"It's exceptionally user-friendly and does exactly what it says it's going to do. The interface is modern and beautiful—it doesn't look like it's from 1985. Staff feel professional when they're using it. Combined with outstanding customer service, it's exactly what we needed."
When you're the 19th largest school district in the country, changing systems feels risky. Baltimore County Public Schools knew their existing platform wasn't working—staff were frustrated, conference registration was a nightmare, and support was falling short. But with 118,000 students and over 21,000 employees to support, could they really take on a major transition?
Baltimore County didn't just need better technology. They needed a partner who understood education and an implementation process smooth enough to get thousands of staff operational in under six weeks. What they found in KickUp was both—plus a team that invested time to understand their unique workflows and was genuinely committed to their success.
Baltimore County's problems with their previous system affected everyone—from the team managing professional learning to the thousands of staff trying to access it.
Conference registration was painful. Pierre Francois, Manager of Workforce Development, describes what staff experienced: "Everything had to be separate. When registering for a conference, they couldn't just select the sessions they wanted—they had to click through different pages for the opening session, then another page for breakout session one, another for breakout session two. Instead of 5 clicks, it was 25+ clicks." The district had to create detailed instructions just to explain the process.
Day-to-day management was unnecessarily complex. Making updates meant navigating through multiple pages and tabs. Max Khan, Technology Specialist, explains: "We were moving from pages to pages and tabs to tabs to input information. People would miss steps, and when plans changed, it became a whole project."
Support fell short when it mattered. Staff would submit issues and either wait days for responses or get told to add requests to an "idea portal" where they would disappear. When you're managing professional learning for 21,000 people, that lack of responsiveness is unsustainable.
Despite these frustrations, switching systems in a district of Baltimore County's size was daunting. What made them willing to take that leap?
An educator-informed approach made the difference. KickUp's team included former educators who understood how schools actually work. They weren't just selling software—they were solving problems they'd experienced themselves.
They invested time to understand unique workflow needs. As Baltimore County explained their specific requirements and how their team actually worked, KickUp didn't offer a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, they asked questions, explored configurations, and worked collaboratively to understand what success would look like for a district of this scale.
The platform was designed to address the challenges they had—streamlined conference registration, intuitive PD management, accessible real-time data that answers questions fast, and features that handle the tedious manual work.
Baltimore County's timeline was aggressive: contract approved early May, needed to be operational for June 18-20 summer professional development.
Training was dramatically shorter and more effective. Max, who trained the district's 280+ event creators, found training with the old system took three hours; with KickUp, it's half the time. The pre-built training materials saved significant time: "I used to create all the handouts showing where to go, where to click, what to expect. KickUp already had it all created—everything was available online in their help topics."
Dr. Berquist, who leads professional development herself, recognized the quality immediately. As someone who trains people for a living, she noticed the clear explanations, perfect pacing, and genuinely helpful materials. Before, the district received written guides and was told to figure it out on their own.
The real success wasn't in one big moment—it was in how dramatically easier daily operations became.
Conference registration actually works. Staff now select all their sessions in one streamlined process. Pre-registration is organized, manual tasks are automated, and QR code check-in eliminates tracking down signature sheets. The improvement was so significant that Baltimore County changed their approach entirely—for example, principals now register for leadership learning monthly instead of annually because the system is no longer frustrating to use.
System management is straightforward. Max describes the shift: "Everything is on the event creation page—you go from top to bottom and you're done in one page rather than moving from tab to tab." When curriculum leaders change plans—which happens constantly in a large district—the team can make updates in seconds.
Data you can actually use. The team can quickly run reports on attendance by grade level or role, track completion rates, and pull data for external reporting requirements. Pierre notes: "Attendance confirmation is really straightforward now. We trust the data because it's happening in real-time."
Support that's actually responsive. Pierre describes the contrast with their previous system: "You can email and get responses right away. It's not submitting a ticket and waiting days for some huge company to get to your ticket number." Max adds: "If I need something immediate that I don’t want to bother our Client Success Manager about, I can use chat support and get access to helpful materials or a knowledgeable person who can solve the problem."
Staff morale shifted. Dr. Berquist notes: "Before, team members would come in frustrated constantly. With KickUp, I've heard zero complaints. Actually, people come in saying 'that was so helpful.' When you're managing training for 21,000 people, that matters."
As departments see the success with professional development, more teams are asking to bring their work into the platform. Baltimore County is already exploring how to integrate their evaluation system, using the same collaborative approach that made the initial implementation successful.
"Having everything in one integrated system creates tremendous value for our team and for end users," says Dr. Berquist.
For districts considering a similar transition, Baltimore County's leadership offers clear perspectives from multiple levels—from the Executive Director overseeing all employee development to the manager and specialist implementing the system daily.
On implementation: "The onboarding process was really smooth, even with our aggressive timeline. We got the platform built and all our data in—it worked." —Pierre Francois, Manager of Workforce Development
On the transition: "It's definitely worth the switch. Training event creators was seamless, and because it's so easy to use, we're constantly adding new people without the ongoing headaches we had before." —Max Khan, Technology Specialist
Baltimore County Public Schools proves that even at a massive scale, system transitions can be smooth when you have the right partner. For districts wondering if a switch is worth it, their experience offers clear evidence: when support is responsive, implementation is collaborative, and the platform is intuitive —you get time back to focus on what matters.
Pierre sums it up: "Even our teachers and administrators have commented on how much nicer the system is—fewer clicks, better interface, it just works. In a district where staff will absolutely voice their opinions, that speaks volumes."
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You can't trust everything you read on the internet.
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