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Tara Amsterdam, a former classroom teacher turned Instructional Technology Coach, has spent her career helping teachers use technology to spark creativity and engagement in the classroom. Colonial School District serves a densely populated area in New Castle, Delaware. Tara’s passion for educational technology evolved into a leadership role where she drives the district’s digital learning initiatives. When the opportunity to adopt ClassLink emerged, she and her team knew it could be a turning point for simplifying access, protecting student data, and making technology more effective for everyone.
Challenge
Like many districts, Colonial faced a familiar struggle: too many tools, too many passwords, and too many wasted instructional minutes. Teachers juggled URLs, students forgot login credentials, and Tara found herself building classroom websites just to streamline access. The district had already made strides with interoperability, working with Ed-Fi and LTI standards, but there was still no centralized way to access digital resources. They’d tried another SSO vendor, but found the experience impersonal and limiting.
Solution
When Colonial rolled out ClassLink, “It was truly a lifesaver,” according to Tara. The implementation support stood out immediately: “It felt like white glove service. I had a running Google Doc of questions, and our specialist answered every single one.” ClassLink’s LaunchPad became the central hub for every user, from students and teachers to administrators. Behind the scenes, Roster Server turned into what Tara calls their “digital Swiss Army knife,” enabling discreet, tailored resource deployment, from reading interventions to language immersion programs. DataGuard added another layer of protection, allowing Tara to limit what student information vendors could access. And with Analytics+, the district gained a districtwide view of tool usage, empowering administrators to make informed decisions.
Results
Today, Colonial’s classrooms are more focused and secure. Teachers get back valuable time. Students go straight to learning. Digital equity and privacy are not just goals, they're part of the system. “I don’t know where we’d be without ClassLink,” Tara said. “It’s helped us protect student data, improve instruction, and make smarter decisions across the board.”
“DataGuard allows us to send masked data. Where we would previously send their full name, their birthdate, and any demographic information that the vendor might request. We can shield that so we're able to read and interpret the data, but still maintain the privacy of the student.”