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LMS Options out there that sync with Veracross

  • 1.  LMS Options out there that sync with Veracross

    Posted 10-04-2024 08:58 AM

    Hi Everyone,

    We are bringing in a new LMS in 25-26.  One of the key/top requirements will be a 2-way sync with Veracross (our SIS).  From LMS to Veracross sync I'm mostly thinking about grades and comments syncing to the report cards and progress reports in Veracross.
    Right now we use Google Classroom and double enter the grades into VC LMS once a trimester hits.
    We are a PS-8 school with standard grading (non-IB, or anything specialized at the moment). We don't have Veracross API+ for Education but imagine we will be buying that in order to do this.
    The systems that we have on the list thus far are Canvas, Toddle (although we are not an IB school they say they can support any grading style), and Schoology.  I'm not seeing many more options here besides using Veracross LMS in combination with Google Classroom.  If you have any other options that you really like, let me know.
    Let me know what you currently have as an LMS and if the 2-way sync is set up and working well and which option you really like or don't really like.
    Thanks!  
    Glen Worthing
    St. Anne's Episcopal School
    Denver, CO

    #TeachingandLearning

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    Glen Worthing
    St. Anne's Episcopal School
    Denver CO
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  • 2.  RE: LMS Options out there that sync with Veracross

    Posted 10-04-2024 12:34 PM

    Hi Glen,

    Reach out to Katie Cain at Mount Vernon - they have done a lot of work with Toddle this year.



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    Ally Wenzel
    Stevenson School
    Pebble Beach CA
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: LMS Options out there that sync with Veracross

    Posted 10-08-2024 03:23 PM

    Great question! This is something we also are looking at and have an initial demo call set up with Toddle for next week. Good to know there is someone who we might reach out to that are using both Veracross and Toddle.



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    Jennifer Frim
    The Wellington School
    Columbus OH
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: LMS Options out there that sync with Veracross

    Posted 10-09-2024 09:08 AM

    We are in our first year of using Toddle at our Middle School and we are using the Veracross integration. At the current time, we are only using it one-way, to populate data in Toddle. The main reason we went with Toddle was (aside from the Veracross integration) that we need its functionality and reporting for competency based learning (we don't issue grades at our Middle School). Veracross doesn't have the same level of support for CBL as Toddle, so there is no point for us in trying to sync that Toddle data back to Veracross. However, Toddle does support syncing attendance and end-of-term letter grades entered in Toddle back to Veracross. Our Upper School teachers are really interested in Toddle too so we'll be doing some testing there later this year, specifically around the ability to sync Toddle end of term grades back into Veracross. We're still keeping attendance in Veracross for this year as Toddle is new for us and we didn't want to go overboard disrupting established systems like attendance. I will say overall I am very impressed with the work that the Toddle engineers are doing to support Veracross integration. It is still a bit of a work in progress but what is there seems to work very well and the Toddle engineers have been VERY responsive in fixing things. Overall, we give a big thumbs up to Toddle's onboarding and support and I'll be happy to answer any other questions about our experience with Toddle.



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    Trevor Hoyt
    Durham Academy
    Durham NC
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: LMS Options out there that sync with Veracross

    Posted 10-09-2024 09:44 AM

    We have Canvas and Veracross and are using the API Plus for Academics integration. For the most part, the integration works really well. This year, we have had a few class sections randomly be marked as tobedleleted in Canvas and mark the class as Inactive in Canvas drop all the enrollments (the fix is to import the class and enrollments back in as Active - this fix seems to stick). I'm not sure Veracross and Canvas fully understand what happened. They did blame our grading period change in MS for some of it, however, it is affecting classes in MS and US, so I'm not sure I believe that. We did not change US.

    Things to watch for - We had MS set up on Semesters last year, but we had some quarter classes. We edited the back end of Canvas to make them quarter classes since the VC feed couldn't handle it appropriately, due to the Quarters being minor grading periods instead of major grading periods. Over the summer, we made the Quarter grading periods major ones. Not something you do mid-year.

    They blamed the dropping classes on that, but I'm not 100% sure I believe that.

    We choose not to feed grades back to VC via the integration, so our teachers do enter Interims, quarter, and semester grades into the Veracross portal. The way the grades feed into the quarter grades are via the grade book and assignments, so we chose not to do that. It didn't give us wiggle room to weight the the quarters differently as the calculated grades in VC are add the 2 semester grades and divide by 2 and so on.

    Alicia Barevich is our expert at Blake. We'd be happy to jump on a call to discuss further.



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    Denise Covington
    Director of Information Management
    The Blake School
    Hopkins, MN
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: LMS Options out there that sync with Veracross

    Posted 10-10-2024 07:19 AM

    @Glen Worthing While we are not using either of these at MKA, I have done a lot of work with schools using Canvas and Toddle. I've taken some deeper dives into Toddle as we are considering LMS options as well. We went in-depth with Cindy Blackburn, the Director of earning at Toddle, for our podcast episode on "Talking Technology with ATLIS" - https://theatlis.org/page/integrating-ai-in-education. There is some good stuff there.

    I am working with a school in Australia that is doing a lot of work building its integration between Veracross and Canvas. It is a feature-rich tool, but it is important to know what you want to use from it.

    There is a lot to consider regarding the overlap between Veracross and any LMS in terms of your teaching and learning goals. For instance, Toddle offers a lot in terms of using Backward Design and AI features to help teachers focus their work in very interesting ways. Canvas has a number of different engagement modules and is what many students will see when they attend college/university. 

