At Miami Country Day School, a K-12 institution known for its commitment to the "whole child" approach to education, technology plays a pivotal role in fostering communication and community engagement. Jimmy Cudzilo, Chief Information Officer, shared insights into the school’s use of Rise Vision digital signage.
Founded 85 years ago, Miami Country Day School offers a unique educational environment that celebrates individuality and nurtures creativity. With a campus that integrates various learning programs from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, the school is designed to balance physical and mental wellness among its students.
Meet Jimmy Cudzilo
As the Chief Information Officer, Jimmy Cudzilo oversees Miami Country Day School’s technology departments, including library services, an innovation center, and the traditional technology department. His primary focus is on ensuring that all technology systems, from Wi-Fi to digital signage, function seamlessly to enhance the educational experience.
Miami Country Day School’s Evolution of Digital Signage
Miami Country Day School’s journey with digital signage began with the installation of an outdoor sign funded partially by the school's Parents Association. Initially, the outdoor sign was managed by a cumbersome vendor-supplied solution that hindered effective communication. Frustrated by the limitations, Jimmy explored alternatives and ultimately transitioned the campus to Rise Vision, a platform that allowed greater flexibility and control over content management.
"After looking at different solutions, I’ve looked at other systems that say they’re really easy and intuitive, but they’re extremely expensive."
Rise Vision struck a balance between affordability and functionality, with a simple, logical system for managing presentations, schedules, and displays.
The school has since expanded its digital signage to include displays throughout the open air campus, including in the student pick up and drop off lots, strategically placed to maximize visibility and engagement.
The Problem Miami Country Day School Was Looking to Solve
Like countless schools across the country, Miami Country Day School faced challenges in school-wide communication and engagement. With a large campus that encompasses multiple divisions—lower, middle, and upper schools—communicating important updates, events, and alerts was cumbersome and inefficient. As a technology leader at the school, Jimmy recognized that the school needed a modern, reliable, and user-friendly digital signage solution to better communicate with students, staff, and parents.
How is Miami Country Day School Using Rise Vision to Enhance Communication?
Miami Country Day School has digital signage displays in their library.
Rise Vision provides a flexible platform that helps Miami Country Day School modernize and simplify their communication efforts. From school-wide announcements to more localized departmental updates, the platform has made it easier for the school to engage its community in a timely manner.
One of the key functionalities that stood out to Jimmy is the ability to quickly respond to urgent situations, like severe weather alerts. Rise Vision also integrates with a variety of Common Alert Protocol (CAP) alert providers, making it easy to disseminate emergency alerts across a campus in moments.
Additionally, the seamless integration with Azure’s SSO (Single Sign-On) has made managing user access easier and more secure. Jimmy noted, "The SSO integration with Azure helps me as a technology leader to ensure that I don't have people who maybe have left the institution who still have access."
This automatic access control not only saves time but also ensures that the system remains secure, with only active staff members contributing content.
Creative Control in the Arts Department
One of the successful applications of Rise Vision at Miami Country Day School has been in the arts department. By handing over control to department administrators, the department has been able to create and manage content specific to their needs. This localized control means that the department can display event reminders, rehearsal times, and other important information in a timely and relevant manner.
Jimmy discussed how the theater assistant is now empowered to manage the content, making the arts department a key player in creating its own content. This autonomy allows the department to tailor its announcements to the needs of the students and staff, highlighting upcoming events, dress rehearsals, and auditions. This allows the department to engage with their audience more effectively.
Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Jimmy isn’t just the CIO of the campus, but is also part of the safety committee. In the open air campus, individual buildings are connected by uncovered walkways. Being in Florida, thunderstorms and lightning are an almost daily occurrence. When a lightning alert is initiated, all staff and students must clear the fields, playgrounds, pool deck, and outdoor spaces and seek shelter in a building.
In addition to enhancing communication, the digital signage system serves an important role in Miami Country Day School’s safety and emergency management. During severe weather alerts, a common occurrence at this Florida campus, displays strategically positioned around campus can relay crucial information quickly.
