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NorthJersey.com: Edgewater School District Launches New Schoolwires Website (10/14/11)
Sewanhaka School District to Launch New Website
At the Dec. 19 Sewanhaka Board of Education meeting, a presentation was given by the district’s chief information officer, Rich Zwycewicz, on the launch of a new school website. Read More.


NorthJersey.com: Edgewater School District Launches New Schoolwires Website (10/14/11)
NorthJersey.com reported that Edgewater school district has redesigned and launched its Schoolwires website “to keep parents and students better informed ... Teachers now have their own pages on the site, and some have started blogs for students and parents. ‘Teachers can post homework on their pages, post information for parents, and have links that make the pages more interactive,’ said Superintendent Lorraine Cella. ‘So it keeps parents better involved in a more instantaneous way.’ " Read More.


THE Journal: Arizona School District Looks To Boost Parent Communications with New Web Platform (09/22/11)
THE Journal wrote an article about how Schoolwires Centricity2 will help Gilbert Public Schools increase communications with its constituents. “Gilbert Public Schools in Arizona is beefing up its Web-based parent and community communications portal. As part of the effort the district has deployed Schoolwires Centricity2, a Web platform and portal tool designed for K-12 schools and districts to help enhance their community presence. ‘Communicating with our parents and community is paramount,’ said Nicole Richardson, Web site/multimedia communications supervisor for Gilbert Public Schools. ‘The Schoolwires' solution offers us the flexibility in design and a large number of easy-to-use communication tools to strengthen our communications with our constituents. It will give us more opportunities to provide information in a clean and accessible fashion, enhancing the image of our district.’" Read More.


Converge: Kent School District Places Premium on Communication Through Website (9-09-11)
Converge magazine wrote an article about Schoolwires customer Kent School District. The district won an award for its website built on the Schoolwires Centricity2 platform. “In a Washington school district, the school board established a priority of communicating effectively with the community. At the same time, Kent School District lost half of its Web team members to major budget reductions. As a result, the district re-evaluated its Web strategy and launched a new cloud-based website in 2010 that earned a Best of the Web Award from the Center for Digital Education last week.”Read More.


ColumbusLocalNews: Site upgrades offer better links to Bexley data, ability to grow (09/10/11)
“The Bexley City School district's web pages are sporting a new look for the new school year. District officials rolled out the new and improved website Thursday, Sept. 1, not only featuring a sleeker look, but new features for parents, students, and teachers as well. ‘Our new website provider, SchoolWires, offers a better product than the one we have been using,’ said Paul Ross, district's technology director, ‘and at a savings of up to $1,000 per year.’”Read More.

Local tech businesses recognized for growth (09/04/11)
CentreDaily.com interviewed Schoolwires about making its fifth consecutive appearance on the Inc 500/5000 list. “Schoolwires logged a growth rate of 111 percent over the past three years to rank No. 2,233 out of the Inc. 5,000 … ‘Our growth has come steadily, as we’ve reached a critical mass of customers across the country,’ said CEO Edward Marflak … ‘The sky’s the limit. We have some bold plans where we want the company to go, and all factors are coming together to make that possible.’” Read more: at centredaily.com


School CIO: Leveraging Social Media Tools for Professional Development (08/11)
School CIO published an in-depth article on how the Etowah County School System is using Schoolwires Centricity to further professional development among its teachers. “In 2008 we implemented the Schoolwires Centricity website and community management platform. Today, it's helping us make professional development accessible and cost effective for our teachers, as well as fostering stronger connections with our community and engaging our students. We use electronic and social media for professional development because it's cost effective, convenient, and gives our teachers a familiarity with the same environment that our students are heavily engaged in.”. Read on Schoolsio.com >


School Administrator: A Referendum Campaign Mounted on Schoolwires’ District Website (05/11)
School Administrator magazine published a column by Superintendent Geoffrey Zoeller about how his district leveraged the communication tools within its Schoolwires Centricity website to successfully pass a $16.7 million referendum. “First, we implemented a new communication platform, Schoolwires Centricity, that made it easy for us to post information and use interactive communication tools. Then we used every opportunity to drive people to our website, where they could find complete and detailed information, not only about construction needs, but other information about the district. Virtually every component of our initiative was posted on the website to engender trust. “. Read on aasa.org >

