Tennessee Dept. of Education Awards Follett Approved Vendor Status

MCHENRY, Ill., Jan. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) today announced Follett is an approved student information system (SIS) vendor for the state, making it easier for schools to select Follett's Aspen SIS, a robust web-based solution that maximizes the collection, reporting and management of student data and information.

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Follett already is managing student data for 63,500 students in the state for Knox County Schools in Knoxville and Jefferson County Schools in Dandridge.

"One of our goals was to create a better, more productive user experience while maintaining quality data," said Beau Stanley, team leader/student information specialist, Knox County Schools. "With Aspen's architecture, we can hide fields that aren't relevant to the task at hand and define rules for entering information, which helps us ensure data integrity. And if we have a question, we know our customer relationship manager will be available to help us now and, more importantly, for the long term."

Currently there are 137 PreK-12 districts and 1,700 state schools in Tennessee with data information needs for more than 950,000 students and approximately 70,000 teachers. Individual districts have started making their SIS decisions this winter, with implementations scheduled for next summer.

"Right from the start, we were impressed by the enthusiasm and personal attention from Follett," said Mandy Schneitman, director of student support services, Jefferson County Schools. "Their dedication to the state of Tennessee was evident in their commitment – the staff was knowledgeable, always accessible, easy to work with, and showed a genuine interest in understanding and accommodating our needs.  We are looking forward to the partnership with Follett."

Tom Schenck, President and COO of Follett School Solutions said, "We are thrilled to introduce Follett's enterprise Aspen SIS coupled with a powerful instructional management system to our Tennessee customers.  Follett is already serving a large majority of Tennessee districts with our Destiny and Follett Shelf technology, as well as digital and print products.  We have a great track record of unwavering service commitment, stability and reliability of our software products."

Far more than a traditional SIS that allows school districts to manage their student data, Aspen links student information with curricular and educational tools in a single platform. Combining multiple databases into one powerful and cost-effective learning solution, Aspen tracks class schedules, school events, overall student performance, athletic eligibility and student health records. Aspen helps all members of a district stay connected, providing the ability to link administrators and staff to teachers, students and parents in a real-time, digital environment.

Now in 15 states and Canada, Aspen serves more than one million students.

For more information on Follett's PreK-12 business, visit FollettLearning.com.

About Follett Corporation
Since 1873, Follett has served as the trusted partner in education for students and educators at all levels of learning. Today Follett delivers physical and digital learning materials, retail services, school content and management systems to more than 70,000 early childhood, primary and secondary schools, and on more than 1,000 college campuses. Headquartered in River Grove, Illinois, Follett is a $2.7 billion privately held company.

SOURCE Follett Corporation