Our Top Ten K-12 Moments from Dreamforce 2017

The whirlwind of Dreamforce ‘17 has passed and the K-12 team is pausing to reflect on the moments that most stuck with us, and left us feeling more informed and inspired.
Here’s our top 10:

1. Michelle Obama keeping students front and center
Former First Lady Michelle Obama drew record crowds and she did not disappoint! We were thrilled that she used her platform to call on us as a country to invest more in our K-12 education system.

2. Launching the Salesforce for K-12 Fast Start
The Salesforce for K-12 team was ecstatic lay out our vision for supporting K-12. We also launched our new website and our first custom product: The K-12 Fast Start, which includes 10 free subscriptions for qualifying K-12 organizations! Start your free trial today!

3. DC Public Schools showing how universal enrollment is really about equity
We saw how Acumen and My School DC were able to bring DC Public Schools and 97% of DC charter schools onto a single, unified application system in less than a year. And, we learned how this online application and enrollment system created equitable access for families in DC.

4. Snapping photos of the apps that Voice Charter School uses to save time
We joined a room full of people who ooooh’d and ahhhhh’d at Scott Walker’s brilliant use of apps from the Salesforce AppExchange to save time and automate drudgery. Here’s the summary slide!

5. Big Picture Learning & Cristo Rey showing us how to connect students to careers
We heard radically different approaches to K-12 workforce development from two leaders in the field and saw how to leverage technology to integrate personalized employment pathways within schools.

6. Denver Public Schools showing us that parent engagement is a multi-step process
We learned about helping parents up the ladder of engagement…from participation at home, to leadership at school, to district-level advocacy.

7. Taking note of Austin ISD and Sacred Heart’s best practices for fundraising
We saw how innovative grants management, fundraising and crowdfunding strategies can generate new revenue for school programs… A great way to get started with Salesforce!

8. Seeing Salesforce used as teacher’s tool. Really!
English teacher Mike Rutherford came all the way from Bangkok to show us how he automatically captures all writing assignments and student feedback in Salesforce to populate personalized newsletters for parents.

9. Learning about KIPP’s strategy for helping students get to and through college
KIPP showed us that students were more likely to matriculate into college if they applied to 2 “likely,” 2 “target,” and 2 “reach” schools.

10. Oakland Unified shifting the narrative on immigrant students
We learned that 1 in 8 students at OUSD is a newcomer –a child that has been in the country less than three years (e.g., refugee, undocumented, or unaccompanied). We were inspired by OUSD’s evolving efforts to support this growing student population.

Blazing New Trails…Together

The K-12 team is deeply appreciative of the Trailblazers who took time away from their busy and vital jobs to join us for an amazing week of learning at Dreamforce! Please save the date for next year’s Dreamforce on September 25-28, 2018. In the meantime, check out our new website and let us know what you think!