LuHi powers innovation with integrated
technology built for K-12 schools

Long Island Lutheran Middle & High School (LuHi) is a Christ-centered,
college-preparatory school in Brookville, New York, with a mission “to
glorify God by educating young people in body, mind, and spirit.” LuHi relies
on Blackbaud software to provide an exceptional educational experience
both in the classroom and virtually.

Blackbaud’s education management solutions ensure continuity on days
when virtual schooling is needed, such as in severe weather conditions or
even during a public health emergency. Having these integrated solutions
in place when LuHi shut down for COVID enabled a seamless transition for
faculty, staff, students, and parents to virtual learning.

Kara Martone, director of communications, explained they didn’t have to
scramble and waste time finding a learning management system to continue
school operations. “We learned of the school closures on a Friday and
were operating fully virtual that following Monday,” she said. “Blackbaud’s
education management solutions were already so familiar to the end users
that we didn’t have to find a virtual classroom. We leaned into the tools we
were using already, and anything that we added on or learned how to do
better, enhanced everyone’s experience.”

The enrollment and guidance teams did not skip a beat and could manage
all daily activities remotely, including viewing accepted student records and
individual education programs and scheduling them for the following year.
With shared access to the data, faculty and staff could continue moving
students and parents through the process and get them ready to start a new
school year with ease. “It was a huge benefit to us to have these integrated
systems in place already, and that justified its value when we really needed it
most,” Martone said.

Optimizing Efforts Across the Board

With Blackbaud’s education management solutions, parents have a
360-degree view of their child’s school activity from enrollment to graduation
through a single login. The resource center provides LuHi a secure location to
store its document library with resources for staff, students, and parents.
“We love that with school forms the parents get an alert for any unsigned or
submitted documents every time they log in,” Martone said. “They also have
to acknowledge the fact they haven’t completed this task which prevents us
from having to take additional follow up steps—saves us time and makes the
process way more efficient for everyone.”

Teachers and administrators can boost their efficiency with automated
grading and streamlined communication tools. Teachers who collect
assignments digitally use the file upload feature, which prevents them
from having to store assignments haphazardly. “Our teachers particularly
appreciate that they can use Blackbaud’s education management solutions
to store coursework and assignments,” Martone said. “They don’t have to
worry about keeping track of multiple Google Drive folders because it’s
stored in the same place in one system.”

The guidance team takes advantage of the master schedule feature, which
allows them to create many different drafts of schedules and select the
one that works the best. This feature enables them to enroll students more
easily in classes they need. “Getting that master schedule created can be
challenging, particularly in a small school where we have so many singular
classes,” Martone said.

Extending Impact

The staff at LuHi also look to Blackbaud’s Customer Success team to stay up
to date on the latest Blackbaud product innovations. “Our customer success
manager is always very responsive when we need assistance with anything,”
Martone said. “She proactively checks in with us and sends thought
leadership and product webinars to make sure we’re not missing out when
big things are happening.”

Another benefit that energizes LuHi is the Blackbaud Community, where
customers share expertise and ideas and collaborate with peers. The
Blackbaud Community gives Martone an opportunity to learn from posts by
other school professionals and positively impact other K-12 schools herself by
suggesting enhancements to Blackbaud products as they continue to evolve.
The powerful foundation of essential software that Blackbaud provides
K-12 schools can be extended even further through the partners engaged
in the Blackbaud Marketplace. With Blackbaud SKY API, LuHi can integrate
Blackbaud’s education management solutions seamlessly with third-party
solutions such as Turnitin, which streamlines grading and feedback.

With seamless access to this network of Blackbaud partners, departments
across the school can leverage specific products that meet their specific
needs while knowing their data is securely stored in their Blackbaud solution.
“Not having to switch systems to access the data because it’s pushed into
our Blackbaud education management solutions has been a lifesaver in so
many ways for everyone,” Martone said. “I love the innovation that’s been
released since we became a Blackbaud customer in 1999 and look forward to
continual expansion of our use of these solutions.”