I have four children in the public school system. Since they started school, I’ve kept a “scrap box” of all the unnecessary paper that comes home, including worksheets, club sign-ups, teacher newsletters, and more. Let me tell you—I could claim an entire forest with the amount of paper I’ve collected. (And didn’t I already fill that paper form out last month?)
Yes, schools are becoming more digital-forward in the wake of pandemic-led virtual learning. Some now provide personal laptops or tablets to students, and Millennial and Gen X parents and teachers are prompting a shift to email over paper notes for their preferred method of communication. Yet, there’s still so much more K-12 schools could do to digitize common processes—not just to enter into a new era of education, but to save money, time, and hassle in the process. Enter workflow automation for schools.
7 Processes to Digitize in K-12 Schools
What’s more important: molding young minds or fighting with the copy machine? Teachers and other school staff don’t have time to invest in the mountain of paperwork that K-12 institutions can generate. “The old way” may seem easier at first, but it’s time consuming, cumbersome to parents, and costly—not to mention wasteful and irresponsible for the planet. Here are seven common K-12 examples you can easily digitize for a more efficient school environment.
Registration Forms
Make a good first impression among incoming families with digital registration they can complete anywhere, from any device. Include fields for inputting background information, uploading immunization or previous school records, or applying for aid programs. Online form tools with HIPAA security provide peace of mind when handling student medical records.
Permission Slips
Stop backlogging your school printer and overwhelming parents with paper. Go paperless with permission slips that include fields for acknowledging consent, inputting emergency contact information, and even collecting electronic parent signatures. Guardians can sign on any device with the touch of a finger. The best part? Get permission faster—no losing paper slips or tracking down forms from students. Plus, easily send reminders to parents via email.
Try It: Make gathering consent easy with a pre-built field trip permission template.
Parent Feedback
Give parents an outlet to share their opinions without overwhelming your inbox, phone lines, or teachers. Include a link to your feedback form on your school website, social media page, and back-to-school materials so caregivers always have it. Once they fill it out, the form triggers a notification in real time so you can follow up as soon as possible. Need to refer back to the original submission? Forms that are part of an all-in-one platform are easy to access and search for in one place.
Teacher Evaluations
Use digital forms and workflow automation for your school’s internal processes too. Equip administrators or evaluators with digital evaluation forms they can use on their phone, tablet, or work computer to conduct in-class reviews. Then, use workflow automation to send it to HR, the principal, or the teacher. Making forms digital also means easier evaluation access for consideration during next year’s reviews.
Related: Provide high school students a way to evaluate teachers using digital forms.
Quizzes and Tests
Students today are more digitally native and comfortable with device-based schoolwork than the generations before them. Allow teachers to easily design quizzes, tests, and worksheets using drag-and-drop tools that don’t require additional coding knowledge. Once ready, materials are easy to distribute to student devices. Then, view scores in one central location and even pass to third-party gradebook software with an integration.
Alumni Donations
Skip the hassle of money collection and engage savvy donors with digital tools in the process. Can’t reach alumni via phone? Not able to hold donor events? Donation forms give alumni and other community members the freedom to submit when they’re ready via email or website link.
Plus, you can easily collect donation funds through integrations with payment processors like PayPal or Stripe. Capture one-time or recurring donations and send the payment info to your preferred payment gateway.
Read Next: Learn how The First Academy school in Orlando, FL overhauled its paper processes to accept payments online.
Scholarship Applications
Private schools can streamline scholarship applications with digital forms that collect critical data for decision making. Include a field for eSignatures and easily pass submissions to a third-party app through workflow automation for schools. Then, use the information you collect to automatically create award documents and certificates for selected students.
Formstack Helps You Get Back to Nurturing
Formstack is the all-in-one platform that allows K-12 schools to cut down on paperwork, streamline administrative processes, and run classrooms more efficiently. Our user-friendly Forms, Documents, and eSignature tools are easily customizable to your school’s brand and ongoing needs. We also give you confidence with security features like Section 508 and WCAG compliance. Ready to nurture the next generation of students with the next generation of workflow automation tools?
Check out our complimentary k-12 templates for easier school management, or start your free 14-day trial today.
