Case Study: School of Dreams Academy achieves faster compliance and reduced errors with PowerSchool Special Programs

From Paper to Digital Special Education Management at School of Dreams Academy

School of Dreams Academy (SODA), a New Mexico school serving 242 students with IEPs, faced a paper‑heavy, siloed special education workflow that required manually copying IEPs into the state STARS system, lengthy audits and reporting, frequent travel to collect signatures, and high error rates—creating weeks of extra administrative work and limiting time for direct student support.

By implementing PowerSchool Special Programs integrated with PowerSchool SIS, SODA digitized IEP management with two‑way data flow, automated reporting snapshots, and secure digital signatures. The changes cut compliance time from 33 days to two weeks, reduced errors (about 42 to 15), achieved near‑100% compliance, improved staff training and classroom effectiveness, and helped the school focus more resources on students (including a reported 100% graduation rate).

School of Dreams Academy

Paul Howard

Special Services Director