How Lindale ISD Improved IEP Translation with Embrace®

Before Embrace®, Lindale staff faced challenges with inconsistent data, a lack of live reporting, and slow support, which placed the burden of resolving compliance and technical issues on the administrative staff.

“There was no reliable data coming out of the program,” said Megan Stanley, Director of Special Programs at Lindale. The team struggled with data gaps and needed reliable customer service. Embrace®'s customer service has proven to be one of the biggest assets to the Lindale team.

“The live chat, I will say, is the very best thing you all do. That's just so great... Not only does it make our staff feel supported, but our leadership team fields less technical calls than we used to,” Megan added. It would take her team months to get responses to support tickets. “We would submit a ticket. And then it could be 5 months later, before you get a response.”

The lack of due date alerts also caused many issues for the team before switching to Embrace®. “We actually had issues with the compliance calendar with our old software that resulted in some IEPs being out of timeline, and that caused us to have to do corrective action. This is no longer a concern with Embrace®.”

One of Lindale's key goals with Embrace® software was to improve compliance and sustain funding. “A huge piece of compliance is funding. And if what's going into Skyward and back is not correct, then that can impact your funding.”

With a high percentage of ESL students, the district also needed a solution that offered easy, fast, and affordable translation services. “Translation has been huge for us because it has been difficult in the past to get the documents translated and find translators. So, I think our diagnosticians really appreciate the translation features. This is a great addition for our families,” said Megan.

Lindale sought a solution that was user-friendly, enabling quick training and long-term adoption. “We don't have a lot of turnover in Lindale, but you are training new staff every year to some extent. And so I think the training videos are great and just ease of use and clarity, but also compliance and support.”

“I've told other directors when they asked, that first year is tough and it's going to be tough, no matter what you're switching to, because it's new for staff, and it is a process,” said Megan. Entering the second year of using Embrace®, the staff could rely on the forms they created in the first year and fully realize the time-saving potential of the software. “We are hearing that it's time-saving for most of our staff.”

The positive impact of Embrace® software has been felt not only by the staff but also by Lindale ISD parents. According to Megan, families have voiced their appreciation for one of EmbraceIEP®’s most popular features: the Parent Portal. “We have even gotten some feedback from a few parents {about} the ease of the forms… They're easy for parents to read and understand.” The ability for parents to sign electronically has significantly improved teacher-parent communication and the overall IEP process.

Free translations have enabled better service not only for the large Spanish-speaking population but also for smaller ESL student groups and their families. “The translations {have} been huge,” said Megan. “Embrace® makes it easy to translate forms, whether into Spanish or another language."

Fast and responsive support
According to Megan, the level of customer support Embrace® provides is unmatched in the industry. In addition to answering questions, Embrace® Customer Support also assists with tasks that initially seem more complicated. “What I do is just chat and say, ‘Can you build me this report?’ And then I run it over and over with new data,” said Megan.

Batch progress reports
“Something that I have heard meeting with teachers and related service staff over the summer was that when they're doing progress reports, they can toggle between the kids. That has been huge to them,” Megan stated. The feature helped the district run programming more efficiently. “It saves them {staff} significant time… The ones who didn't know about that when we shared that with them, that was amazing that they didn't have to go to the new kid. They could just go down their list.”

Adding caseloads to the dashboard
“One of the main reasons that, after we interviewed different places, that I loved about Embrace® was the dashboard where you add your caseload, I think that gives significant comfort, especially to our newer evaluators,” Megan acknowledged. “That's just part of our ‘beginning of the year checklist.’ It's required that you add every kid on your caseload… And then you're not going to miss anything.” It has helped staff during their most critical season.

“I think for our new staff that's really helped… There are a lot of timelines. You don't want to miss anything, and that, I think, is really great.”

Access to live customer support and a Customer Experience Advocate 
When asked about her main motivation for choosing Embrace® for the district, Megan instantly mentioned, “that we could talk to real people.”

Every district with Embrace gets access not only to live Customer Support but also to a Customer Experience Advocate like April Whisenant, who served in special education before joining Embrace® and helps districts navigate the software on an ongoing basis, long after the implementation is complete. “April is a huge asset because she has been in the field and understands how school and Special Education work,” Megan explained.

Timely notifications and software updates per new state regulations
“Embrace® stays up to date on legislative changes and quickly makes software adjustments," Leigh Parker, Assistant Director of Special Programs, added. Her favorite feature is home screen notifications. “I like that they're done very easily. They're easy to see. That's very helpful,” Leigh noted.

Empathetic implementation process
Embrace® organizes a comprehensive implementation process where a few members of the team are involved in the training online or onsite. This was one of the perks Lindale staff appreciated, as it helped establish better communication and connection between the teams. “It spoke volumes to me when you're talking to people high up in the company face to face when you're implementing. With our previous company, we had a hard time ever talking. There wasn't even a phone number we could call, you'd have to put in a ticket.”

Effective reporting for multiple students and service providers
“I love the dashboard at the front,” said Megan. “We are a rapidly growing district and this helps us see everything at a glance.” 

With Lindale’s rapid growth in student population, the number of special services providers has also increased. Embrace®'s reporting tools have proven especially helpful to all case managers. “The reporting tools help staff keep up with timelines and student information. This is especially helpful if you travel to multiple campuses.”

Easy integration with Skyward
According to Leigh, managing mismatches and integrating with the district’s SIS was a straightforward process. “It works well with our attendance {software}, and all of our software through Skyward.”