Case Study: Rapid City Area Schools achieves unified, efficient district operations with Skyward

Rapid City Area Schools - Customer Case Study

Rapid City Area Schools (RCAS), a 23‑school district serving about 13,369 students near Mount Rushmore, faced a choice when the state of South Dakota offered a free, state‑sponsored student management system. Rather than move, RCAS opted to keep Skyward, continuing use of Skyward’s School Business Suite (in place since 1985) and Student Management Suite (since 2000) because the district needed a comprehensive, district‑wide solution that covers students, HR, accounting, food services and more—not just basic student records.

Skyward delivered a unified, cloud‑based system that eliminated duplicate data entry and combined all operations in one database, with Family Access and online Gradebook features for parents and teachers. As a result, RCAS runs more efficiently and cost‑effectively—three staff support Skyward versus the multiple systems and dedicated administrators other districts typically require—while gaining granular reporting for budgeting, automatic updates, improved disaster recovery, and increased parent engagement. Skyward’s ongoing enhancements and partner integrations further strengthened the district’s operations and decision‑making.

Rapid City Area Schools

Timothy Mitchell

District’s superintendent