San Diego Unified Schools Turn to Technology to Simplify the Master Schedule

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) announced today that it will implement innovative software to help principals manage and simplify the master scheduling process, a critical challenge for principals across the district.

"The schedule reflects a school's values and academic priorities, but it's incredibly complex to ensure that all students have the learning opportunities needed to be successful," said Cheryl Hibbeln, Executive Director of Secondary Schools for San Diego Unified, the second largest school district in California. "Partnering with Abl will enable principals and administrators to do away with spreadsheets and stacks of paper -- and more easily create academic pathways aligned with our core values of equity and opportunity."

Named one of the "10 Big Ideas" to watch in 2018 by Education Week, the master schedule determines course offerings and student placements, as well as how the school provides additional time and specialized supports to students. Starting this semester, Hoover High School and Roosevelt Middle School will be the first SDUSD schools to use Abl Master Scheduler, a platform designed specifically to help principals streamline the development and management of the master schedule.

"This is a game changer for school leaders. My peers and I spend hundreds of hours trying to sort out course requests and pour through binders of data as we hand-schedule each student," said Jason Babineau, principal of Hoover High School in the City Heights neighborhood.  "Finally, we have a technology that can help us simplify the process -- and also ensure we're building balanced, equitable pathways in our block schedule so all students have a positive, engaging learning experience."

Developed in collaboration with secondary schools from around the country, Abl's Master Scheduler works alongside a school's student information system to streamline student course requests and placements. The cloud-based platform enables school leaders to quickly visualize the impact of scheduling decisions in real time, and create space for more innovative programming to ensure students receive the academic supports they need.

"We know the master schedule is the blueprint of the school, the place where policies, programs, priorities, and resources come together," said Adam Pisoni, CEO and Founder of Abl. "We are excited to work with San Diego Unified to help their principals navigate the complexity of the school schedule to support equity and rigor."

About Abl Schools
Developed through a collaborative process with school leaders, Abl is on a mission to transform master scheduling into a smart, collaborative process that enables school leaders to quickly visualize tradeoffs and meet the needs of every student and teacher. Our dynamic school scheduling platform makes it easy to design and manage the daily life of a school through a simple, cloud-based system that eliminates the spreadsheets, magnet boards, and calendaring tools most schools use today. For more information, visit www.ablschools.com.

SOURCE Abl

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