Our Work

Blue Raster helps you tell your story through interactive
mapping technology. Make your message clear, exciting,
and user-friendly for both mobile and web platforms.

Education

Plano ISD Find My School App: A New Tool for Easy School Enrollment

Project Background

Blue Raster partnered with Plano Independent School District (ISD), a large public school district located in the fast-growing Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, to build an interactive, web-based application designed to simplify one of the most important steps in a student’s educational journey: finding their school. Serving more than 48,000 students across over 70 campuses, Plano ISD needed a scalable, user-friendly tool to help families quickly and confidently identify their assigned schools and access key district resources.

The Plano ISD Find My School App enables families across the district to quickly identify which schools serve their address—from early childhood centers to senior high schools—along with access to special academic programs, magnet options, and key district facilities. With just an address search, users can discover detailed school information including grade levels, hours, and contact information.

Plano ISD Splash Screen

Plano ISD Find My School App

Smart, Accessible Design

Built with user experience as the top priority, the application combines clean design with powerful mapping tools. A streamlined interface allows users to:

  • Search by home address
  • View color-coded school boundaries by grade level
  • Explore academic and enrichment program availability
  • Discover district assets such as stadiums, enrollment centers, and early learning hubs
Plano ISD Find My School App
Demonstrating the Plano ISD Find My School App

Since its launch, the tool has averaged over 200 views per day, with more than 15,000 total views — demonstrating its value as a go-to resource for families navigating school enrollment. The intuitive experience helps families make informed decisions and better understand the school choices available to them.

Plano ISD Find My School App Usage Statistics

Plano ISD Find My School App Usage Statistics

Built with ArcGIS Experience Builder

The Find My School App was developed using Esri’s ArcGIS Experience Builder, allowing for the rapid creation of both desktop and mobile-friendly versions to support families on any device. Leveraging Esri’s built-in toolsets, the Blue Raster team was able to quickly deploy the application in time for Plano ISD’s March enrollment period — ensuring timely access to school information.

This flexible, web-first platform empowers the district to easily maintain and update the app as school boundaries, facilities, and program offerings evolve over time.

Plano ISD Find My School Results

Plano ISD Find My School Results

A Tool for Engagement and Equity

By removing barriers to information and providing a centralized resource for school assignment, the app supports Plano ISD’s goals of community engagement, equitable access, and student success. It ensures all families — whether new to the district or planning future enrollment — have the tools they need to get started confidently.

Interested in GIS for Education?

Reach out today to explore how GIS can support your district’s goals!

OC Works: Redefining Career Pathways in Orange County

OC Works: Mapping Career Pathways in Orange County with ArcGIS Hub

OC Works Hub Page - career pathways in Orange County

Blue Raster has been collaborating with Coast Community College District (CCCD) since 2018, leveraging advanced geospatial solutions to support the District’s workforce development goals. Building on this long-standing partnership, we’re excited to introduce OC Works, a refreshed, mobile friendly and upgraded platform based on the former TalentED initiative and built with ArcGIS Hub. Yes, this is an ArcGIS Hub site! By integrating cutting-edge technology with CCCD’s commitment to fostering career pathways in Orange County, OC Works provides a streamlined one-stop resource for students and jobseekers.

OC Works Hub Page: career pathways in Orange County
OC Works Hub site interface on mobile device - career pathways in Orange County
www.oc-works.org_(iPhone 12 Pro) (1)-portrait
www.oc-works.org_(iPhone 12 Pro)-portrait

Using ArcGIS Hub to Support Workforce Development

In this latest iteration, Blue Raster teamed up with Mackey Creative Labs of Pasadena, CA, to create an engaging user experience and visual design. The platform leverages Esri’s ArcGIS Online (AGOL) Hub Premium, along with customized dashboards, Experience Builder capabilities, and tailored HTML/CSS enhancements. This technological backbone ensures that workforce data is both visually compelling and easy to navigate, giving users the insights they need to make informed decisions about their career journeys.

With OC Works, CCCD further demonstrates its dedication to cultivating a strong local workforce that’s ready to meet the challenges of a competitive job market. The enhanced platform not only improves user experience but also expands the scope of data-driven insights available to students and jobseekers. Interested in seeing these advancements in action? Visit oc-works.org today to discover how Blue Raster and  Coast Community College District are transforming career pathways in Orange County.
To learn more, reach out to Blue Raster today and read these Esri stories:

Want to see how GIS can support career pathways in your region?

Contact Blue Raster to learn how platforms like OC Works are making an impact.

Above the Waters: A Cinematic Journey Through the Delaware River Watershed

The Delaware River holds a rich tapestry of history, playing a pivotal role in the development of the United States and serving as a witness to centuries of human activity. Flowing for approximately 330 miles through the eastern United States, the river originates in the Catskill Mountains of New York and eventually empties into the Delaware Bay. Its watershed encompasses parts of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, making it a vital waterway that has shaped the region's cultural, economic, and environmental landscape.

It serves as a source of drinking water, supports diverse ecosystems, and offers recreational opportunities. Efforts to balance conservation and development persist, as communities work together to ensure the sustainable use and preservation of this historic and ecologically significant waterway. Today, the Delaware River continues to play a crucial role in the lives of millions of people. The Delaware River stands as a symbol of the intertwined relationship between human societies and the natural environment, showcasing the ongoing importance of responsible stewardship for future generations.

Telling the Story of the Delaware River Watershed

Blue Raster partnered with Delaware Currents to create and deliver an educational video about the Delaware river watershed. With aerial footage provided by Light Hawk and contributions from Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) and Partnership for the Delaware Estuary (PDE), viewers can embark on an immersive journey along the Delaware River learning about its history, challenges and significance.

