Streamlining Success: A Spotlight on the Business Systems & Support Department

As one of the largest charter schools in Northern California, Visions has been ahead of the curve when it comes to utilizing technology to enhance our families’ experience. With tools such as LPAD, PLSIS, and SchoolsPLP, we’ve developed our internal systems to strengthen and streamline everything from ordering curriculum to finding events to getting connected to vendors.

Behind these systems is a strong team of analysts who ensure that these tools are well-maintained and functioning at their highest capacity. Led by Associate Director of Business Systems & Support and 20-year Visions veteran Tania Houchin, this team’s work with Visions’ systems, CALPADS, vendors, and more is essential to both staff and student success.

“I supervise the Vendor Services Team and three (soon to be four) Business Analysts. All together we ensure that all of our major systems, LPAD, School Pathways and SchoolsPLP, are working correctly not only for students, parents, vendors, teachers, and internal staff, but also for all of the state reporting requirements such as CALPADS (California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System), for our yearly audits, and for ADA (Average Daily Attendance) reporting, which funds our school,” says Tania.

Because our staff and families rely so heavily on these systems, it’s important that they are both advanced and adaptable. For example, LPAD, formerly known as Launchpad, is a trademarked system used only by Visions that has been refined and developed for over a decade. What used to be several different applications has been integrated into one platform for our families, and is constantly being evaluated and improved behind-the-scenes by the analysts on this team.

“We do a lot in the background to ensure systems run smoothly by continuously monitoring data, troubleshooting issues, and testing updates,” explains Senior Business Analyst Carl Sorensen. “Our department also works with other teams to ensure they have the resources and tools they need. This work might include streamlining processes, testing new features or integrations, or addressing operational bottlenecks.”

“My team is always working on improving workflows and making things simple and user-friendly,” says Tania. “I really appreciate that every member of my team takes the initiative to make recommendations about things that could be improved anytime they have an idea. Our hope is always to simplify systems to leave more time to support staff and students.”

Smooth Operations

Overseeing these high-reach, high-impact tools requires diligence, collaboration, and a unique skill set, something each member of the team brings to the table.

Tom Murphy, the newest Business Analyst on the team (quote “About 8,577,118 seconds* seconds at the time of publishing this”), works with data loaders and PLSIS, helping build tools to support instructional oversight.

“Our goal is to make the jobs of employees in other departments easier,” explains Tom. “We build fun tools to give other teams streamlined access to data.”

Business Analyst Carlos Palomo primarily supports SchoolsPLP, Naviance, and Canvas. SchoolsPLP is especially important to our families, functioning as the learning management system for all three academies and our new Online Middle School program.

“We are able to support many different aspects of the backend of Visions,” says Carlos.

Carl is the CALPADS king, overseeing Visions’ state reporting, as well as permissions, system issues and settings, and various annual processes.

“One of my responsibilities is the State Reporting for our school, including CALPADS, CBEDS (California Basic Educational Data System), and Civil Rights Data Collection,” says Carl. “There’s a substantial amount of data from many sources that is involved in these reports.”

Vendor Support Analyst Kristin Shumaker and Student Services Representative 1 Julie Yoder work hand-in-hand to support our 600+ Enrichment Vendors and 53 Vendor Sponsors, including managing contracts, activating vendor portals, assisting with LPAD, and, most importantly, managing vendor relationships. This is especially significant for our school, as our vendors provide services that broaden and enrich our students’ education.

“Our vendors are almost as amazing as our students!” says Kristin. “It’s exciting and fulfilling to know that the things that I do to support our vendors allows our students to participate in activities that they may not have been able to participate in without our Enrichment Vendor program. We now even have a vendor who offers a special effects (SPX) prosthetics makeup course. How cool is that?!?”

From All Angles

Part of what makes this team so dynamic is their multifaceted levels of experience. Julie is a former member of the Ordering Services Department, and is now able to split her time between supporting Kristin and continuing to support our ordering team. Her ability to see how departments and responsibilities are intertwined gives Julie a unique perspective on the intricacies of the organization.

“The transition [from Ordering Services to Vendor Support] was smooth due to my experience processing eVouchers in Ordering Services. I had previously handled eVouchers concerns and modifications via our Help Forms and the Voucher Questions email box. I believe this new role has bridged Ordering Services, Vendor Support, and students to help resolve eVoucher questions and issues efficiently,” explains Julie. “It is also freeing up some time for our Vendor Support Analyst to focus on ‘1% Better’ improvements to our Enrichment Vendor Services and relationships.”

Similarly, Tania was previously an Independent Study Academy Principal on the Instructional side of Visions. In that role, Tania was deeply involved with all of our systems, even being taken off caseload to support the implementation of School Pathways full-time. This background made the transition to Business Services much easier, and helped facilitate further collaboration between the two sides of the organization.

“I think that my background on the Instructional side of Visions is invaluable to my current position,” states Tania. “I’m able to bring a different perspective to conversations happening in Business Services which has greatly helped not only in day to day operations, but also when discussing larger projects being developed.”

Regardless of experience or expertise, each person recognizes both the value that they bring to their team and the value of the people that they work with.

“I like the camaraderie within the group. Not just supporting each other with work, but mental breaks as well,” says Carlos.

“We provide each other with a second set of eyes when needed, and work as a soundboard for each other when brainstorming the best ways to solve a particular problem,” adds Tom.

“The Business Systems & Support team is awesome to work with!” says Kristin. “We are always willing to help each other out to solve a problem or talk through a solution. We all truly care about what we do.”

“The Business Systems & Support Department is a very hard working and important team that completes a lot of behind the scenes tasks that are often unseen but are vitally important. Even though this team always has a lot going on, they are always super helpful and willing to help out wherever they are needed. I appreciate their diligence, hard work, focus on accuracy, consistent emphasis on improving, and especially their positive attitudes. They really do have a positive impact on all of the students, families, teachers, and staff at Visions.” – Michael Brubaker, Senior Director of Operations