Spring Lake Park Schools - District 16 serves Spring Lake Park, Blaine, and Fridley with three K-3 elementary schools, a grades 4-5 elementary school, a 6-8 middle school, a four-year high school, Learning Alternatives area learning center, online distance learning academy, and Lighthouse Program for the highly able student. With 4,500 students, District 16 is personal in size, extra-large in opportunity. The same is true about the school community. The school community is vibrant, yet retains a small-town feel.

 

District 16 needed a solution to help integrate enterprise applications, coordinate staff information within multiple directory systems, and begin to develop a district wide white pages.

 

District 16 utilized Novell Identity Manager software and the Solbrekk professional services team to implement a solution that allows staff data to be automatically populated and synchronized between Novell eDirectory and Microsoft Active Directory. This allowed District 16 for the first time to provide real time information about district staff through a white page. Furthermore, the users are able to update this personal information to support several other key systems within the district. This cross-platform approach allows District 16 to further strengthen security, data reliability, and build on its existing infrastructure. It also creates the ideal cohesive environment on which to address future challenges.

 

Along with eDirectory, District 16 integrated other databases into the infrastructure, including Microsoft SQL, which serves as the system's secondary database for synchronization to several other key district systems like the library system, testing & assessment, transportation, and food services.

 

The diagram outlines this approach at a high level. Novell’s Identity Manager allows the synchronization and integration of different directories and database.

 

Microsoft SQL is required to support key data transferred to those systems noted above. These systems then provide specific services to all district staff for student data. Further utilization of Identity Manager supported synchronization of data to support the provisioning of the user accounts to provide real time data transfer and synchronization.

 

Once the data was cleaned between the systems, synchronization was established. This allowed the next step in the evolution to begin. That was utilizing the industry standard products to support the development of the provision of student and staff information between all systems. Specifically, this provides district employees with real-time critical information about a student’s progress within the district. Eventually allowing students, staff, and parents the ability to review and update personal data and information related to them.

 

Solbrekk Professional Services provided critical knowledge transfer and accelerated the deployment of the solution. Solbrekk Professional Services expertise in leveraging Identity Manager to integrate eDirectory, Active Directory, and SQL simplified application management, identities and processes. This secured Spring Lake Park School’s confidence in its directory-based system's ability to support the many diverse students, curriculum, and educational needs.

 

Spring Lake Park experienced success by leveraging Novell Identity Manager software from Novell and Professional Services from Solbrekk. Steve Price stated, “The solution increased system functionality and efficiency, and also reduced administrative costs and time.”