The app that Blackbaud refuses to build - School Journey

Brian Hoyt

https://schooljourney.com/

Anyone tried this yet?

Scott Chrysler

@Brian Hoyt - We have been taking it for a test spin for the last couple of months, and so far, I am impressed. Our senior administrative team loves it just for ease of access to the school directory and calendar. I have enjoyed my conversations with Ruben, who is very enthusiastic about developing the app further and receiving input from users. I think the app is friendlier with iPhones than Androids. Keep in mind, the app was conceived of and developed from the point of view of a parent who was frustrated with having to deal with the web interface of Blackbaud on his phone. Accordingly, much of the app, at this point, has to do with making it easier for parents to get the information they are looking for. Feeds and groups seem pretty robust to me, but our school also does not make real good use of these features in Blackbaud. Should we go with the app, this will need to be something we work on developing. The app is also limited by Blackbaud's current APIs. If there is no API for the data, it cannot make its way to the app. I also learned from Ruben that the APIs can limit the type of information shared. For example, our lower school dining room post their menu in a Canva png. Evidently, the API associated with that field does not support png. I am not a tech guy, so that may be a little inaccurate or described incorrectly, but he basically told me the API does not support pictures. The School Journey team is working on developing the teacher side of the app. If faculty can begin taking attendance on the app, they will love it. As an aside, we also use Ruvna, and are exploring the attendance module in that spectacular app. To sum it up, I would say that School Journey has a tremendous amount of promise, but it is still young. I would highly recommend you reach out to Ruben and have a conversation.

Scott