When Adams 14 School District began preparing to open its new PreK–12 campus, it was clear they needed more than a fresh building and staffing plan. With over 5,000 students to support, they needed a modern, reliable, and responsive Student Information System (SIS) – a system that wouldn’t just store data but would actively help them serve students and staff better. Their previous SIS, Infinite Campus, had failed to meet their needs during critical summer months. And with trust in that system already fractured, there was no room for a repeat.
A make-or-break moment
The stakes were high. The team had experienced three straight months of frustration-June, July, and August of 2024-dealing with delays, failures, and poor support from their legacy platform. Everything from reporting to family messaging was unreliable, and they were flying blind during the most important period of the school year.
Enter Alma. Even before a contract was signed, the Adams 14 team saw a difference. “Knowing we’d always have a live person-this was a key differentiator,” said Jackie from the Communications Department. “The Alma team didn’t wait to prove their value. They started demonstrating responsive service and a clear project roadmap from the start.”
“Ask yourself: Is your system saving time or creating more stress? Be realistic with your timeline and honest about your district’s capacity. When you’re working with 5,000 students and hundreds of data points per student, you need supportive leadership and a partner like Alma who understands what’s at stake.”
– Claudia Jimenez, Project Manager
A system built around partnership
Implementation was unlike anything the district had experienced before. “With our previous SIS, we never spoke to the people who actually built the system,” noted Brandon Stelli, Director of Technology. “With Alma, we had a direct line to the team – and issues were resolved faster.”
Claudia Jimenez, the district’s Project Manager, described the onboarding experience as not just supportive but consultative: “We weren’t just handed a checklist – we had a team that helped us work through it all.”
That support proved critical as Alma quickly replaced Infinite Campus across all core functions: enrollment, attendance, communication, and reporting.
Immediate, tangible improvements
Just weeks into using Alma, the dashboard had already transformed how teams operated. Real-time attendance and enrollment updates became the norm. Staff stopped relying on workarounds or outdated dashboards and began collaborating directly within Alma.
One of the most vocal supporters was the district’s Nutrition Services team. An Admin Assistant shared:
“Thank you for Alma! The new SIS has been very user friendly. I have been able to locate student information very quickly while pulling together Direct Certification information. I was able to get the classroom rosters into the point of sale system so much faster than in past years. Now, I am able to pull up students with accurate information while I am working on Free/Reduced applications.”
Another staffer added simply: “Just wanted to say the Alma program is really nice to use this school year.”
A real impact on teaching and learning
Teachers also saw immediate benefits. Alma’s gradebook and its settings were simple to configure and intuitive to use. Communication between students and staff improved, even as some workflows-like attendance-continued to be refined.
“Alma gives us the ability to reach students individually and know where they are at all times,” said Stelli. “It’s a real operational shift.”
Looking ahead: more growth, more possibility
With their SIS finally aligned to their needs, the Adams 14 team is already planning what’s next. High on the list: building out Alma’s Groups functionality to better manage internal projects and initiatives.
Jimenez offered this advice to other districts evaluating SIS platforms:
“Ask yourself: Is your system saving time or creating more stress? Be realistic with your timeline and honest about your district’s capacity. When you’re working with 5,000 students and hundreds of data points per student, you need supportive leadership and a partner like Alma who understands what’s at stake.”
In a moment that could have been defined by chaos, Adams 14 chose clarity – and Alma delivered.
