Need an attendance solution for check-in/check-out and skipping classes

Sondra Berry

We have all of Blackbaud's K-12 products, (Core, Enrollment, Academics, etc.), and our high school teachers take attendance each period (there are 8 periods a day). However, to handle check-ins and check-outs, we use an Excel spreadsheet. The problem is that if a student is in their A-period class, skips B Period, and returns for C Period (but never checked out), we don't know they left during B Period without checking attendance manually each period. Students are also supposed to tell security they are leaving campus, but security has no way to check the spreadsheet to make sure they checked out and aren’t skipping class.

I asked support if there is a way to run an attendance report that will show a student marked present for one class but absent in another. We want a way in Blackbaud to better automate the check-in and check-out process so that when someone leaves, everyone who has access to attendance in Blackbaud can see they have left (such as security). Support suggested we run the academics > attendance > student attendance list to review students’ entries or the class attendance list. However, they indicated the attendance system does not handle check-in and out and suggested a third party.

Is there a 3rd party solution for attendance that handles the check-in and check-out process and integrates with Blackbaud attendance? How do you use Blackbaud for check-in/outs? How do you determine if students are skipping classes?

Michelle Hanning

@Sondra Berry We use Orah.com to supplement our Blackbaud attendance. As a boarding and day school, Orah allows us to track students' planned and unplanned absences and to know where are students are in real time.

Coco Parham

@Sondra Berry we use Orah to track students as well.

Sondra Berry

@Michelle Hanning @Coco Parham does Orah.com integrate with Blackbaud or is it a standalone product?

Michelle Hanning

@Sondra Berry @Coco Parham
Orah and Blackbaud can talk to each other. Rolls and Passes can be set up to push and pull between Orah and Blackbaud. We have Orah set up to synch some passes and rolls to Oncampus attendance. And we have OnCampus set up to sync attendance info back to Orah for reporting and dashboards. Orah has also recently announced another feature similar to passes, called excuses, that would help track attendance.

Ravendra Persaud

@Sondra Berry

We use Ruvna for attendance at my school and it is able to push data into Blackbaud based on time and student obligation.

Sondra Berry

@Ravendra Persaud do you also use Ruvna for communication? I looked on their website and saw they offer notifications. We have been looking for a system that can push out emergency text messages and it might be best to find a product that can do both attendance and emergency notifications.

Ravendra Persaud

@Sondra Berry

We just started using the service this school year and I’ve been happy with the attendance integration. we also have the announcements (notifications) module but haven’t used it yet. However, since it synchs the contact data from Blackbaud I’d imagine that will be a plus.

Brian Gray

@Sondra Berry - We use Ruvna's Announcements and Accountability services. (We used their Health service for COVID symptom reporting when we were running hybrid classes.) We have not used the Attendance reporting module.

The connection between your Blackbaud data and Ruvna takes just a few minutes to set up. It syncs student, parent, and employee contact data automatically overnight. The sync can be triggered manually by you at any time.

• Announcements is the 1-way messaging (via text, phone calls, and emails). You can have pre-written templates or create a new message on the fly. You can send messages to everyone or to targeted groups.
• Accountability is used during an on-campus crisis/drill. Ruvna sends an initial alert with instructions, and then employees can report students and other employees as safe or in need of assistance. If you decide to allow it, students can report themselves safe or in need of assistance also. School administrators can see overall stats, lists of those not yet accounted for, and lists of those in need of assistance.
  • We do use the 1-way attendance data sync from Blackbaud to Accountability, so that during a crisis we know which students are off campus. Those students are marked as “accounted for” by default.

Sondra Berry

@Brian Gray thank you for the information. It was very helpful. It sounds as though it could be a solution for our emergency communication. I think I will reach out for pricing and a demo on the attendance. Again, I appreciate your help.

Art Bryman

@Sondra Berry we also use Ruvna for emergency notifications/communications. Ruvna's distinguishing feature that SchoolPass doesn't have is the ability to check people in. When an alert goes out, as soon as the recipient opens the Ruvna app, they are checked in. Teacher see their rosters, and can check their students in. We don't use the Attendance piece, but curious as to how it works. Ruvna announced a Visitor System recently, making it a one-stop shop for security, but it's very early stages.