eagan, MN June 23, 2015 –Times are changing at Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District (CRPUSD) in Sonoma County California. Just a few years ago the district was seeing a decline in their enrollment, however today administrators are reopening buildings and breaking ground on new facilities due to an increase in community development and population growth.  To reduce many of the challenges that accompany student population growth, the Administration at CRPUSD have chosen an innovative, web-based analytics solution from GuideK12 (http://www.guidek12.com).

With the current and projected growth, the district realized a need for a comprehensive solution that provided much needed data and insights to make these changes as smooth as possible. CRPUSD has selected GuideK12; geovisual analytics tool (http://www.guidek12.com) to inform strategic planning with greater insight, speed and transparency.  GuideK12 is a web-based, decision support software that allows administrators to visualize student data on an interactive map.

Cotati-Rohnert Park Superintendent Dr. Robert Haley says “As a Superintendent, relating to the various stakeholders within our district and community is essential, from our educators and administrators to the school board and families. Becoming also critically important is for Superintendents to quickly understand and act on data affecting all facets of a district.  I see data as a critical element to making informed decisions that allows me to communicate effectively with each of these stakeholders.  I rely on our people to make great decisions, but it is great to utilize technology that improves the ability to make even more informed decisions.”

With the implementation of GuideK12, CRPUSD will look to this data visualization tool for analyzing

  *Student needs, appropriate special program placement & open     enrollment


  *With more than 40 school districts in Sonoma County as well as charters, it is    important that CRPUSD take special care in deciding what programs to offer at    what schools to maintain and increase its student-capture rate.  It is    increasingly important for administrators to visualize where kids are coming    from and where they choose to attend school to accurately assess the district’s    current offerings.

  *Capacity and Boundaries

  *Over the next year, the district will see roughly 275 apartment units and more    than 2,000 single-family homes built in their district, in response to this,    CRPUSD will be reopening closed schools and building new ones. GuideK12    will be an essential element in the process to analyze school capacity as well    as to anticipate and visualize potential boundary changes.

  *Funding

  *California schools have a few options for raising additional dollars. CRPUSD       will be asking voters to renew and extend a current parcel tax in November    2015, utilizing GuideK12, the district will have the ability to visualize voter data    and cross tabulate that with data from a political consultant.  This will allow the    district to better understand their voters and more clearly communicate the    benefits to passing this parcel tax.

“Open enrollment presents unique challenges to school districts. It is important to be able to visualize where students are coming from and where they are choosing to go. Understanding enrollment patterns and trends was the first thing about GuideK12 that appealed to us,” said Haley.  He continued “We do extensive marketing outside of the district and a tool like this helps us focus our energy and dollars.”

Chuck Amos, GuideK12 CEO said, “We are thrilled to be working with Dr. Haley and his team from Cotati-Rohnert Park USD.  They have clearly embraced the power of data visualization and “what if” scenario planning and are off to a fast start.  We are also very excited they will be providing to their community GuideK12’s SchoolSearch tool so parents can see their assigned schools, but also all the magnet offerings and other programs as well.”

“We are proud to be blazing a trail in CA with geo-visual analytics.  We have always had the capacity to create spreadsheets of data, but now to be able to quickly query and visualize data to project it on a screen for everyone in a group meeting to discuss is very powerful and allows for better discussions and understanding.  We know we have just begun to scratch the surface with GuideK12,” said Haley.

To learn more about GuideK12™ and Geovisual analytics for education, go to www.GuideK12.com or to schedule a demonstration contact Julie@Guidek12.com

About GuideK12™:

Based in MN, GuideK12LLC is a geovisual analytics software company. By visualizing information spatially, decisions on everything from boundary analysis, to policy changes to resource planning and forecasting enrollments can be faster and more effective. GuideK12™ has been the proud recipient of many industry leading awards: Selected as a 2013 finalist for SIIA’s education CODiE awards for Best K-12 Enterprise solution; NSBA Innovative Showcase Company ( 1 of 6); EdTech Digest  “Cool Tool”

Winner for Best District Data Solution; and one of the Top Products of 2012 by DA Magazine. GuideK12™ serves large metro, suburban and rural school districts throughout the United Sates. It is owned by private investors and a private investment group based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  For more about GuideK12™, please visit: www.guidek12.com