THE Journal: Tech Lessons Learned From Higher Ed (11/1/10)
THE Journal interviewed Schoolwires’ Peggi Munkittrick for an article on the lessons K-12 can learn from higher education. “Care has to be taken when relating technology's use in college and university lecture halls to the way it's applied in K-12 classrooms … Consider online environments, which are used in colleges and universities more as a delivery mechanism for educational material rather than as a supplement. ‘In higher education, when online learning became popular, it was a way to deliver a whole course in an online environment and add students without having to build more physical space,’ says Peggi Munkittrick, senior director of product strategy at Schoolwires, an online collaboration platform for school districts targeted at teachers, parents, students, and their surrounding communities. ‘There is a business value to using technology in K-12. Technology is being used more to complement the face-to-face classroom instruction.’". Read Article >
Caldwells Patch: West Essex Gets New Website (11/9/10)
Caldwells Patchpublished an article on the benefits of the West Essex Regional School District's new Schoolwires's website. The district "launched its redesigned website Friday, providing what it hopes is a better way to communicate about the district, as well as a 21st-century way for teachers and students to interact. The site was created by the district webmaster in conjunction with the website solution company Schoolwires, based in Pennsylvania ... 'We wanted a clean, uncluttered design to the front pages of all three sites that would bring the focus where it really belongs–on our students and our successes,' explained Carrie Sterrs, communications/planning officer and webmaster for the district. 'We wanted to make navigating to information a more organized and well-thought out experience for the user.'" . Read Article >
Atlanticville: WLB School Website is More User-Friendly (10-19-10)
The Atlanticville published a story about the positive impact of the SchoolwiresCentricity platform on district communications. “One month in, the school district’s new website has received praise from parents and teachers for its features and ease of use. Superintendent Karen Wood said that user friendliness, an aspect the old website lacked, was a priority for the district. One challenge, Wood said, was catering to teachers with many different comfort and ability levels with technology. Wood and the district recognized the value of having a strong website to facilitate communication. ‘Websites are such an important community tool these days. People go to websites automatically, where they didn’t do that 10 years ago. They’d call the school for information.’” . Read Article >
eSchool News: Schoolwires Ranks as Nation's Fastest-Growing Provider of Strategic Website and Community Management Solutions - Four Years Running (10/11/10)
eSchool News published an article about the new Schoolwires website and community management platform implemented at Verona Public Schools. Read Article >
District Administration: Making Your Schools Future-Proof (10/10)
District Administration included insights from Schoolwires in a recent article on “how districts are trying to get the most out of their tech spending by providing solutions they will be able to use now and in the future without major, expensive infrastructure overhauls ... Implementing and maintaining the right technology infrastructure is not a technical issue but a ‘strategic issue that requires thought and leadership,’ Peggy Munkittrick, senior director of product strategy for Schoolwires, wrote in a white paper, K-12 Unified Technology Model for Creating a Technology Framework in Support of Strategic Initiatives, which Schoolwires released in July 2010. As districts develop their technology plans, she continued,’“ it is essential to consider how their technology infrastructure can more effectively leverage the Web 2.0 technologies.'" Read Article >
MyVeronaNJ: Schoolwires Website “Breaks Down Barriers” (09/16/10)
My Verona NJ published an article about the new Schoolwires website and community management platform implemented at Verona Public Schools.

“In Schoolwires, Verona has gotten an experienced Web site partner. The Pennsylvania company has created school information systems for 1,000 districts across the country, giving it a foothold in some 5,000 individual schools … The Schoolwires site is as easy for teachers to update as it is for parents to use, and it offers 24/7 tech support, which will save Verona from having to have a Web master to run a site that will contain much more information than its predecessor … ‘The big goal,’ says Superintendent Charles Sampson, ‘is to break down the barriers of information."
Read Article >

Tech & Learning: Schoolwires Centricity2 (09/10)
Tech and Learning featured Centrictity2 in its Back-to-School Product Showcase in its September edition. “SchoolwiresCentricity2 is the unifying platform that activates K-12 communities.” Read Article >