"When I hear the weather alert, I [initiate Rise Vision] from my phone. I could be in the parking garage and need to put a message out. I do it from my phone because I already have my standard presentations and schedule, so I just add it, say display on all screens, override, done, save it," Jimmy shared. This immediate access and control are crucial in situations that require fast communication, such as emergencies or weather alerts.
Jimmy has customized the weather alert messaging to align with the Standard Response Protocol from the “I Love You Guys” Foundation, ensuring that the school adheres to best practices in emergency situations.
Expanding to the Classroom Level
Jimmy’s long-term vision is to extend this capability to individual teachers. Although the rollout to individual classrooms has been slower due to post-pandemic challenges, Jimmy sees tremendous potential in allowing teachers to manage their own content. He envisions teachers using their classroom screens for daily reminders, assignment due dates, or extracurricular announcements, making the communication more personal and relevant for students.
As of the 24/25 school year, every classroom has been prepped to run Rise Vision digital signage on their Apple TVs. He is taking a cautious approach, however, as the staff is still recovering from "COVID bloat", so not every teacher is aware of this new capability on their classroom touchscreens. As the year progresses, more teachers will be assigned the Teacher role within the Rise Vision platform and given the opportunity to expand their knowledge and skills.
Jimmy is gradually introducing the platform to teachers who express interest, and as more teachers see the benefits, he expects adoption to increase.
He explained, "One of the things I realize is that once you get a couple of teachers who really love something and they can be vocal about it, they will promote it to their peers." This teacher-led advocacy has the potential to bring Rise Vision into more classrooms, eventually making it a standard communication tool across the school.
The Impact of Digital Signage on Communication and Community Engagement
Achieving Great Heights Together at Miami Country Day School.
Jimmy noted that the digital displays have significantly improved communication within the school community. One notable success is the introduction of QR codes on digital displays for ticketing performances in the school theater.
“Since we introduced the [displays] along with the QR codes, we are now at capacity for almost every performance, with waitlists to boot,” Jimmy remarked. The visual reminders not only help parents stay informed but also foster a sense of community around school events.
Before deploying Rise Vision digital signage Miami Country Day School had left over tickets for their events, since then they have been able to sell out their events and frequently have a waitlist.
What Can Schools Learn from Miami Country Day School
There are several key takeaways from Miami Country Day School’s experience with Rise Vision:
- Simplicity and Accessibility Matter: The ease of use and flexibility of the Rise Vision platform allowed Jimmy and his team to manage campus-wide communication effectively. The ability to control messages from any device, even a phone, made it possible to respond quickly to urgent situations, improving overall communication.
- Empowerment Through Decentralization: By giving different departments, and eventually teachers, control over their content, Miami Country Day School created a more dynamic and engaging communication environment. This not only improves relevance but also encourages innovation at the department and classroom levels.
- Security and Efficiency: The integration with Azure’s SSO system ensured that only authorized users could access the platform. This feature streamlined administrative tasks and reinforced the security of the system.
- The Importance of Teacher Advocates: Jimmy’s slow, teacher-driven approach to expanding the platform’s use is a smart way to ensure long-term adoption. As teachers discover the benefits of the platform, their enthusiasm will likely encourage wider usage across the school.
Miami Country Day School’s experience showcases how Rise Vision can be used not just as a tool for communication, but as a platform for empowering departments, enhancing security, and promoting efficient communication across the school community.
The Future of Digital Signage at Miami Country Day School
Jimmy envisions further enhancements to the school’s digital signage capabilities, including better integration with existing safety protocols and exploring advanced options like video walls. His ongoing commitment to improving technology within the school reflects the broader mission of Miami Country Day School: to innovate and create an engaging learning environment for all students.
Miami Country Day School's approach to digital signage illustrates how technology can significantly enhance communication, safety, and community engagement in educational settings. As the school continues to evolve, it sets a standard for how digital solutions can support both academic excellence and holistic child development.
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