Tag Archives: school id

Tips for Designing School ID Badges

Tragic events in recent history remind us that School ID Badges are an important part of school safety. ID cards not only help identify students and staff, also any authorized visitors to your buildings. To design school ID cards that will help keep students safe, and foster an engaging learning environment, use these tips in your design process.

Incorporate both name and picture.

The primary purpose of a School ID card is to properly identify the individual wearing it, and their authorization to be within your facilities. School ID cards should be designed to prominently feature the both the individual’s name, and their photo. In so doing, you’ll more easily spot fraudulent cards, and quickly recognize if a student or visitor is where they are supposed to be.

Color-code ID cards by grade, class, or building.

Color-coding student and staff ID cards by grade, class, or building makes it easy to identify people in a quick glance. For example, seniors might have a prominent red border around their photo, while juniors might have a green border. This is particularly helpful when students are congregated in larger groups, or filling the halls between classes. Virtually all ID card printing software can incorporate color features as part of an overall card design.

Create visitor ID cards.

Visitor identification is one of the most important features of a school safety strategy. A unique design that clearly designates someone as a visitor should be required at all schools. The visitor should not only be required to check in and out but also to prominently display the ID badge at all times when on campus, and return it when checking out.

Require Everyone to Wear their ID Badges.

Finally, you should require all staff, students & visitors to wear their school ID cards at all times. Without this requirement – and an enforcement mechanism – you are creating a lax environment, which diminishes everyone’s safety. One way to maximize participation and “buy-in” is to make the ID card an integral part a daily routine at school. This could be as simple as requiring it be shown at the cafeteria or library, or directly tying it into other systems through use of a printed bar-code or QR-code.

We hope these quick tips can help you shape an effective program at your own school. If you have questions, or would like our expert advice, feel free to give us call toll-free at 888.485.4696.

Campus Safety and Staff Efficiency Increased with Identification

Yesterday, the manufacturer of Zebra card printers outlined the benefits of providing secure identification for educational staff and students in a blog post. They advised that the benefits of using identification cards allow improved processes and increased security of the campus.

The article released advised that since it is not possible to hire enough security guards to police every corner of campus, one way to help secure school facilities and people was to issue identification cards similar to the way corporations do. Admissions departments can issue advanced level cards during student registration that can be used to check out books from the library and access various approved facilities on campus. It is possible to configure the cards so that they can be used for debit purposes in campus bookstores and dining facilities.

School cards can be used by retailers that market to the students and staff. Student/staff discounts and special offers can be generated with showing a valid ID. This will help to boost sales of local businesses.

Good quality ID card printing on durable cardstock will provide an ID lasting for many semesters of school. These cards will provide a better workflow process saving time and costs for many necessary procedures.

Here is the begining of the article from Zebra’s blog:

From universities to primary schools, a revolution in technology is taking shape. The days when mundane tasks such as registration, book purchases, and meal programs required an army of administrators to manage piles of paperwork is but a digital page in today’s history e-books. 21st-century innovation is bringing automation—and a chance to improve security—to the campus.

With education costs skyrocketing, departments at all levels are looking for ways to trim expenses while maximizing staff productivity. Add the looming threats to campus security, and educators must make decisions that trade off the quality of education verses protecting our students. In fact, the 2011 Campus Safety magazine’s “How Safe Is Your Campus?” report revealed that 42 percent of faculty said their institutions fail to dedicate sufficient resources to campus safety and security. Gone are the days of open campuses and a friendly smile to protect our students. READ MORE

School ID Cards

Student id cards are a popular use for today’s standard 30 ml plastic identification cards. The making of photo ids are a standard part of the beginning of the school year or at the first of the semester in colleges and universities.

ID cards are useful in many ways for smooth school operations. From checking out books in the library to debiting school lunch accounts in the lunchroom, id cards provide a system and level of security throughout the school environment.

Most K-12 schools use a simple, single-side badge for their students. Full color photographs and student information is placed on the card as well as a bar code for tracking various student activities. Depending on the requirements of the school, the card can be layered with security enhancements, printed dual side and encoded with specific information useful for the school system.

By having a system in house, a school can customize the badges with unique design and options for various school needs. Visitor id badges can be printed with a unique layout. Library processes are smooth with the scanning of a unique student bar code for media checkout. Cafeteria workers can verify the identity of a student as well as debit their lunch account by use of their id card. Attendance, registration, and vending machine payment are other uses for student id cards.

With the use of a student id system, many schools expand their id card use into staff ids for building access, attendance tracking and local retail discount use.

Setting up the id card system in your school is easy. One of our technical reps will be happy to assist you by our toll free phone lines for set up and badge design.

For a free consultation for your K-12 ids or university needs, contact our id card printer sales reps toll free at 888-485-4696.