CHAPEL HILL – Students across Orange County are headed back to school on Monday—and as the schools get ready to reopen, Chapel Hill-Carrboro chief technology officer Ray Reitz says the state Department of Public Instruction is rolling out a new student information system called Home Base.

“It’s a major statewide initative that’s impacting all 115 districts in the state,” he says, “and it’s one of the largest technology initiatives that the state of North Carolina has ever endeavored.”

Click here for the NC DPI’s page on Home Base.

Home Base is replacing the old student information management system, NC WISE. It’ll be used to manage student attendance, schedules, grades, and transcripts—among other things. Reitz says teachers can use Home Base to develop lesson plans, collaborate with students and fellow teachers, manage data, create assessments, and communicate progress reports to parents. And administrators can use it to manage and monitor professional development, which Superintendent Tom Forcella says is a priority for the district this year.

“We believe that Home Base will become a very powerful new tool to streamline the work of teachers and administrators,” says Reitz. “In addition, it will really help parents and students become more of an active participant in the educational process.”

The Department of Public Instruction is implementing the new system in several phases. Reitz says teachers, parents, students and administrators have access to the basic components right now; more components will be rolled out in October and March, and then again at the start of the 2014-15 school year.

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