About Bidayah
Bidayah means “the beginning”—and that’s exactly what the school set out to create: a strong foundation in Islamic learning and character development, with a growing ecosystem around youth leadership, parent engagement, community events, and teacher development.
What began as a small community of ~50 students has grown into a thriving program serving ~150 students, supported by 13 teachers and 4 administrators. Bidayah operates primarily as a weekend school (Sat–Sun, 9:00–2:00), with additional weekday classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“We really wanted to focus on the basics of Islamic teaching and build our community in the gaps that we currently see,” Aisha recalls when describing how Bidayah first took shape.
The challenge: when spreadsheets become a bottleneck
Before DreamClass, Bidayah’s operations were held together with a mix of:
- Excel and Word templates for attendance and recordkeeping
- Manual payment tracking through Stripe + spreadsheet reconciliation
- WhatsApp for communication—helpful, but not consistently reliable as the community grew
The biggest pain points:
- Payments were manual and time-consuming. Stripe handled transactions, but didn’t provide an easy “school view” of families and students—so reporting and reconciliation required expertise and extra hours.
- Parents lacked visibility. Families often didn’t know what they had paid, what was missing, or when something failed—until someone from the team followed up.
Attendance was spreadsheet-based. Tracking “present/absent” across dates worked… until it didn’t. It required tech-savvy staff to maintain, and consistency became harder as the program expanded.
Sustainability risk. Aisha highlighted a core reality for many faith-based community schools: knowledge often lives in a few people. If one person leaves a volunteer-heavy team, the whole system can collapse.
“Eventually, if someone steps into my role, relying on complex spreadsheets would make life very difficult,”Aisha explains, reflecting on why long-term sustainability became a critical factor in choosing a new system.
What Bidayah Was Looking For
Bidayah’s decision came down to three priorities:
- Automatic payment tracking to remove repetitive manual work
- Parent access (not just for payments—but also for attendance and future gradebook use)
- A sustainable, scalable system that would keep working even as roles changed over time
Why Bidayah Chose DreamClass
DreamClass came recommended through Bidayah’s community network (another local school had already adopted it). After testing, the team felt confident moving forward because:
- It matched the realities of a weekend school and growing program
- It was easy to navigate and fast to onboard new teachers
- Support felt human and dependable—especially during onboarding and questions
- Training materials (especially videos) helped staff adopt the system quickly
The Transformation: Less Chasing, More Clarity
Once Bidaya moved core workflows into DreamClass, daily operations became more structured and less dependent on custom spreadsheets.
1) Attendance became simpler for every teacher
Instead of relying on a spreadsheet template maintained by a few tech-savvy people, teachers could take attendance from a phone or computer with a consistent process—making recordkeeping easier to sustain long-term.
2) Communication became more reliable
WhatsApp wasn’t always seen in time. DreamClass messaging (including SMS workflows) helped the team confidently reach parents—especially for urgent updates like weather closures.
3) Admissions supported growth
Bidayah used DreamClass admissions links to accept registrations and organize applicants—sharing forms through channels like Instagram to make enrollment frictionless.
4) Parent involvement moved from “end-of-semester” to ongoing
A key goal was giving guardians the tools to stay connected to their child’s learning journey—not just drop-off and pickup.
What Success Looks Like At Bidayah
Bidayah didn’t just “switch software.” They built a more resilient operating model:
- 150 students supported with a lean admin team
- Reduced dependency on spreadsheet expertise and manual reconciliation
- Stronger parent experience through clearer access and communication
- A foundation that can keep working—even as team members and responsibilities evolve
Looking Ahead
Bidayah is continuing to deepen their DreamClass usage—especially around consolidating payments and streamlining admissions workflows even further. The team’s direction is clear: keep removing friction so staff can focus on the mission, not admin.