Student information systems changed over summer

In Nov. 2024, the Ventura Unified School District board finalized the decision to switch student information systems. On Aug. 12, communications director Marieanne Quiroz sent out the VUSD Connections District Newsletter through ParentSquare. The newsletter contained information regarding the beginning of the school year, including the switch to Aeries. Starting Aug. 12 at 4 p.m., class schedules and teachers were visible on Aeries. Families were required to submit data verification into the student information system by Aug. 15.

Aeries was created in 1972 by Jerry D. Lloyd, credited for inventing the first student information system, for the Orange/Santa Ana Joint Computer Center of the Orange County Department of Education as said in the Aeries Solutions General Description. The student information system is under Aeries Software, based in Orange, Calif. School districts and local educational agencies in California and Texas use Aeries. 

According to the Aeries Ecosystem page, Aeries can integrate with other programs and platforms, including but not limited to Canvas, ClassLink, Google Classroom, IXL, Minga, ParentSquare and Securly. OneRoster API is used to sync student data between Aeries and other learning platforms, which removes the need for manual transfers.

Quiroz said, “[Aeries] was designed to align with California’s reporting standards, which makes it faster, more secure, and easier for us to use. Most districts in California already use Aeries, so we also benefit from the shared knowledge and best practices of other districts. We chose Aeries because it offers a better experience for students and families with an easy-to-navigate interface, while also giving staff flexible reporting tools and direct access to data.”

Before Aeries was introduced into VUSD, multiple staff trainings were held in order to prepare for the upcoming switch. 

Quiroz said, “Staff trainings ran from [Dec.] 9, 2024, through May 22, 2025, with multiple sessions each week. Additional trainings have been offered since June, and ongoing online “open hours” allow staff to drop in, ask questions, and receive support directly from Aeries trainers. These open hours will continue for at least two more weeks.”

VHS hosted a staff meeting Aug. 27 where teachers were able to ask questions.

Quiroz said, “At the last Ventura High staff meeting, Aeries training and troubleshooting was provided. Since it is a new platform, it is normal for us to include short training or Q&A sessions during staff meetings. Aeries was not discussed at the most recent Board of Education meeting.”

Since the beginning of the school year, Aeries has caused trouble for both students and staff. For example, two students reported they had missing or inaccurate records.

Fatima Zuhric ‘27 said, “I know that there’s been a bunch of errors within the website. It has my race as Vietnamese.
And in no way, shape or form am I Vietnamese or Asian. That’s one of the things that I’m kind of confused about, and it’s kind of a letdown that I know that I and other students are also facing this issue where we’re just not properly displayed on Aries.”

Zuhric said that Aeries did not accurately show her college credits. 

Zuhric said, “As someone who’s striving to go to, you know, one of the Cal States or universities in California, I think that’s really important to show up to date information for these students, because we’re juniors. We’re going to start applying to colleges soon, and it’s really important to have all your classes in before then. And so I think that was one of the experiences that really cemented the fact that I don’t like Aries.”

Carter Koontz ‘29 said, “It’s just really slow. It just isn’t showing me my grades. Like not even close. Student Portal was better. It showed you your grades fast…[Aeries] just randomly changed my math classes a week [into school].”

Jack Bennet ‘27 said, “I don’t really like it, they messed up my entire schedule. They grade slower.”

As of Sept. 1, Aeries has not been able to connect to Minga which can make clerical duties difficult.

School services assistant Erin Shean said, “It’s been really tough. It’s been a rough transition. It doesn’t communicate with Minga…[That’s] upsetting ‘cause it just keeps knocking kids off [the system] and everything disappears which is terrible and then it doesn’t do summons very well. They’re weird. They’re so weird. And they’re hard to read.”

Linda Bergfeld said, “What’s happening here is that we are literally implementing the software as we’re doing business. A lot of times it’s more like you do things in parallel. You’re running the old system [and] you’re learning the new system.”

However, not all responses are entirely negative.

Tobi Estrada ‘26 said, “I think [Aeries is] easy to use…I just don’t know why they changed it because we were all so used to Canvas and it’s like ‘Oh, we’re using this new thing.’ From what I’ve used out of it, it’s a lot easier to read than how Q was because Q was all over the place.” 

Shean said, “I think [Aeries is] a better system but we haven’t received the training to utilize it nor do we all have the permissions to utilize it. So everyone’s kind of in the dark. We’ve [been taught] the basics but I think the lack of communication from the district is what’s the issue right now and the fact that not everyone has the same permissions so [I] can’t help with attendance.”

Zuhric said, “I think that we need to do better for students.
I know it’s not the teacher’s fault whatsoever and I totally get that. And I don’t think any blame should go to them, but I think maybe the district needs to be putting better attention on what it gives students.”

Bergfeld said, “There’s no way anybody can make the judgement yet because we have not used it more than however many weeks we’ve been in school.”