2024 Recap
The Orah Team
•
January 1, 2025
2024 was a busy year jam-packed with core product changes and new updates that work towards making independent schools safer than ever before. This article is a quick summary of all the primary releases made in the last 12 months.
2024 Orah Product Update Recap
Please note that you need an Orah account to access the detailed updates for each one of these releases. If you do not have one, you can get in touch with the Orah team here to create one.
Activity Feed
Activity Feed Enhancements (Jan 18)
- New permissions for post creation, viewing, editing, and deletion.
- Ability to attach pastoral notes and create additional sections within posts for better organisation and consistency.
- Daily email digest option for summarising activity feed posts.
- Users can post directly to specific houses without switching contexts, streamlining the process.
Attendance Management
Class Attendance Roll Type (Jan 23)
- New roll type tailored to class schedules, integrating with SIS (Blackbaud, Veracross, TASS).
- Lock roll codes to specific staff roles, providing controlled access to advanced attendance options.
- Enable ending passes during roll calls to update attendance dynamically (e.g., a student showing up after being marked late/absent).
Attendance Insights Dashboard (Sep 30)
- Performance upgrades reduce loading times drastically for faster data access.
- New widgets for excused/unexcused absences and a "Today" period for live attendance data tracking.
- Custom data sources (SIS or Orah) allow greater flexibility in managing attendance insights.
Attendance Alerts
- September Update (Sep 11):
- Alerts triggered by attendance categories, multiple criteria, or specific courses.
- Parent notifications now tailored with more details for better communication.
- October Update (Oct 15):
- Schedule alerts with buffer periods to avoid premature notifications.
- Option to deactivate alerts for better onboarding and testing workflows.
Roll Call Enhancements
- Roll Completion Widgets (Oct 24):
- Two new widgets track incomplete roll checks by staff and provide completion rates for better accountability.
- Roll Call Time Control (Dec 26):
- Define timeframes (up to six days prior) for roll calls, ensuring more structured attendance tracking.
- Automate workflows triggered by attendance records, such as late arrivals or unexcused absences.
- Notify students, parents, or staff directly via email, SMS, or push notifications, improving engagement and follow-ups.
- Custom date ranges for workflows provide flexibility in tracking term-based or annual behaviors.
Pass Management
- "Departure/Return Time" renamed to "Start/End Time" for clarity and consistency, especially for day schools.
- Students can hold multiple active passes simultaneously, supporting transitions between day and boarding passes.
- New rules prevent automatic pass termination during location changes, ensuring smoother scheduling.
Scheduled Pass Visibility (Dec 24)
- Teachers can now view scheduled passes during roll calls to anticipate absences, improving classroom management.
- Active passes are clearly displayed in student profiles with an "Active" chip, reducing confusion for administrators.
Pass/Excuse Logic Update (Oct 21)
- Track scheduled vs. actual start and end times for passes, providing a clearer picture of real-world pass usage.
- Manual editing of actual pass times ensures accurate data in case of discrepancies.
Communication Tools
- Secure, school-specific chat tool allowing staff to communicate with students safely and efficiently.
- Messages sync across web and mobile platforms, with notifications for both staff and students.
- Enables staff to manage group communications for classes, dorms, or specific activities securely.
- Real-time messaging with member management tools for adding or removing participants.
Communication Monitor (Jun 27)
- A supervisory tool to oversee all ongoing staff-student conversations, enhancing accountability and security.
Student and Staff Data Management
Staff Sync - TASS (May 10), Veracross (May 17), and Blackbaud (Apr 16):
- Automated syncing of staff details, including emails, titles, and phone numbers, ensuring data consistency.
- Blackbaud integration allows mapping of preferred names as primary display names for a personalised experience.
- Schools can export student data, including custom fields, for bulk updates and detailed analysis.
Enhanced Blackbaud Integration
- Sync attendance-required classes only and exclude deceased contacts for better data management.
Homeboard and Location Management
- Track student locations in real-time with maps, charts, and filters, supporting enhanced supervision.
- Enhanced multi-selection filters with "Is" and "Is Not" logic for faster, more precise data retrieval.
- New filter components, including Houses, provide broader customization options.
What's Coming Next in 2025?
At the end of last year, Kurt Meyer (Head of Product), Matt Varley (CEO) and Ronan Quirke (Product Manager) shared their vision for the future, giving you a glimpse into the exciting developments in the works for 2025.
As always, we are dedicated to you, the people who use Orah day-in and day-out and we're always eager to hear what you think and what you would like to see from Orah's suite of products. To share feedback, or if you'd like any assistance, please click the blue chat icon at the bottom right corner of this page or email us at support@orah.com.
Try Orah at Your School
Orah works hard to help schools meet & exceed their duty of care. Put simply, that means that Orah makes it easier for independent schools to deliver the highest standard of care to students and their families through Attendance Management, Communications, Behavior and Student Well-being tools.
If you would like to see how it could work for your school, you can request a demo from our team today.
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