Optimizing Campus Networks and Security

“It’s a brave new world,” said Jeff Bingham, CFO at Casady School in Oklahoma City. Digital solutions that streamline campus management have long replaced paper records and classroom registers. Today, AI and other smart technologies are already embedded across independent school campuses — in classrooms, business offices and beyond. As campus networks continues to grow, school leaders must be equipped to navigate and harness these technologies effectively.

Leaders from Casady School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, recently spoke with Net Assets to discuss strategies for leveraging technology to enhance campus connectivity, efficiency and safety.

Safety & Campus Access

Last year, leaders at Choate Rosemary Hall reviewed the school’s electronic door access system and found it did not meet new standards. Recognizing the urgency of mitigating security vulnerabilities, the technology team issued RFPs for several vendors specializing in card access systems and initiated a comprehensive upgrade.

CFO Patrick Durbin played a pivotal role in the process, ensuring the next investment would be sound: “We continuously asked ourselves whether this investment would offer a mere 10% improvement or a solution that would stand strong for the next 10 years.”

Switching to a new vendor opened up opportunities for school leaders to collaborate across the campus. “We’ve made a concerted effort to integrate our IT team into every aspect of campus operations, rather than keeping them as a separate entity,” said Bill Wright, Director of Operations.

For example, the new door access system integrates with the school’s existing blue light system, which allows anyone in need to press a button and immediately connect with community safety officers, who can now pinpoint the caller’s exact location on campus through caller ID.

Another advantage of the new system is the ability to upload ID card photos directly from mobile devices. Instead of taking photos of students and staff in-house, the school has transitioned to a "submit your own picture" system. The vendor then removes the background and ensures the resolution meets required standards. This change not only saves time and effort during card printing but also gives students more control, allowing them to avoid the stress of first-day photos when they might not be at their best.

The school is now deep into the upgrade, with 75% of the campus converted. Choate is on track to complete the project by the end of this summer, finishing well within 12 months. As the project has progressed, school leaders have adapted to the evolving technology in card access systems, ensuring that other systems relying on card technology, like printing, remain compatible.

School leaders regularly run through scenarios, such as potential Wi-Fi outages or ransomware attacks, and conduct tabletop exercises to ensure they are as prepared as possible.

Andrew Speyer, director of information technology services, noted that the greatest challenge of the technology transition has been the need for reliable internet connectivity to keep these systems running smoothly. “When the Wi-Fi goes down, we’re stuck in the mud. It’s the only real issue we face.”

That’s why school leaders regularly run through scenarios, such as potential Wi-Fi outages or ransomware attacks, and conduct tabletop exercises to ensure they are as prepared as possible. “As a boarding school, we think about risk in terms of a 24/7 basis. While we hope our students are asleep at night, we know that things can still happen, and being prepared is key,” added Durbin.

Space Use & Flexibility

Campus management technology can be both simple and complex. On the one hand, Casady School uses Google Sheets to lay out the school schedule, highlighting student concentration across campus throughout the day. There's rarely any uncertainty about when a classroom is available or when common spaces will be crowded.

On the other hand, the campus is secured with a robust controlled access system — students need fobs to move between buildings, and doors are unlocked only during passing periods (designated times in between classes and lunch periods). This level of control significantly enhances both security and efficiency, said Bingham.

With enrollment growth surpassing the capacity of the physical campus, school leaders seized the opportunity to optimize group gathering times to better distribute academic offerings throughout the day.

Before implementing campus access technology, Casady School partnered with Building Solutions to conduct a campus utilization study, which revealed that most spaces were already being used efficiently, with only a few underutilized rooms. However, with enrollment growth surpassing the capacity of the physical campus, school leaders seized the opportunity to optimize group gathering times — such as chapel, lunch and athletics — to better distribute academic offerings throughout the day.

The investment in smart campus technology has also inspired Bingham to think about next steps. Casady envisions creating more flexible spaces where any faculty member can walk in, plug in, and start teaching, regardless of the class or subject matter. This could lead to more flexibility in scheduling and more space for their growing enrollment.