About Aurora Plains Academy
Aurora Plains Academy is an alternative school in Plankinton, South Dakota, serving children with developmental disabilities, behavioral challenges, and complex mental health needs. Through its residential treatment program, developmental disability program, and alternative day school, the academy provides individualized education for students in grades 5 through 12 while working closely with treatment teams to support each student’s long-term success.
The school serves approximately 33 students at any given time, supported by a team of eight teachers and six teaching assistants. Because every student’s needs are different, classrooms are often organized by educational and behavioral requirements rather than traditional grade levels.
As Director of Education, Josh Rolling oversees academic operations across all three programs. During our conversation, he explained that flexibility is essential to how Aurora Plains Academy operates, making it impossible to rely on software built around traditional school structures. Instead, the school needs systems that adapt to its students—not the other way around.
The Challenge: Managing Academics Across Multiple Manual Systems
When Josh Rolling joined Aurora Plains Academy as Director of Education, many of the school’s academic processes relied on paper records and manual administration.
Teachers maintained paper gradebooks throughout each quarter before submitting grades to the administration. Report cards were then manually recreated in Excel, requiring Josh to collect information from every teacher, verify its accuracy, and prepare student reports individually. Even after transitioning to shared spreadsheets, the process remained cumbersome. Teachers occasionally lost data when Excel files weren’t saved correctly, while administrators still spent significant time reviewing grades, correcting errors, and ensuring report cards were accurate before they could be distributed.
The school’s information was also spread across several different systems. Academic records, medical documentation, state reporting requirements, special education records, and transcripts all lived in separate platforms, making it difficult to quickly access a complete picture of each student’s progress.
Preparing report cards, monitoring student performance, and gathering information for treatment meetings had become increasingly time-consuming, leaving less time to focus on supporting students and teachers.
Searching for a School Management System That Could Adapt
Recognizing that the school’s existing processes were no longer sustainable, Josh began researching school management systems. His goal wasn’t simply to replace paper gradebooks—he wanted one platform that could centralize grading, report cards, transcripts, and student information while supporting the academy’s unique educational model.
During our interview, Josh shared that he evaluated several solutions, but many were either too expensive for a school of Aurora Plains Academy’s size or too rigid to accommodate their workflows. Most expected the school to adapt to the software rather than allowing the software to adapt to the school.
“All the other ones were a lot more rigid. DreamClass lets us set it up in a way that still works for us.”
After testing DreamClass through a free trial and speaking with the team about the academy’s requirements, Josh became confident that the platform offered the flexibility and customization he had been searching for.
Building a System Around the School
Although the initial setup required planning, Josh appreciated having the ability to configure the platform according to the school’s own processes. Rather than working within predefined limitations, Aurora Plains Academy was able to customize grading structures, report cards, classrooms, and academic workflows to reflect how the school actually operates.
That investment during implementation also made supporting teachers much easier later. Because Josh had configured the system himself, he understood exactly how it worked and could confidently answer questions from staff without needing to learn everything through trial and error.
As the school continued using DreamClass, the platform became the central location for academic management. Teachers entered grades directly into the system, report cards and transcripts could be generated in minutes, and administrators no longer needed to collect information from multiple sources before meetings or reporting periods.
Improving Visibility Beyond the Gradebook
While DreamClass initially solved the school’s grading and reporting challenges, Aurora Plains Academy soon found additional ways to support its unique educational environment.
One example is attendance tracking.
Because many students live on campus, traditional attendance is only part of the picture. Teachers also use DreamClass to record classroom exits, sensory breaks, and other behavioral patterns throughout the day. This information helps administrators identify trends that support both educational planning and treatment decisions.
Assignments, report cards, transcripts, attendance records, and academic progress are now maintained within one centralized platform, giving teachers and administrators immediate access to the information they need without relying on multiple disconnected systems.
Saving Time Across the School
When reflecting on the impact DreamClass has had on his day-to-day work, Josh doesn’t point to a single feature. Instead, he describes how the platform has gradually eliminated many of the repetitive administrative tasks that once consumed his time.
Every week, DreamClass saves him from having to manually collect academic updates from teachers before meetings. With grades and student progress available in one place, he can quickly access the information he needs without chasing staff for updates.
Communication has also become much more efficient. Before DreamClass, notifying families about weather closures or schedule changes meant contacting parents individually. Today, a single message reaches every family at once, saving valuable time while keeping personal phone numbers private.
The greatest time savings come at the end of each grading period. During our interview, Josh estimated that preparing report cards and transcripts previously required at least a full day’s work. Now, once grades have been entered, reports can be generated in just a few clicks, dramatically reducing the administrative effort required each quarter.
“At the end of each quarter it saves me at least eight hours getting report cards and transcripts ready.”
A Partnership That Continues to Evolve
For Josh, one of DreamClass’s greatest strengths extends beyond the software itself.
Throughout our conversation, he repeatedly returned to the relationship he has built with the DreamClass team. Rather than receiving a simple “that’s not possible” when new requirements arise, he described a collaborative approach focused on understanding the school’s needs and exploring ways the platform can continue evolving alongside them.
That experience has given Aurora Plains Academy confidence that DreamClass will continue supporting the organization as its educational programs grow and change.
“It feels like I’m part of the program. I’m part of the process. If something changes here, DreamClass will be able to adapt.”
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The Outcome
What began as a search for a better gradebook evolved into a complete modernization of Aurora Plains Academy’s academic administration.
By replacing paper gradebooks, spreadsheets, and disconnected systems with a centralized school management platform, the academy has simplified reporting, improved visibility into student progress, strengthened communication with families, and significantly reduced administrative workload.
Most importantly, teachers and administrators now spend less time managing paperwork and more time supporting the students who depend on them every day.
For a school where flexibility is essential and every student’s journey is different, DreamClass has provided a system that adapts to the school’s mission instead of asking the school to adapt to the software.
