OVERVIEW
Thetford Academy is a classic New England town academy, founded in 1819, serving grades 7–12 across Vermont’s Upper Valley region. As the school advanced its transition to proficiency-based grading and looked to streamline core operations, its legacy SIS was becoming a constraint. Thetford needed a system that teachers could actually learn without a steep ramp, and a foundation that could support long-term change without constant workarounds.
WHY THEY SWITCHED FROM A LEGACY SYSTEM
Kate Owen, Thetford’s librarian and digital learning leader, described their previously used platform as capable for its price point, but said the user experience was a persistent challenge for both new teachers and long-term staff.
“It had UI and UX issues, bluntly,” Owen said. “It had a very long learning curve that was challenging for a lot of people.”
Thetford also wanted a cleaner experience for proficiency-based grading, a clearer “single source of truth,” stronger admissions-to-enrollment workflows, and better management of flex-period activities.
THE DECISION THAT SAVED ABOUT $30,000
Thetford evaluated five vendors, narrowed to three, and ultimately reached two finalists. Owen said Alma stayed in the mix because it offered the right balance of features for a school like Thetford, at a price point that made sense.
In the final decision, onboarding economics mattered. Thetford estimates it saved roughly $30,000 in onboarding and switching fees by choosing Alma, freeing up budget to focus on implementing other mission critical efforts.
“I thought that the support was fantastic. Alma folks were super accessible. I didn’t ever feel at sea, ignored, or frustrated.”
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ONBOARDING THAT FELT DOABLE, NOT DAUNTING
Alma helped Thetford approach onboarding as a guided transition, not a process they had to figure out alone. With clear implementation steps, responsive support, and a partner helping them move through the details, the school was able to keep the summer migration organized and manageable.
The payoff was a switch that stayed organized. Owen praised Alma’s step-by-step implementation materials (specifically the onboarding guide, Navigator) along with the support resources that helped her keep moving without guessing.
“I found the step-by-step directions to be fantastic,” Owen said. “I really thought the directions were clear enough that even people without a lot of prior knowledge would do well.”
She also called out responsiveness from the support team during onboarding.
“I thought that the support was fantastic,” Owen said. “Alma folks were super accessible. I didn’t ever feel at sea, ignored, or frustrated.”
Owen added that the training approach fit their reality as well.
“Virtual training is helpful and great,” she said. “I do think it’s really clear.”
A SMOOTHER PATH TO PROFICIENCY-BASED GRADING
Proficiency-based grading was a core driver of the switch, but Thetford needed flexibility to roll it out without forcing an overnight transformation. Owen said Alma’s ability to run different grading scales and produce hybrid report cards gave the school room to pilot, expand adoption over time, and reduce the stress that often comes with grading model transitions.
“It’s great that we can run hybrid report cards,” Owen said. “What a huge benefit operationally, change management wise.”
“You don’t get to have fun with software that much, but (with Alma) there is a sense of fun.”
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USABILITY THAT IMPROVED THE FAMILY EXPERIENCE
Thetford’s team also saw benefits in everyday usability. Owen said the parent portal experience improved because it is easier to use, and the school heard fewer complaints from families. She also noted that design details matter in software adoption, especially when schools are already juggling multiple systems.
“I can’t tell you enough about your UX/UI and the color scheme and the fun,” Owen said. “You don’t get to have fun with software that much, but (with Alma) there is a sense of fun.”
BEHAVIOR DOCUMENTATION THAT REDUCED NOISE
One unexpected win for Thetford was incident reporting. Their prior system did not include incident tracking, and staff relied heavily on informal emails and drop-ins. Owen said moving those moments into a structured workflow reduced interruptions and created better visibility across classes.
“It’s stopped people from just randomly emailing and stopping in all day,” Owen said. “If a kid is found to be plagiarizing in one class, you can see that they’ve done it in another one.”
For Thetford, the most noteworthy impact is calmer operations: fewer one-off interruptions, clearer context, and quicker next steps when patterns show up.
WHAT IT ADDED UP TO
After evaluating multiple platforms, Thetford was able to move forward confidently with Alma, choosing a more reasonable implementation investment and a system better aligned to the school’s needs.
That decision helped turn onboarding into a clear and supported process while giving Thetford a stronger operational foundation for proficiency-based grading. Staff gained a system that was easier to learn, easier to support, and flexible enough to grow with the school’s long-term needs.
By the end of its first year with Alma, that impact showed up in daily workflows and staff reflections. Thetford’s staff feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Satisfaction scores landed at the high end of the scale, and staff reported meaningful improvements in efficiency.
For school leaders, that response confirmed what they were already seeing across the school: Alma was not simply a new SIS. It was a system staff could trust, use confidently, and feel good about using.
For Thetford, Alma proved that the right SIS does more than support school operations. It changes what staff believe is possible from the systems they rely on every day.
