ou may have heard by now that Chalkable was bought out by PowerSchool. This means that in 12-18 months PowerSchool will retire Chalkable products, iNow, Small School Minder, and Chalkable private. PowerSchool has decided they are not interested in being rollup compliant so we will need to move those schools to another product.

Yes, this is very frustrating, another SIS company that has been bought out and will affect our schools. But let me assure you, we still have two very positive options. Because of the two buyouts, we have strengthened our relationship with both Renweb and Jupiter. Renweb is strengthening their support force particularly for SDA schools. They have a great 80/20 financial plan that allows small schools to get the software free if 80 percent of the schools over 50 students buy in to the program. They are very familiar with SDA schools and provide quality support.

Jupiter is another great option! They service more than 3000 schools and have been in business for more than 14 years. They are data roll up compliant and have been servicing at least one SDA conference very successfully. The pricing structure is very straight forward and affordable. The price is $6.00 per student with no minimums, and no activation fees. Current users report that Jupiter provides the best customer support!

TDEC explored the option of creating our own SIS so that we are not at the mercy of company buyouts, but after talking with the two vendors, they have solid reasons to not sell, and the cost, implementation, and support of our own product made it impractical. Therefore, we are recommending that all schools use either Renweb or Jupiter. Remember that this is not the division making changes, it is our attempt to make what was done to us successful. If you have questions, please contact Martha Ban at marthaban@nadadventist.org.

Please continue to hold this up in your prayers.

Dr. Larry Blackmer

VICE PRESIDENT, EDUCATION

Larry has served at Grand Ledge Academy in Grand Ledge, Michigan, as both teacher and principal; at Adelphian Academy in Holly, Michigan, as vice principal and boys’ dean; and as principal at Mount Pisgah Academy in North Carolina and Takoma Academy in Takoma Park, Maryland. Larry also served for seven years as associate superintendent in the Michigan Conference. He also served as superintendent of schools in the Idaho Conference. Prior to serving as the vice president of education for the NAD, Larry served as associate director of education for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America. His duties include secondary education, marketing and technology.