    Sometimes overlooked are the services duplicated between the SIS and LMS. What grade book, attendance packages, or communications tool is authoritative, and how is it integrated and shared? How well-defined is the API they use to share data, and are they using One Roster to share information?

    There are more things here to consider than a specific recommendation. Good luck in your process, and be sure to share what direction you go, as many of us are in the same boat!



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    William Stites
    Montclair Kimberley Academy
    Montclair NJ
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: LMS Options out there that sync with Veracross

    Posted 10-10-2024 09:47 AM

    We are using Toddle for our Lower, Middle, and Upper School starting this year and have had a very quick launch schedule. A few notes:

    • We are loading faculty, staff, students and families from Veracross to Toddle. For the most part, those loads were smooth with the exception of family members. Toddle loaded any person on a student record with a Parent or Grandparent Veracross role as a family member of a student. For instance, if an aunt or an uncle of a student also had their child attending, then they were put on both records. There was some clean-up involved and Toddle updated the feed to only include a parent relationship rather than a parent role
    • We are loading classes, schedules, timetables from Veracross into Toddle. The key issue there is the primacy of the "subject" in the Toddle architecture. Rather than a subject --> course --> class/section framework, Toddle maps each class to a subject. We have had to get very granular with our subjects (e.g. Math - Data Science vs. Math) as you need a unique subject per set of standards and per how you want to report grades. Also - subject assigned during the initial load cannot be deleted - you can only add more. (This structure may change next year for Progressive Curriculum schools)
    • We recently completed our first load of grades from Veracross to Toddle for Middle School and Upper School for report cards - the mapping issue above played a large role requiring a data clean-up. We were able to complete a set of grade loads.

    We are still growing into the Toddle features such as aligning units and assignments to standards.

    Simon Keating

    Head of Technology and Innovation

    Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart



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    Simon Keating
    Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: LMS Options out there that sync with Veracross

    Posted 10-17-2024 01:23 PM

    Hi Glen,

    We are a 9-12 high school and have used Canvas since 2020. Our teachers love it. This is our first academic year on Veracross, we were previously on Senior Systems, and the integration with Canvas to do account creation, course shell creation, course rostering and observer account creation and pairing is great! I spent the summer working with Canvas to get everything straightened around and we were live in time for faculty to load their courses for the fall semester, without anyone realizing what was happening in the background. 

    We turned on grade sync at the beginning of September, and we've been less than impressed. There are many steps in getting it setup and if the faculty member misses one the grades either don't sync or the weighting ends up being way off and the grade are incorrect in Veracross. We knew this could be an issue so the Veracross gradebook is hidden from student and parent view. Our community is used to checking the Canvas gradebook, so this is nothing new. Veracross uses One Roster as their API Plus for Academics which, in my opinion, needlessly complicates things as they already have a robust API. This was a data gathering year for us regarding grade sync so each faculty member is still posting quarterly grade in Veracross manually and ignoring the synced grades, even if they are correct.

    In short, my recommendation would be to not base your LMS decision on the grade sync features within Veracross. A fully fledged, LTI compliant LMS is, at least in my opinion, much more important for the students and faculty than having grades passed back to the SIS.

    p.s. If you do go with Canvas and you have Veracross create and pair observer accounts (parents) with the students, just know that you cannot customize the default notification options for the entire organization. Yes, even as a global admin in Canvas. This has created a bit of frustration for some parents as they feel like they are getting "mail-bombed". You might ask your implementation crew if they can set it to daily notifications on the back end.



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    Lee Feller
    Episcopal High School (TX)
    Bellaire TX
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    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: LMS Options out there that sync with Veracross

    Posted 10-31-2024 07:19 AM

    I'm intrigued by the LMS within Veracross. Assuming it isn't as feature rich as what we are used to with Schoology, but am not sure. Has anyone explored this? I've booked a basic demo, but would love to get some thoughts here. Thank you!! (my first post :)



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    Amy Melle
    Director of Academic Technology
    Good Shepherd Episcopal School Dallas
    Dallas
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    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: LMS Options out there that sync with Veracross

    Posted 10-31-2024 07:38 AM

    @Amy Melle At Montclair Kimberley Academy, we use the Veracross LMS and Google Classroom. We were previously using Moodle, and we looked at what we were actually using with that system and what the Veracross LMS offered. Once we had that information, we could make an informed decision about what Veracross was offering, along with our other tools, and move forward.

    I would be happy to discuss it further with you and connect you with others at MKA.



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    William Stites
    Montclair Kimberley Academy
    Montclair NJ
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    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: LMS Options out there that sync with Veracross

    Posted 11-01-2024 08:42 AM

    Hi all! First post/ first response! Our school uses Veracross and Google Classroom in our Lower School. We pair Veracross with Schoology in our middle and upper schools. I have been working with our data specialist to test out the LMS features in Veracross with the hope of perhaps streamlining our platforms and potentially only using Veracross as our LMS in the Lower School.  Currently our registrar imports Schoology data into Veracross for grades and report cards. We are piloting some Lower School teachers using the gradebook in Veracross for a direct import into our reporting process. We chose not to fully implement mid-year because it would mess with our report card formatting. Additionally, I have experimented with the classroom website feature in Veracross and it has pretty much the same functionality as Google Classroom as far as posting photos, assignments, resources, discussion, etc. I have not tried collecting assignments through the website. Ultimately, Veracoss is not as user-friendly or "pretty" as Google Classroom (or even Schoology) but the basic functionality is there!



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    Jessica Bassett
    Whitefield Academy
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    Original Message


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