Known for its intellectually challenging curriculum, Good Shepherd Episcopal School integrates experiential learning into their daily curriculum with a unique outdoor education program where students can engage with nature regularly. As one of the smaller private schools in the Richmond area, Good Shepherd fosters a family-like environment where every child is known and valued.

Faced with the continuous challenge of balancing the fulfillment of their school’s mission with the time constraints of managing manual processes and ensuring accuracy, Good Shepherd knew they needed to find a smarter way to manage their work while staying in alignment with their school’s philosophy.

“As a small school, we don’t have the same resources as larger institutions to manage contracts and billing,” shared Lorie Bartee, Assistant Head of School at Good Shepherd Episcopal School. “We were working with multiple systems pieced together, under a constant weight of manual entry just to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks.”

Trading Paperwork for Strategic Planning

“We used to spend two full months focused entirely on processing enrollment contracts and making sure accounts were set up correctly,” explained Lori Jobe, Interim Head of School at Good Shepherd. “If a family needed a change, it could take days just to redo a single contract.”

For years, Good Shepherd relied on a mix of systems and manual work to manage their contracts. Families received printed contracts, created using Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign, and deposits were handled through checks or PayPal.

“Now we get custom contracts for every family created almost automatically, and making any updates takes just a few clicks,” Jobe explained. “It’s so much nicer not being buried in paperwork for months.”

“What used to take us hours now takes minutes. Clarity helps us free up our time to focus on bigger-picture planning.”

Eliminating Duplicate Work For a Busy Team

When it came to arduous and outdated processes, it wasn’t just contracts causing headaches for Good Shepherd.

“Our business manager used to have to create each invoice individually in QuickBooks because every family's situation was unique — whether it was sibling discounts, financial aid, or tuition remission,” explained Jobe. “We had no easy way to streamline the process, so every bill had to be checked manually."

“Over the course of the year, Clarity has given our Business Manager about 30% of her time back, which she can now spend on more valuable work.”

“With Clarity, payment plans and invoices are automatically generated based on the contract, so we’re no longer spending hours each month double-checking that everything matches,” added Jobe. “It’s also helps us prevent the errors associated with manual work.”

Offering Families an Elevated Experience

“If our families ever had trouble with our old systems — and that was definitely common — I was the one calling customer support on their behalf trying to figure out how to help them,” Bartee shared.

“We’ve received far fewer questions this year with Clarity. Families seem to be moving through the process with ease, which tells me it’s working.”

“Our families also no longer have to navigate separate systems for financial aid, billing, and the paper contracts they used to have to mail back,” Jobe shared. “They sign their contract, set up their payment plan, and make deposits all in the Clarity platform. It’s just a smoother experience for everyone.”

Appreciating the Power of Real Support

Good Shepherd Episcopal is a small school with a big mission that Clarity is helping them fulfill.

“With our old provider, if we ever had an issue, we were basically on our own,” shared Bartee.

“With Clarity, we have a real relationship with our Client Success Managers. They know our school, and they are actual partners helping us figure things out instead of us just being a ticket in their support queue.”

Clarity provides each of its partner schools with dedicated Client Success Managers who have at least a decade of experience managing admission and financial aid, or working in the business offices of private schools.

“Clarity has made a huge difference for our school. I don’t know if you’ll find a school it has made a bigger impact on workflow for than us,” Jobe shared.

“Our school now has modern processes and can offer our families a professional experience. Our office is also more efficient than ever.”

“I think the name of your company is perfect because your platform really does make everything more clear,” added Bartee. “I feel like I now have a new level of peace of mind with Clarity.”