NorthJersey.com: District Launches New Website at Start of School Year (09/09/10)

NorthJersey.com reported that Allendale School District has implemented a new website. “The K-8 district launched its new site last week, which uses a platform from Schoolwires, a company Northern Highlands Regional High School and the Saddle River School District also utilize for their web pages. ‘Schoolwires offers a sophisticated menu of channels, sections and pages,’ Allendale Interim Superintendent Larry Hughes said.” To visit the Allendale School District website, go to allendaleschoolsnj.com.Read Article >


Washington Learning Source: Schoolwires Profile (09/10)

Washington Learning Source featured Schoolwires in its Administrative Application report. “Schoolwires is a provider of community-based solutions that accelerate district and student success. Community-based solutions cater to the multiple communities that exist within a district, connect the technologies that support them and foster two-way interactive communication and collaboration among all district stakeholders.” Read Article >

Tech & Learning: Schoolwires Introduces Centricity2 (06/10)
Tech and Learning published the news that Schoolwires has launched Centricity2. "The new Centricity release allows districts to add social learning capabilities beyond Web 2.0 tools, providing students with a more relevant and engaging learning experience. This unifying platform is especially important for strengthening the home-school connection."Read Article >

eSchool News: Glassboro Public Schools stay a step ahead of district needs with Schoolwires (06/01/10)

eSchool News published an article by George Weeks, director of technology at Glassboro Public Schools. According to the author, "As the technology requirements of teachers, staff, and students at Glassboro Public Schools evolve, we often find the answers to our needs in our existing Schoolwires Centricity web site and community management platform. Almost any application you can think of-from easy web site creation to podcasting and calendars-is built into the platform. And if an application is not yet available, it is likely that Schoolwires has it scheduled for a future release. Schoolwires solutions are always evolving with us as our district's needs change; helping us to tackle our next challenge."Read Article >


TallmadgeExpress.com: School District Launches Schoolwires Website (05/30/10)

The Tallmadge Express reported that Tallmadge School has launched its new district website. "Director of Technology Kurt Giwin said the site was developed after taking into consideration the needs and wants of the community, teachers, parents and students ... Some new features include the ability to register an account to more easily interact with all of the site's new functions. 'The main benefit to creating an account is to customize and tailor your online experience,' said Gwin." Read Article >


Forbes.com: Study: Technology Infrastructure Critical to Delivering 21st Century Learning (05/05/10)

Forbes.com published the news that a national survey highlights administrators' concerns and districts' barriers to providing 21st century learning environment. "A common thread documented in the study is the need to have an effective technology infrastructure. The 2009 Speak Up Survey was conducted by Project Tomorrow and sponsored by Schoolwires... 'Today's students are already envisioning the educational experience of the future,' said Edward S. Marflak, CEO of Schoolwires. 'Schoolwires is in step with their vision, providing a web platform that easily integrates and supports the technology tools they are describing today, as well as future applications that have not even emerged yet. We have eliminated the barriers that prevent districts from fully engaging with their students in support of their success.' " Read Article >


THE Journal: Community Connections Go Both Ways (04/10)

THE Journal interviewed superintendents at the School City of Hobart and Murrieta Valley USD about how they are leveraging their Schoolwires Centricity website to engage more deeply with their constituents.

"In 2007, [Superintendent Stan] Scheer and his team implemented the Schoolwires platform to allow the district to make more product use of its communication efforts. It didn't take long for Scheer to start seeing the value of the investment. 'Website and community management became a central focus for us,' he says. 'In fact, our site became the place for parents and community members to go find the information, resources, and services that they needed.'

" 'Today's web is more than an electronic bulletin board,' adds Peggi Munkittrick, senior director of product startegy at State College, PA-based Schoolwires. The company has developed a website and community management system that integrates a district's online communication effort via a single, unified platform, using surveys, forms, blogs, and other features to bring a district in closer touch with its constituents. 'As web 2.0 technology evolves,' Munkittrick says, 'and as social media gets incorporated into more and more websites, a growing number of districts are taking the interactive rout.' " Read Article >


The Daily Review: New Troy Web Site Unveiled (03/18/10)

The Daily Review published an article about how a new website built on the Schoolwires Centricity platform is becoming a resource for the entire Troy Area School District community.

