While its cultural legacy is well-known, Glenbrook High School District in recent years faced challenges behind the scenes. Outdated, paper-heavy workflows for administrative tasks slowed operations and created unnecessary friction.
That changed when Glenbrook turned to Soliant Consulting, a Claris Platinum Partner, to modernize the many administrative tasks. What started as a single development project soon evolved into long-term collaboration—driving innovation in one custom application after another.
Custom app innovation with financial tracking.
One of the first custom solutions focused on tracking the school district’s financial investments. Soliant used Claris FileMaker to build a custom app that let designated staff enter and edit investment data, import new investments directly from bank-generated CSV files or Excel spreadsheets, and generate reports.
All the headaches from the old system—like attaching bank records and archiving old investments—were automated in the new application. This custom app powered intuitive, robust auditing and reporting that showed earned investment interest for the current fiscal and upcoming fiscal years, fulfilling requirements for annual audits.
In addition, a new web portal gave the admin team an easy way to track and report on current investments, plus showing new investments, maturity reports, and closed investments.
Custom app streamlines student event registrations.
Next, the development team turned to streamlining high school events like prom. Using FileMaker to create a custom app that linked student IDs to purchased tickets, students can easily scan in and out of events through kiosks. Those scans trigger real-time alerts for school staff, improving visibility and security throughout the event.
The impact went beyond each event. The custom app also allows the admin team to understand and improve traffic flow and react quickly in emergencies.
Student tracking apps improve safety and efficiency.
Building on the success of the registration app, the development team rolled out similar tracking tools for day-to-day school operations, using FileMaker to keep tabs on:
- Facility sign-ins and outs for real-time student location.
- Bus boarding verification for accurate headcounts.
- Tardy logs with automated alerts and trend tracking.
With these improved tracking capabilities, administrative staff can access logs to see how many—and which—students remain on campus, another critical component of headcounts during potential emergencies.
Automated student ID card management.
Next up, the development team tackled another time-intensive task, creating ID cards for students and staff at the beginning of the school year or when kids move into the district. The custom application automatically pulls data from the student information system and sends it directly to ID printers, even enabling self-service photo updates and mobile ID cards.
Another advantage: Digital ID cards were developed so students can carry them on their phones, which reduced issues related to lost IDs.
Streamlined student enrollment system.
For families new to the district, a streamlined enrollment system was developed to keep tasks simple and data organized. A new dashboard lets parents or guardians upload documents, complete forms, and track progress, with automated notifications and a documentation hub for required enrollment materials.
Automating summer school and program registrations.
After creating online registration, the development team applied similar app capabilities to summer school and summer camp registrations. The admin team can now set up and adjust programs easily, manage waitlists, and even streamline community member registrations.
Full suite of custom education apps drives efficiency.
Claris FileMaker powers a growing suite of custom apps that boost efficiency, enhance safety, and simplify operations—transforming education workflows. After seeing early success, Glenbrook High School District fully embraced automation, expanding its use of custom apps year after year.
Wondering what Claris can do for your organization? Reach out and let’s chat.