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"SmartPass is easy to use, it’s efficient, and it gives us data we never had before. If all we used it for were bathroom passes, it would still be worth it. But it’s so much more than that— it’s a tool that transforms how we run our school."
Bathroom Passes, Hall Passes, Kiosks, Student Accountability, Student Safety
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The High School of Fashion Industries is a large Career and Technical Education public high school located in the Garment District in New York City where students can major in Fashion Design, Business, Photography, Visual Presentation, Art and Design, and Software Development.
Derek Stampone, Assistant Principal at the High School of Fashion Industries in New York City, located in a large, 10-story building with over 1,600 students, faced significant challenges managing student movement. The school's traditional paper pass system was inefficient, time-consuming, and lacked transparency. Teachers often had to interrupt instruction to manage physical passes, contributing to lost teaching time.
Meanwhile, unsupervised congregating in bathrooms raised safety concerns, with some students even avoiding the restrooms altogether. Derek’s school needed a solution that could offer better visibility, increase efficiency, and create a safer, more comfortable environment for students.
The reality was, our paper system was broken. Teachers were losing valuable time writing passes, and we had no real data on where students were or how long they were out. We needed something better.
SmartPass provided a comprehensive, digital solution to the school’s bathroom management issues. By replacing the outdated paper system with SmartPass, Derek’s team was able to implement a more structured and efficient process that gave teachers more time to teach and provided administrators with valuable insights into student movement.
Key features Derek loves:
Kiosk mode was a game-changer. Teachers didn’t have to write passes anymore, which freed them up to focus on teaching.
The data SmartPass provides is invaluable. For the first time, we have full visibility into which students are out of class and for how long, allowing us to identify and solve problems quickly.
Being able to control how many students can be in the bathroom at one time has made a huge difference. Students feel safer, and the restrooms are being used more appropriately.
These features combined have allowed Derek to transform bathroom management in his school, creating a more organized, safe, and efficient system for both students and staff.
1. Increased Efficiency for Teachers
By switching to SmartPass, Derek’s school was able to significantly reduce the time teachers spent managing paper passes. This freed up valuable instructional time, which added up to hundreds of hours over the course of the school year.
30 seconds to write a pass may not seem like much, but it adds up fast. Multiply that by 180 school days, and across the entire staff, it’s hundreds of hours saved. SmartPass makes everything more efficient.
2. Enhanced Safety and Comfort for Students
Overcrowded and misused bathrooms had been a recurring issue, creating discomfort for students. With SmartPass, the school could control the number of students in a bathroom at any given time, providing a safer and more manageable environment.
Before SmartPass, some students were telling us they didn’t even feel comfortable going to the bathroom during the day. SmartPass allowed us to regain control over our school spaces in a way that’s fair and transparent.
3. Data-Driven Insights
One of the most valuable aspects of SmartPass was its ability to provide actionable data. Derek and his team could now see patterns in student movement and behavior that were previously impossible to track with paper passes.
SmartPass gives us real data we can use. For the first time, we can see who’s out of class, where they’re going, and for how long. This level of insight is a game-changer for how we manage our school.
One of the most immediate improvements Derek’s school saw was in managing bathroom use. Previously, overcrowded bathrooms had led to security concerns and the need for staff supervision. With SmartPass, Derek’s team could control bathroom capacity and even mark restrooms as out of order in the system, so students weren’t wandering around searching for a functioning restroom.
It was chaotic before. Now, we can control how many students are in the bathroom, and students know exactly where they can go. It’s made a huge difference in safety and student comfort.
Derek is excited about expanding the use of SmartPass beyond bathroom passes. Plans are underway to implement it for managing movement to guidance counselors, social workers, and administrative offices. Additionally, Derek sees SmartPass’s potential to support New York City’s unique summer school model, where students from different schools attend centralized programs.
We’re just scratching the surface of what SmartPass can do. We’re already seeing huge benefits in how we manage student movement, and I can’t wait to see what else we can achieve.
For Derek, SmartPass provided a simple, intuitive solution that made a complex problem easy to manage. The transition from paper passes to a digital system was smooth, and the impact on both teachers and students was immediate.
SmartPass is easy to use, it’s efficient, and it gives us data we never had before. If all we used it for were bathroom passes, it would still be worth it. But it’s so much more than that— it’s a tool that transforms how we run our school.