Embarking on a flight along the Delaware River unveils a captivating journey through time, weaving together the threads of history, culture, and environmental significance that have shaped this iconic waterway and its expansive watershed. This aerial expedition provides a unique perspective, allowing us to appreciate the interconnectedness of the region's past, present, and future.

 

Delaware River Storyboard

As we approach the 20th century, the flight takes us over urban centers and industrial landscapes, bearing witness to the environmental challenges that emerged. Efforts to balance industrial progress with environmental preservation became increasingly critical, leading to the establishment of regulatory bodies like the Delaware River Basin Commission. This commitment to conservation aimed to protect the river's waters and ecosystems for future generations.

The journey concludes as we survey the modern landscape shaped by environmental stewardship and community engagement. The Delaware River stands as a testament to the resilience of ecosystems, the importance of clean water, and the ongoing efforts to balance human needs with environmental sustainability. From the headwaters to the estuary, the flight along the Delaware River highlights not just a waterway but a living, breathing testament to the intertwined history, culture, and ecology of the region—a journey through our history, our watershed.

The Impact of Partnerships in Storytelling

The creation of the video  involved a collaborative effort, bringing together various organizations, contributors, and media partners to produce a visually stunning and informative exploration of the Delaware River. Brought to you by Delaware Currents, the video's production was made possible through the support of key entities and contributors. The Blue Raster team was responsible for editing and production of the video, incorporating GIS element to provide a more spatial context and location-based visualizations. Of particular note, the DRBC played a pivotal role in providing insights into the river's management, regulatory efforts, and environmental conservation while the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary added valuable insights into the ecological importance of the river's estuarine region and its role in sustaining diverse ecosystems. Media partners played a crucial role in amplifying the project's reach, ensuring that the video's content was well researched and reached the necessary audiences through various platforms.

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Meet the Beautiful Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College

Hailed as one of the country's most beautiful college campuses, Swarthmore College features more than 4,000 plant varieties and 425 acres of cultivated, flowering hills. As part of the breathtaking campus, the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College hosts numerous learning programs, extends incredible volunteer opportunities, and supports educational courses offered at the college. One of the arboretum’s central goals is to cultivate and display plants specific to the region and inspire visitors with ideas for their own gardens. Considering the volume of plants, frequency of plant updates, and educational purposes of the arboretum, a robust plant record management system and a publicly accessible application for exploration are integral to supporting Scott Arboretum’s ongoing mission.  

In 2021, Blue Raster partnered with Scott Arboretum to establish a synchronization process between GIS and the arboretum’s botanical repository, BG-BASE. Another outcome was to update and modernize the arboretum’s public plant and dedication search site. Blue Raster created GIS data representing surveyed plant locations, garden features, points of interest, and other reference data for visitor amenities. The team also facilitated the expansion of field GIS for plant mapping by leveraging ArcGIS Field Maps to streamline and improve the efficiency of data collection and updates. The workflow enables internal staff and plant managers to modify and update plant records in the field while edits are committed to near real-time, allowing them to flow seamlessly into internal and public applications. The BG-BASE-ArcGIS sync exploits the powerful capabilities of Field and Web GIS in tandem with Python scripting for a continuous connection between the botanical system of record, GIS data, and associated information products.  

Scott Arboretum

Finally, the new Arboretum Explorer application, developed in the latest version of the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript, is an interactive site for researchers, staff, and visitors to explore both the arboretum and campus attractions and filter and search for plants and memorials. The application enhances the user experience of engaging with the botanical database, enabling Scott Arboretum to thoroughly operate and present information to users.​ Arboretum Explorer is a dynamic application that highlights the arboretum’s garden collections, allowing users to identify dedicated benches and plaques, and other tools for navigating the historic gardens.  As a mobile-friendly app, the Arboretum Explorer is a great resource for visitors to navigate and explore the collections while onsite.

"The Blue Raster team is incredibly knowledgeable, innovative, and amenable.  They have the innate ability to take a basic concept and masterfully turn it into a functional, creative, and user-friendly end product."
- Mary Tipping, Curator and Plant Recorder, Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College

Blue Raster has been supporting public garden, arboreta, and cemetery customers for over ten years, developing custom applications and providing training to increase the use of GIS for staff and public workflows. Click here to learn more about Blue Raster’s work with public gardens. 

APGA Puts on a Texas-Sized Show in Fort Worth

Last week was the American Public Garden Associations' (APGA) Annual Conference in Forth Worth, Texas. Over 1,000 people in the community attended to learn from each other's success stories and best practices around garden management, public engagement, horticulture, plant curation, conservation, and education.

Christopher Gabris, Blue Raster’s Public Gardens Practice Lead, traveled to network with existing partners and share with other conference attendees how Blue Raster is using Esri’s ArcGIS platform to modernize public garden GIS and mapping workflows.

Conference highlights included a Southern Garden Charm dinner party and drone light show at the Dallas Arboretum, and celebrating the Modern West at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.

Blue Raster currently works with over a dozen public garden, arboreta, and cemetery clients. Our team designs and develops workflows for creating and updating plant collections from out in the field, syncing botanical data with popular repositories, building interactive web and mobile mapping applications for the public, and training public garden staff on maximizing the use of GIS software.

We look forward to continued engagement with the American Public Garden Association community throughout the year and presenting our work at the 2024 conference in Boston!

See how Blue Raster can help modernize your public garden and cemetery workflows today!


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