"'We've had a lot of positive comments and our goal is to have this be a community resource for the entire community,' district technology director Ryan Schrader said. 'We spent a lot of time and effort to make it unique to Troy, and it really reflects where we want to be as a school district.' ... The Website, which was implemented through the Schoolwires program, features a more 'cohesive' design and is easier to navigate, said the district's new webmaster, Will Kelly." Read Article >

Education.TMCnet.com: Survey Focuses on Lack of Technology in K-12 Classrooms (3/17/10)

Education.TMCnet.com published an article about the Speak Up Survey, sponsored by Schoolwires. The article states, "Even while schools face constraints on students' use of social collaboration tools within the premises, not many schools are taking full advantage of the available tools and the knowledge of students...'Schoolwires has always strongly believed - and in fact was founded on the belief - that an interactive and richly-populated Web site contributes significantly to student achievement and to parent and community engagement,' said Edward S. Marflak, founder and CEO of Schoolwires. 'And we have evolved and expanded our website platform to address the critical disconnects cited by the survey.'" Read Article >


Education World: Fifth Graders Soar in the Blogosphere (3/10)

Education World magazine interviewed Gillian Ryan, a California teacher, on how she is engaging her fifth-grade students through blogging. The blogging tool is available to her and her students within her teacher page within the district's Schoolwires Centricity strategic website and community management platform.

" 'Blogging is not only a means for students to show what they know, but it also brings motivation and purpose to student learning,' Gillian Ryan told Education World. 'Blogging is purposeful to students because it is part of their world; it's a means for students to use a communication tool that's relevant. I'm not simply asking them to write a response to me on a piece of paper, I'm asking them to share what they learn with the world. It makes what I ask them to do a real-world task.' " Read Article >


Pennsylvania Business Central: A Conversation with Ed Marflak (3/12/10)

Ed Marflak, President and CEO of Schoolwires, discusses how the company has become one of the top ten fastest growing private education companies in the nation. According to Marflak, "Frankly, nothing has contributed to our success more than the quality and commitment of our people. Our people have helped to make Schoolwires the industry leader." Read Article >


NSPRA: San Diego USD Overhauls Its Web Site (02/10)

The National School Public Relations Association wrote about how the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) elevated and unified its communications using the Schoolwires Centricity platform.

"After getting bids from several companies, Chief District Relations Officer Bernie Rhinerson and SDUSD settled on Schoolwires to help the district undertake the massive project of redesigning its website - complete with its new logo and brand - and using templates for each of its schools' sites ... The resulting site is a clean, information-packed experience that allows SDUSD a variety of ways to get information out and for visitors to find the information they need. There are featured photos and videos as well as news stories on the main page, calendar and directory modules, and flexible site shortcuts on key issues (budget crisis materials, H1N1 information, etc.). 'We think it really gives visitors to the site - and parents in particular - a better experience at every level,' Rhinerson said." Read Article >


Tech & Learning: The Challenge of Coordinating District-wide Communications (01/10)

Tech & Learning reported how the Schoolwires Centricity platform helps Garnet Valley School District keep communications flowing, even when power is down. Paul Sanfrancesco, director of technology at the district, relayed "a recent incident to illustrate why he believes it is better for schools to have a hosted rather than an in-network basis for communications. 'There was an accident on one of the highways nearby that knocked out power to the district...Everything was down here. We turned to a Web site portal we subscribe to, Schoolwires, that is hosted offsite. Using a wireless card in a laptop, we sent out a messageto all the parents saying the school was open. We also updated our web page. Everything was communicated out; It was a seamless transition, and yet we had no power.' " Read Article >


eSchool News: Online Tools Boost Parent-Teacher Communications (09/22/09)
eSchool News posted an article by Joe Jenkins, CTO of Natomas Unified School District in CA. In the article, Jenkins describes how the district's two-communications help engage the community more deeply in the district. "The Schoolwires...integrated solution suite serves all our communication needs, from putting interactive, internet-based teaching tools into the hands of teachers to better engage their students, to informing all our parents and students about an unexpected school closing, to providing information to the community at large. Our staff even uses it for all service requests, from requesting the repair of a broken desk to reserving a bus for a field trip.

