Claire Kim

INTELLISPARK. Administrators made the choice to begin implementing Intellispark this year, a digital platform that stores data about the students at SPA for faculty to access. The goal is for student needs to be easily taken care of due to the ease and organization of using this platform.

This year, administrators made a management system switch to a platform called Intellispark, which gathers and stores data about student needs. Assistant Head of School for Student Development and Community Engagement Jill Romans and Director of Center for Learning and Teaching Karen Rassmussen were the main coordinators of the new system.

The first schoolwide use of Intellispark was for September advisor conferences; after students filled out a survey about the upcoming year, advisors were able to access their responses and discuss them in person. “[Intellispark] has the ability to push out a survey if you’re asking students for information on … their hopes and needs, how we can support you, … things that advisors might want to know about their students,” Romans said. Currently, the main use of Intellispark planned for the future is sending out surveys to gather student information.

The primary reason for the change was because the old system, Magnus Health, was less intuitive and efficient than Intellispark, making it more difficult for administrators to manage student information. Romans compared the switch between the two systems to the student shift from Veracross to Google Classroom for assignments.

Rassmussen, who coordinates student learning plans, explained that Intellispark makes organizing them easier for both students and teachers, while also ensuring health information is protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). “It’s just an easier way to [be compliant] with the HIPAA laws… and an easier place for people to find them and make use of them,” she said.

Although students will not see the information stored in Intellispark, the system gives administrators the ability to communicate with students about their needs throughout the year. “Our hope is that that makes it easier for teachers to support students and follow through on accommodation plans or health plans and support that students need,” Romans said. “So in that way, maybe students will see a benefit just because the information is easier to get to and to understand.” Among many other changes by administration, the implementation of Intellispark is one additional system of organization for both students and teachers.