In the vast landscape of North Texas, Iowa Park CISD, home to around 2,000 students, found themselves on a mission to revamp their campus communication. Seeking an efficient and dynamic digital signage solution, Rise Vision emerged as the beacon promising a transformative journey.
Iowa Park, located near the Texas border by Oklahoma has two elementary schools and two secondary schools. The 2,000 student population is spread across a PreK-2 school, a grade 3-5 elementary school, a grades 6-8 middle school, and a high school with grades 9-12.
Nowadays, Rise Vision is used district wide. Every school has at least one display using Rise Vision.
Meet Matt Voss - Tech Leader at Iowa Park CISD
Matt Voss, Iowa Park CISD Director of Technology and Mark Merone, Rise Vision, in Texas
In the role of Director of Technology since 2021, Matt Voss has been steering IPCISD through the challenges of technology growth. With almost two decades of experience in public education, Matt's mission is to keep the district's tech landscape up to date. The demand for innovation and regulatory compliance in the 1-to-1 district presents its own set of challenges.
How Did Iowa Park CISD Start Using Rise Vision?
Before using Rise Vision, the district was using MangoSign but had issues with the displays turning off and the service was cost prohibitive.
Discontent with their provider, IPCISD sought a change. Rise Vision, recommended by a neighboring district, became the go-to solution.
Discovery of Rise Vision
During the search for a suitable replacement, IPCISD discovered Rise Vision as recommended by neighboring school district, Burkburnett ISD. After a demonstration of the product, the district identified 3 compelling reasons to adopt Rise Vision.
- Ease of Use - The intuitive user-friendly interface was praised by both the school’s technology department and the end-users in charge of content creation. Each school has their own champions who are in charge of creating content and managing their displays.
- Hardware Agnostic Offering - Being able to use any media player hardware was an attractive feature for IPCISD.
- Cost-effectiveness - Rise Vision offered a significantly lower cost compared to the previous solution, aligning well with IPCISD's budgetary considerations.
In addition, the platform had a wide range of options that made the solution more attractive. Rise Vision provides 600+ pre-made, customizable templates that enable the creation of visually striking animated slides featuring real-time information such as weather updates. The platform also has compatibility with popular applications like Google Slides, Canva, and Microsoft PowerPoint further expanded the creative possibilities for IPCISD's digital signage content.
Plus, there are many other options with Rise Vision that could be beneficial to IPCISD in the future, but not yet implemented such as emergency alerts, scheduled broadcasts across campus screens, and much more.
What Makes Iowa Park CISD’s User Case Unique?
Across IPCISD's campuses, Rise Vision serves diverse purposes. Each school in the district has its own digital signage champion that manages the content.
Kidwell Elementary School
This Day in History is a popular auto-updating template.
At the primary PreK-2 school, the digital signage display is located in the main office and is used primarily for parent communication. The sign shares reminders for upcoming field trips, testing dates, school closure dates, and other information important for parents to see during drop off and pickup.
The display also rotates through interesting content like This Day in History or Random Facts.
At Kidwell Elementary School, the content creation is handled by the principal and the school’s counselor.
Bradford Elementary School
At Bradford Elementary School, grades 3-5, the content is more focused on sharing information with the students.
There are displays in the common hallways as well as outside the cafeteria. The hallway TVs share engaging content for students like the Word of the Day, anti-bullying campaign content, Daily Animal Facts, content for the 4H Club, and classroom announcements. The display outside the cafeteria displays the daily lunch menu.
At the elementary school, the content creation is handled by the principal, the school’s counselor, and a teacher.
W.F. George Middle School and Iowa Park High School
The original pilot program for digital signage was run at the district’s high school. The content was for student involvement including club meetings, cookie sales and other fundraising events, and a graduation countdown. At Iowa Park High School, the digital signage content is created by the librarian.
At W.F. George Middle School, the content is created by the yearbook teacher and the counselor.
How is IPCISD Using Rise Vision to Solve the Problem They Had?
Since the implementation of Rise Vision, IPCISD has experienced a notable improvement in communication with students, staff, and parents. The decision to switch to Rise Vision has facilitated engaging and attention-grabbing visual communication.
Matt Voss commented about what that improvement looks like and said “[The content is] rotating. It's bright. It's vibrant. You know, the kids I can see them looking at it during hall changes. Some of them just stand there and watch [the content] rotate. So, I know they're looking at [the displays].”
Learning from IPCISD
Iowa Park CISD's experience offers valuable insights for schools seeking an efficient digital communication solution.
In conclusion, Rise Vision has proven to be a game-changer for Iowa Park CISD, aligning seamlessly with their objectives and offering a comprehensive solution for effective campus-wide communication. The screens are no longer just displays; they are tools that empower IPCISD to communicate dynamically and efficiently, elevating the overall experience for students, staff, and parents.
