Players, welcome to The SIS Game, where the prize is time back in your day, cleaner data, and a school community that actually trusts the information in your system. 

Round 1: Eliminating wasted time

In the legacy SIS game, educators lose hours every week to tasks that should be simple:

•   Hunting through menus just to take attendance

•  Re-creating assignments in multiple systems

•  Copying and pasting the same student info into forms, spreadsheets, and emails

Alma eliminates busywork by:

• 🎀 Letting teachers manage attendance, assignments, and grades from one modern interface

• 🎀 Syncing with tools like Google Classroom, Canvas, Schoology, and Microsoft Teams so there is no double entry

• 🎀 Giving admins workflows that actually mirror how schools operate instead of forcing workarounds

You still work hard, just not working hard on things software should handle for you.

Round 2: Eliminating bad data and spreadsheet chaos

In a high stakes environment, bad data is the real villain. Legacy systems often create:

•   Multiple “versions of the truth” for student records

•  Spreadsheets that live on someone’s desktop and never quite match the SIS

•  Late night scrambles when state reports bounce back with errors

Alma helps you win this round by:

• 🎀 Keeping student information, schedules, grades, attendance, and incidents in one consistent data model

• 🎀 Providing validation tools and state reporting support that catch issues before submission

• 🎀 Replacing fragile spreadsheet collections with repeatable, auditable processes

Instead of guessing which file is right, you can trust that Alma is the source of truth.

Round 3: Eliminating click-heavy workflows

You know the feeling. You click into three different screens and seven different menus just to do a simple task. By the time you find the right page, you have forgotten why you went there in the first place.

Alma is designed to cut down the clicks:

• 🎀 Key tasks are fewer steps, with logical pathways for teachers and office staff

• 🎀 Important information is visible at a glance, instead of buried in nested tabs

• 🎀 Role based views mean each user sees what they actually need, not a maze of options

The result is higher adoption, fewer “how do I do this again” questions, and better data because people are willing to use the system.

Round 4: Eliminating lost forms and paperwork

In the old game, a paper form can disappear faster than a contestant in episode one. Registration packets sit in backpacks. Re-enrollment forms get left on kitchen counters. Nurses chase down medical updates by phone. Somewhere, a folder labelled “to enter later” becomes a permanent filing system.

Alma Start brings those processes online:

• 🎀 Families complete registration, re enrollment, and custom forms from any device

• 🎀 Documents and uploads feed directly into Alma instead of into a stack on someone’s desk

• 🎀 Checklists and approval workflows keep everyone on the same page about what is still needed

You eliminate the scavenger hunt and replace it with a clear, trackable path from form to SIS.

Round 5: Eliminating unclear communication

If your SIS and your communication tools do not play nicely, families feel it first.

They see:

•   One grade in the LMS and a different one in the SIS

•  Missing context around assignments, attendance, or behavior

•  Confusing or inconsistent messages from school to home

Alma supports better communication by:

• 🎀 Keeping grades, attendance, and schedules consistent across integrated tools

• 🎀 Giving schools built in messaging and portals so families see accurate, up to date information

• 🎀 Helping educators share progress in ways that support transparency and trust

When everyone sees the same information, it feels a lot less like a survival game and a lot more like a partnership.

Round 6: Eliminating inflexible systems

Education changes. Models shift. Districts pilot new programs. A rigid SIS turns every change into a mini-drama.

Alma helps schools adapt without rewriting the rules every time:

• 🎀 Configurable grading, terms, and course structures

• 🎀 Support for traditional, standards based, and hybrid grading approaches

• 🎀 Tools that scale from single schools to districts and networks

Instead of feeling trapped in a game designed for someone else’s reality, your SIS moves with you.

The real win: Better outcomes with Alma

At the end of the day, no one is asking for a more complicated, tedious SIS. They are asking for:

• 🎀 Fewer hours wasted on manual tasks

• 🎀 Fewer errors and re work when reporting

• 🎀 More accurate, accessible data for decision making

• 🎀 Stronger communication with students and families

That is what Alma is built to eliminate: the friction between your team and the work that actually moves students forward.

So if your current SIS feels a little too much like a high stakes game where the rules keep changing, maybe it is time to choose a platform where everyone can win together.