Willowbrook School Assignment # 1

Chapter 1
Willowbrook School is a small private school that has retained your services as a systems analyst
to assist in the development of a new information system for the schools administrative needs.
Background
Willowbrook School is a small, private school in the Midwest United States. For the past 2
years, it has offered a curriculum for preschool throu!h "th !rade. Five years a!o it e#panded to
offer after$school care, usually referred to as after care, on premises. %fter care is not only
offered to Willowbrooks students, but also for students of other schools in the area.
%s an independent systems analyst, you work as an &' consultant, speciali(in! in developin! &'
solutions for small businesses. )ou have been contacted by the director, *ictoria +wens, to
discuss the possibility of settin! up a computer system to handle some of the schools
administrative and financial tasks. She e#plains to you that Willowbrook is e#periencin!
si!nificant increases in enrollment applications for all pro!rams. &ncreases in applications,
coupled with increased demand for after$school care, have led to a very hi!h workload for the
administrative personnel and staff. 'he principal and teachers have stepped in where possible,
but the demand is becomin! too !reat. Willowbrook School is a non$profit, and is not in a
position to hire another full$time administrative position, which is what the principal and director
think would be needed to handle the increased workload. )ou a!ree to meet with *ictoria and the
principal, ,athy -illiard ne#t week to discuss the school and its need for an information system.
)ou sit down with *ictoria and ,athy on Wednesday to ask them some .uestions to help you
determine what type of information system they need. )ou e#plain to them that information
systems brin! computer hardware and software to!ether with people, processes, and data to
produce specific results. 'hey are e#cited to tell you about their situation and what they have in
mind for a computer system to help with some of the work load. 'o help you with plannin! for
the information system, you ask them about what personnel they have, as well as some .uestions
to determine what types of information each person needs to do their /ob.
*ictoria e#plains her role as the e#ecutive director of the school. She administers the activities of
the school in accordance with the mission, vision, and policies established by the 0oard of
1irectors. She supports the educational staff and oversees the financial, payroll, and human
resources functions for the school. She also prepares all necessary reports and evaluations for the
state and local school boards. ,athy says that as the principal of Willowbrook she handles the
academic and curricular issues that arise, and ensures that the school meets all federal and state
educational standards. ,athy and the teachers who report to her make decisions /ointly about
admissions and assi!nments to classrooms. 'he two kitchen staff personnel, a head cook and an
assistant, also report to the principal. She also coordinates students bus transportation schedule.
'he school contracts with a local bussin! company to provide transportation for some students in
the area. Some after care students are dropped off by the local public school districts busses, and
she coordinates with the districts transportation department. ,athy also substitutes in any of the
school classrooms when a teacher is out.
Susan 0rown is the vice principal. She is responsible for the after$care pro!ram. While students
must be pre$re!istered for after$care re.uired on a daily basis, the school does offer 2drop$in3
care on an 2as space allows3 basis. Susan handles all re.uests for drop$in care in consultation
with the after$care teachers. She also maintains the school calendar, prepares handouts and
reminders for parents, keeps track of special dietary needs of the students, and administers the
2camps3 that run durin! the two weeks that the school is not in session durin! the sprin!, and the
summer pro!rams that run throu!h 4uly and %u!ust.
Michelle Madrid is the administrative assistant. She sends out monthly bills for tuition and after$
care, records payments, and handles bank deposits. She has traditionally handled or been
responsible for all administrative tasks related to tuition and after$care fees. She maintains all
student records, and ensures that contact and pick$up lists for all classrooms and after$care
pro!rams are up$to$date. 5urrently, Michelle handles all her responsibilities usin! Microsoft
Word and 6#cel. She is comfortable with the applications, but finds that maintainin! records and
producin! reports, payroll, etc. results in a lot of duplication of effort, as she has to copy a lot of
information from one worksheet or document to another.
'here are eleven full$time teachers at Willowbrook, three for the pre$school pro!ram, two for the
kinder!arten pro!ram, and one for each !rades 7$". 'here are five teachers aides, for the pre$
school$kinder!arten and the !rades 789 pro!rams. 'eachers aides report to their respective
teachers. 6ach teacher is responsible for keepin! attendance records and recordin! them in the
student files.
'here are si# part$time after$care teachers, three for the pre$school:kinder!arten !roup, and three
for the primary !rades. %fter$care teachers report to Susan 0rown. 6ach after$care teacher has
part$time assistants assi!ned to the pro!ram. %ssistants report to the after$care teacher. 'he
number of students pre$re!istered in the after$care pro!ram determines the number of assistants.
'he after$care teachers are responsible for keepin! time sheets for their part$time assistants and
submittin! them every two weeks to Susan 0rown. &n addition, the after$care teachers are
responsible for submittin! weekly summary sheets to Susan 0rown detailin! any hours above
those pre$re!istered for that students spent in the after$care pro!ram, so that parents are billed for
the additional time. ;ike many other non$profit schools, Willowbrook relies on volunteer time
from parents to accomplish many of the tasks essential to the runnin! of the school. % financial
committee e#amines monthly financial reports, a fund$raisin! committee evaluates possible
fund$raisin! pro/ects and handles approved fund$raisin!. &n addition, individual parents step in as
needed to do routine office tasks, such as copyin! and distributin! handouts, to free up Michelle
Madrid for other tasks. <arents also fill in as assistants in the after$care pro!rams when needed,
and .ualified parents step into the classroom as teachers aides whenever possible to reduce the
reliance on substitute teachers.
)ou e#plain to *ictoria and ,athy that this meetin! has !iven you enou!h back!round
information to !et started and you will prepare some material for the ne#t meetin!.
Tasks
7. Use the back!round information you have !athered, alon! with some creative writin!
based on research you conduct on other private schools, to develop a business profile for
Willowbrook School.
2. 5reate an or!ani(ation model of Willowbrook Schools paid staff. Make sure you include
not only the title:position, but the persons name if known. )ou can create the chart usin!
Microsoft Word or a similar pro!ram, or you can draw it by hand. &n Word 27, click the
&nsert tab on the =ibbon, then Smart%rt, then +r!ani(ation 5hart.
9. -enerate a simple business process model to represent a process of Willowbrook School.
'he model should include events, processes, and results.
>. 0ased on the or!ani(ation chart that you created, !ive e#amples of information or reports
that each person or position will need from a business support system. <lace this
information in a two$column table for easy identification and viewin!.