About Us
Laura Mitchell is a full-time mother of three and a part-time Program Manager/IT specialist for a local non-profit organization. Through fourteen years of preschool and elementary school, she was an active volunteer with the PTA specializing in custom IT solutions hosted on her personal IBM Domino server. Laura has written programs to collect directory data, connect school fundraisers with PayPal, manage registration for the after-school enrichment program, and even manage the school auction. She also edited a number of print publications, including newsletters, yearbooks, auction catalogs, and quite a few school directories.
As the kids grew and moved on from the elementary school, Laura began working for a local non-profit organization and was given some latitude to redevelop their registration databases using their existing software at Knack.com. Laura found her true passion in harnessing the power of the Knack.com relational database to collect and present information in a logical fashion. School Directory Services was born out of this passion and a desire to improve on the elementary school printed directory. After discussing the idea with friends, the fundraising elements were added to ClassList.Online to provide an all-in-one solution at an affordable price.
Why Directories?
The elementary school directory is a valuable tool for helping families connect. Whether parents are trying to arrange a playdate, invite classmates to a birthday party, or collect money for a teacher gift, having the class contact information in one place is essential. Years ago, Laura looked at the possibility of putting the school directory online but didn’t have the ability to manage user logins for a whole school. Knack.com makes it possible to manage hundreds of user logins for a secure online solutions as well as linking together different types of directory records so the information you need is right where you want it.
School directories are also a powerful fundraising tool for schools. Organizations that can attract a handful of local business sponsors can easily cover the cost of the directory. The real trick is to get all of the directory information together and line up the sponsors early enough in the school year to get the directory into the hands of families. With an online solution, it is possible to continue selling sponsorships after your directory goes live for the year, and student and family information can be updated as necessary. This allows organizations to publish sooner, making the directory more useful for everyone.