Jamaica College Case Study
Jamaica College is a premier boys’ school located in the city of Kingston. A secondary school with a population of 1,800, the institution is well-known for its tradition of leadership and achievement. Alumni include the likes of prime ministers, renowned athletes, and other national heroes.
FACTS Student Information System (SIS) is the backbone of school operations, housing everything from behavior tracking to medical records. The shift to an all-online learning model has vastly increased Jamaica College’s reliance upon and engagement with the system.
Parent Involvement
The ability to communicate with parents effectively and efficiently is crucial, especially now that the school is conducting classes entirely online. Due in part to the new online delivery model, the school has now reached 98% parent engagement with the FACTS Family Portal.
“People are having to learn how because that’s how school is run,” explained Dawn MacGregor-Bromfield, systems administrator at Jamaica College. MacGregor-Bromfield sends out daily emails to parents through FACTS and has enjoyed great success with the Grade Alert feature. Parents receive alerts for remarkably high and low-grade performance, significantly enhancing parent engagement.
Administration, Grades, and Data Management
“It is our first port of call. It is the main tool for all of our administrative functions for students,” said Wayne Robinson, principal at Jamaica College. The school relies on FACTS for its gradebook, attendance, behavior tracking, transcripts, student and teacher demographic data, medical records, and more.
Since the pandemic, FACTS’ Google Classroom integration has also been particularly useful. Teachers are able to transfer grades directly from their courses to FACTS. This saves them the headache of having to manually upload or type in grades, as was previously the case.
The data maintained through FACTS also makes it possible to better monitor and analyze student and teacher performance. “Now management can see the trend of what is happening and prepare,” said MacGregor-Bromfield.
Adaptability and Direct Service
“I know schools who use other [SIS solutions], and I would say to them, look at what we’ve done here. Look at the relationship. There is a key element that FACTS has granted us, and that is direct service,” explained Robinson. “I believe FACTS is a real partner.”
Jamaica College appreciates their dedicated team of FACTS resellers, who work to meet the school’s unique needs and adapt to changing circumstances. “It solves immediate concerns and makes you adjustable and agile. It speaks not just to what I’m doing now but also growth and development,” said Robinson.
As Jamaica College continues to grow, so too does their use of FACTS. As unforeseen circumstances expedite the digitization of learning delivery, having a reliable partner with a comprehensive and customizable product has never been more important.
