Enriched
Online Platform to Connect Schools with Substitute Teachers in Real-Time
Design Development Ideation
An online platform that connects schools with substitute teachers in real-time. By reimagining substitute teaching, they maximize student success by connecting great people to great schools when they need it most; enriching lives one classroom at a time.
Whenever teachers are absent, student learning can suffer from having random substitutes try to pick up where the teacher left off. To eliminate the loss of student learning from a teacher’s absence, Enriched Schools is on a mission to make sure every day counts for kids.
Traditional school staffing is an outdated system that has hindered enrichment programming and consists of poor substitute staffing services. With the average teacher being absent almost 10 days a year, there was yet to be an efficient system to find quality substitute teachers urgently.
Founded in 2012, Enriched Schools has since become a national movement that harnesses the power of local communities to maximize student success. How does it work? Local adults with a passion for educating children can apply to become a guest educator (GE) to teach in schools nearby whether for a day, a month, or a year. GEs consist of educators, creatives, and community leaders who all ensure that students do not miss a beat when their teacher is absent.
Enriched Schools partnered with Virtual Force to create a marketplace that could connect and facilitate passionate people seeking flexible work at K-12 schools. The goal was to create a reliable, quick, and convenient two-sided platform. By using a proprietary matching system, every GE is screened in the network to guarantee that each school receives the perfect replacement and smooth staffing experience.
VF played an important role in the ideation, mockup, design, development, testing, and launch of Enriched Schools. Using a hassle-free sign-up wizard, the system allows schools and teachers to get registered with Enriched Schools. Prospective GEs can visit the homepage and create a profile with the relevant information for the system to match them with specific staff requests. Details such as special skills, languages, and the roles the GE is looking for are all taken into account along with education and previous work experience.
Tech
- Ruby on Rails
- HTML5
- Backbone.js
- CSS3
- Bootstrap
- SMTP
- Twilio
- Slack
We know how important it is to be diligent about employing people who want to work with students. Enriched Schools screens, interviews and conducts extensive background checks on all GEs before they can become verified users. After being approved, our algorithm allows users to easily update their availability and matches them with schools looking for their specific talents. Enriched Schools is committed to student achievement and the diversity of perspectives, experiences, and specialties among GE’s gives students a unique and fulfilling learning experience.
Since 2012, Enriched Schools has inspired over 200k students in 14 cities via 1,500 GEs and 175 partners.
Harry Schnur
COO
“We have been very impressed with VF. Their team (both abroad and in the States) has been consistent in their responsiveness, sincere in their desire to learn and implement our vision, and creative in developing designs and mechanical solutions for our product. The product manager working with us has been an astute manager and dedicated problem-solver.”