The academic year has wrapped up, and a local newspaper in Tampa, Florida published a story today on the success of the local quarter million-user K-12 school district’s use of Edsby district-wide in its first full year.

While acknowledging the pains of users at Hillsborough County Public Schools in changing to Edsby from a system they knew previously, the article reflects a district happy with its relationship with the software vendor, and anxious to more fully take advantage of Edsby’s power.

Rob Kriete, an eighth-grade language arts teacher at Eisenhower Middle School, said the first year wasn’t perfect … “Change is always uncomfortable,” Kriete said. “But we grew with it throughout the school year. The tool has a lot of promise. It’s really going to help transparency and communication.”

The article detailed just how extensively Edsby is used by parents, students and teachers in the district:

Half of the district’s 15,000 teachers logged in to Edsby at least once per week. Some use it solely to post grades, while others choose to use it as a social media site where they can have conversations with parents and students.

About 25 percent of the district’s 200,000-plus students logged into Edsby at least once per week last school year.

According to a school district survey given to parents in the spring, 61 percent of them say Edsby is helpful in giving information about student progress.

Students are now finding Edsby a better solution than what they were using before.

Now that Regine Swanson, a 15-year-old rising sophomore at Tampa Bay Technical High School, has gotten a chance to get familiar with Edsby, she believes it is an upgrade from Edline.

“I could easily check my grades and get a hold of my teachers,” Swanson said. “Turning in assignments online is a lot easier and more reliable on Edsby.”

Swanson says she checked Edsby at least once every day and that most students log on at least twice daily.

Read the full Tampa Tribune story here.