"All the applications are already seamlessly integrated into a single platform, and we have the capability to integrate other applications as well. This integration met our objective of having a robust, digital environment that did not require in-depth technical support. In addition, the integration of the three products into a single platform makes them easier for end users, like teachers, to use and thus increases their value even further. A user can move seamlessly among the three solutions because the suite is built on the LDAP software protocol. In our experience, the ability to move seamlessly among all the applications within the communications suite has greatly increased the products' usability while providing the district with the interactive tools we wanted to foster better communications and collaboration." Read Article >

District Administration: Review of Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District Website (09/09)
District Administration magazine did a thorough review of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District's website, built on the Schoolwires Centricity platform. Read Article >

District Administration: It Takes A Village (09/09)

District Administration magazine interviewed Superintendent Terry K. Holliday on the essential role of communications in helping Iredell-Statesville Schools achieve an 80 percent positive community satisfaction rating. The district uses the Schoolwires Centricity platform.

"To overhaul the Web site, Holliday's communications staff surveyed teachers, parents, students and community members to understand what information they sought and how they'd like it delivered. The resulting site has easy-to-find, up-to-date and accurate information on budget issues, events, the dress code, testing results and more. Average site traffic currently is 23,000 hits per week.

"On Holliday's blog, updated three times a week, he discusses everything from school performance to finances. 'My staff and the entire community know what to expect in terms of budget issues, how to lobby, or anything else that's relevant,' he says. The blog invites readers to respond, and Holliday gets up to 10 replies from each posting.

"Another way Holliday encourages feedback is through a link to his e-mail address. 'If people hear rumors, I'm able to wipe them out immediately.' The Web site's complaint-management system provides tools to report concerns or complaints. Staff members address these concerns within 24 hours and can easily track response time and customer satisfaction."Read Article >


Centre Daily Times: Schoolwires is Upside in Down Economy (05/17/09)
Centre Daily Times reported on the successful operations of Schoolwires, Inc., in spite of the floundering economy. According to the newspaper, "(Schoolwires) has thrived and in recent years has consistently ranked as one of the fastest-growing companies in the nation. And at the end of last year, the company saw a "real opportunity to expand rapidly," said Founder Ed Marflak, a chance to "really scale the business up." After securing $12 million in outside investment, the company is moving forward with its expansion plans, which involve hiring an additional 60 employees this year and finding more office space." Read Article >


THE Journal: Electronic Alerts - A Simple, Timely Message Can Make All the Difference (05/12/09)
THE News Update published an article on how districts are using the e-Alert functionality within the Schoolwires Centricity platform to keep their constituents informed about the impact of the pandemic flu.

The article states, "The e-alert is e, ssentially an electronic schoolbell," remarked Peter Lisi, superintendent of Woodcliff Lake School District, which enrolls 900 preK-8 students in two schools in Woodcliff Lake, NJ. "We use them on a weekly and routine basis. Like all schools, we have the need to send home upwards of a dozen announcements, from 'the school is selling wrapping paper,' to this week, things like we're going to start a protocol of using Purel before and after lunch for all the kids in the district. This is in relation to the pandemic." Read Article >


Keystone Edge: Schoolwires Maintains Momentum
in Recession (04/09/09)
The Keystone Edge reported that "State College-based provider of online communication, community management and productivity solutions for school districts, expects to expand company staff by 55 percent by the end of 2009. That jump to approximately 140 from 90 employees at the end of last year will expand capacity in sales, marketing, customer service, interactive design, professional services, product development and quality control, according to Ed Marflak, founder, president and chief executive officer." Read Article >


administr@tormagazine: Schoolwires Centricity a Hands-On Favorite for Communication Management Software (02/09)
administr@tor Magazine selected Schoolwires Centricity as one of its "hands-on favorites" for communication management software. According to reviewer Terry Holliday, superintendent, Iredell-Statesville Schools (NC), "Even the most resistant technophobes bought into it (Centricity) quickly. We now have blogs, an RSS feed, podcasts and webpages at the teacher level. We also needed the ability to post a lot of photos and videos.


"We're getting an unbelievable number of hits to the website: 150,000 in one week!" Read Article >