Developing a master schedule is much like teaching—part art, part science. The art comes from the intimate knowledge that only its leadership can have regarding aspects like working dynamics, expectations of extracurricular programs, and the unique needs of students. And, no computer program can ever know as much about that campus either. Cardonex allows campus schedulers the flexibility to customize course placements, conference periods, common planning times, shared teaching assignments and special assignments according to the needs of the campus.

The science behind building effective master schedules comes from following a research-based protocol in its creation. Since most campus schedulers have little to no formal training in building effective master schedules, they often rely on previous schedules, not considering that student requests and needs vary greatly year to year. Cardonex guides campus users through the correct sequence of steps to produce the most effective, optimal master schedule as possible.

Instead of spending hours behind closed office doors working on creating course chips, scanning conflict matrices and balancing class loads, administrators are given back as much as 80% of their time to build an even more effective master schedule.

In addition to the staffing plan that is built with their requests in mind, more students receive their first choice of course requests because ScheduleBuilder includes a conflict matrix inside the program. Campus schedulers know immediately which courses conflict with other courses and can avoid those courses during the same period as much as possible.

The goal of Cardonex is that master schedules run at least 90% from the mass scheduler on its initial run, meaning less than 10% of a campus’ students do not have a completed schedule afterward. Most campus leadership spend many weeks of the summer on the master schedule, and counselors returning from summer break can often spend up to 6 weeks correcting student schedules after that. By creating more effective master schedules in less time, administrators and counselors can focus on their real jobs… educating students.

Accountability for all students, particularly those included in special programs, is an ever-present force in the decisions that district leadership make every day. Cardonex allows input from all stakeholders so that the needs of all students can be considered from the initial phase of developing the schedule, and not just an after-thought where often students in special programs must sacrifice the classes they want for the classes they need.

One comprehensive staffing and scheduling calendar, which includes the entire process from updating course catalogs in the fall to finalizing student schedules in the summer, is created for each district based on best practices and the district’s staffing and hiring goals. All stakeholders— campus and central leadership, counselors, special program coordinators, athletic and fine arts directors— work from the same calendar so deadline expectations are clear, students get the best teachers possible, and time is used as efficiently as possible to focus on campus and department needs.