The Acorn Saves a Full Week of Work During Enrollment Season
The Acorn Saves a Full Week of Work During Enrollment Season
1
From “Old School” Operations to Modern Efficiency
Company
The Acorn School is a private early childhood program in Texas that emphasizes a play-based, relationship-driven approach, fostering each child’s social, emotional, and cognitive growth in a nurturing, home-like environment.
Size
156 Children
Key features used
Office staff were doing everything with paper & pencil and wanted to streamline their operation
Founded in 1980 by Rich and Kitty Lange, The Acorn – A School for Young Children has built its reputation on delivering exceptional preschool and kindergarten education to San Antonio’s families. But behind the scenes, office staff were still managing every process with paper and pencil. Attendance sheets, enrollment packets, staff timesheets—every task required manual entry, filing, and re-entry into separate systems.
Office Manager Carrie Hoffman knew there had to be a better way. With a maximum of 156 children enrolled across eight preschool classes and one kindergarten class, the administrative workload was enormous.
“We were old school. Everything was done by paper.”
The team needed a system that was simple, intuitive, and supported by a responsive partner who could make the transition smooth.
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A Digital Transformation With an All-in-One Platform
After testing a few child care management systems that fell short, The Acorn found Playground and instantly recognized the fit.
The transition started with the basics: replacing paper attendance with digital signatures on the Playground mobile app. That alone eliminated stacks of daily sheets and gave the staff real-time attendance records.
Next, Carrie’s team uploaded all of their paperwork to Playground so families could complete forms directly through the app. No more chasing down packets, deciphering handwriting, or manually keying information into another system. Staff timesheets went digital too, bringing accuracy and transparency to payroll.
“Playground fully replaced our paper registration process. It saved our office staff a full week of work during enrollment season."
3
Stronger Family Engagement and Better Staff Support
The benefits extended beyond efficiency. Carrie began using Playground’s communication features to post newsletters, share photos and videos, and send important updates directly to parents. Families received app notifications and text alerts, leading to a 30% jump in engagement with weekly outreach.
“Parents love that we post the newsletter in the app and notify them via text"
On the staffing side, accurate digital time tracking meant teachers’ hours (and bonuses) were finally correct. Previously, manual calculations led to underpayments. Now, teachers could see their time tracked in real time, and bonuses reflected their true work. This boosted morale and showed the school’s commitment to fairness.
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Happier Families, Happier Teachers, and a Brighter Future
“Our experience with Playground has been smooth from the start. They’ve been responsive and easy to work with. We highly recommend Playground to any preschool.”
For The Acorn, the shift wasn’t just about replacing paper with pixels — it was about freeing time and resources to reinvest in their community. With more efficient systems, more accurate payroll, and more engaged families, The Acorn is set to continue its legacy while embracing the tools that will help it grow.
Start making your families and staff happier
Say goodbye to juggling several platforms and streamline operations with Playground
