Case Study: School Board SharePoint Intranet Transformation

Building a Secure, Scalable Digital Workplace for 2,000+ Staff Across 52 Schools

School board employs more than 2,000 staff across 52 schools. Historically, the organization relied on a legacy internal site that was outdated, insecure, and functionally limited. Staff lacked a reliable, centralized location for policies, forms, resources, or communication. The system had become difficult to manage and posed barriers to collaboration, security, and efficiency.

An intranet overhaul was required to create a secure, modern, and scalable platform capable of serving the entire school system. The solution had to streamline communication, centralize resources, support operational efficiency, and align with modern security standards.

Challenges Identified

  • Security risks from the outdated WordPress system.

  • Fragmented access to policies, forms, and internal communication.

  • Low staff adoption of digital resources due to poor usability.

  • Lack of governance for content updates and user roles.

  • Limited digital literacy among staff and leadership in using modern intranet platforms.

Approach & Strategy

I led the design and implementation of the new intranet independently, overseeing planning, platform design, security, governance, training, and adoption.

  • Platform Selection: Recommended SharePoint for its scalability, security, integration with Microsoft 365, and adaptability for a distributed workforce.

  • User Research: Interviewed school staff, principals, and central office employees to identify pain points and prioritize features.

  • Information Architecture: Designed a structured navigation that placed frequently used items (forms, HR policies, IT resources) at the top level, reducing time-to-access.

  • Security Overhaul: Introduced modern authentication and credential protocols with role-based access, aligned with best practices.

  • Content Migration: Conducted a full audit of existing materials, eliminating redundancies and rewriting outdated documents for clarity and compliance.

  • Governance Framework: Defined roles, permissions, and workflows for content publishing, ensuring sustainability after launch.

  • Training & Change Management: Conducted workshops and created documentation for 2,000+ staff. Trained the leadership team on how to use outward-facing communications principles internally — teaching them how storytelling and consistency drive engagement.

Execution

  • Technical Build: Developed and customized the SharePoint site with branded templates, document libraries, departmental hubs, and automated workflows.

  • Custom Features: Added search, filtering, and tagging functionality to make locating resources quick and intuitive.

  • Security & Compliance: Configured MFA, permissions by group, and audit trails to protect sensitive staff data.

  • User Experience: Designed with accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1 AA) to ensure inclusivity for all staff.

  • Adoption Rollout: Piloted the intranet with select schools before scaling across the full network, incorporating feedback into refinements.

Results

  • Secure Infrastructure: Legacy WordPress intranet retired; SharePoint deployed with enterprise-grade security and governance.

  • Centralized Access: 2,000+ staff now access policies, forms, and resources through a single platform.

  • Time Savings: Staff reduced search time for resources by an estimated 40%, allowing more focus on core responsibilities.

  • Consistent Communication: Leadership gained a reliable channel to distribute updates, ensuring alignment across all schools.

  • Staff Adoption: Workshops and clear navigation led to widespread use — within six months, more than 90% of staff logged in and used the platform weekly.

  • Cultural Shift: Leadership and staff embraced the importance of digital communication, understanding that effective storytelling and clear information design improve engagement and support organizational goals.

Conclusion

The SharePoint intranet transformation gave CISVA a secure, centralized, and sustainable internal communications platform for the first time. By managing the project end-to-end — from research and technical design to training and adoption — I created a system that not only solved immediate operational challenges but also established the foundation for long-term digital collaboration and efficiency across 52 schools.

This initiative demonstrated how one person, acting as strategist, developer, trainer, and communicator, can deliver enterprise-wide change when the approach is both technical and human-centered.