Case Study – Kingman Unified School District

K12 schools tend to have unique needs and pain points when it comes to their Program of Studies. Since no two school districts are entirely alike, they often need a level of customization to have their Program of Studies reflect the structure and formatting that their school district follows. Kingman Unified School District was no exception. We worked with their team to design a unique catalog structure that allowed them to manage multiple school subdomains from one parent site, while also implementing greater accessibility, searchability, and user experience into each site. Check out what Kingman’s experience looked like from start to finish and what Liz Albin, Kingman’s Student Achievement Leader, had to say about the transition.

The Challenges

Before transitioning to Clean Catalog software, Kingman experienced a multitude of challenges with their Program of Studies documentation. Their previous publication was an outdated, inaccessible PDF document, which hindered accessibility and usability for students, parents, and faculty. Their staff also found themselves doing tedious and repetitive data entry, especially since several of the schools in their district used the same coursework. Since edits needed to be made from a master PDF file, it was necessary to route all edits through a small team of admin, which created a bottleneck in their workflow. This also required countless admin hours to make requested updates and issue new addenda or revised versions of their publication. Additionally, their PDFs weren’t accessible, searchable, or responsive, which limited students’ access and use of the Program of Studies. These challenges culminated in Kingman searching for a comprehensive software solution, which ultimately led them to Clean Catalog.

The Process

The kickoff process was simple. Kingman’s staff simply emailed Clean Catalog their current PDF Program of Studies and we took care of the rest. Within a few weeks, our team had built out the skeleton of their new catalog sites. We built three catalog sites in total, one for each of their schools: Kingman High School, Lee Williams High School, and Kingman Online Learning Academy 6-12. Once the framework of the new sites were set up, we began an ongoing collaboration process with the Kingman staff to edit the format, functionality, branding, and design of each site.

After several rounds of revisions, we were ready to launch their new Program of Studies to a wider audience. Before the launch, we trained their staff on the backend of their new software, with special attention paid to how they can publish content for different schools, all within the same admin dashboard. From there, we let Kingman take the reins on their new publication, though we’re never far away anytime they need additional support. Liz Albin recalls the process as being “easy” and that the Clean Catalog staff “was very easy to work with and extremely responsive to all of my emails.”

Our Solutions

Clean Catalog addressed Kingman’s unique needs by consolidating their three separate catalog sites into one primary site with three subdomains, each representing a different school. This restructuring ensured streamlined content sharing while maintaining distinct branding for each school. Integrating responsive designs and unique branding elements into each subdomain enhanced the user experience and visual appeal for each site. Since all three subdomains are managed from within the same overarching site, admin are able to create and edit content for multiple schools at one time. For instance, if a journalism course is offered at both Kingman High School and Lee Williams High School, a staff member only has to edit that course in one place for it to be updated on both subdomains. This helps lift the burden of data entry for staff members and ensure consistency across schools.

Kingman’s new Program of Studies sites also far surpass the accessibility their previous PDF documents had offered. Their sites now meet WCAG accessibility requirements by default, ensuring the content is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. Their catalog sites also feature automatic PDF generation, which adds an additional formatting option for students and staff members who prefer print versions.

Customization played a crucial role in meeting Kingman’s new Program of Studies build-outs. Since their staff wanted each of the three subdomains to appear independent of one another, we utilized three different brand suites to ensure differentiation. This included brand colors, logos, and visual elements unique to each school. We also tailored course groupings to align with the district's offerings. Kingman offers both traditional and Cambridge course options, which students have the option to select between. To accommodate this unique structure, we included dropdown functionalities that displayed both course pathway options. This interactive structure helps facilitate informed decision-making for students, while presenting the information in a clear, readable way.

Looking Ahead

The implementation of Clean Catalog software has marked a significant improvement in Kingman’s Program of Studies for both students and faculty alike. With enhanced accessibility and administrative efficiency, the district will enjoy easier content management and a much more positive user experience overall.

Liz Albin reflects that their new Program of Studies’ “interface has been easy to use and fairly intuitive. Having an online catalog has made catalog creation and updates much easier than our previous PDF files.” Her staff also conveyed that the setup process was handled seamlessly, and ongoing maintenance remains straightforward. We had a blast collaborating with the Kingman staff on how to best customize our software to their unique needs and are excited to offer continual support for years to come.