A school can have a place to store information and still struggle to get families to use it. At Western Academy of Beijing, that gap became the starting point for WAB Mobile Connect.
Infocare helped WAB address that gap through OnePortal. WAB Mobile Connect gives families a WeChat entry point for school services, backed by an Infocare-built connection to PowerSchool and management tools for the school team.
Kevin Crouch shared the school’s experience at the K-12 Digital Leadership Conference. His account shows how a specific need for document uploads developed into a broader service experience for families and staff.
The original challenge
The documents had a home.
Families needed an easier way in.
In 2018, WAB commissioned a document server to store community compliance documents on PowerSchool, including passports, visas, insurance proof and official photos. Getting parents to update those documents and their demographic information consistently remained difficult.
Kevin’s presentation identified several sources of friction: logging in, moving through multiple screens and using the interface on a mobile device. Single sign-on had not resolved enough of the difficulty. The document workflow was also unavailable through the native app.
A document server gives the school a place to store required records.
Compliance demands become more urgent, increasing the need for a dependable way to collect updates.
By 2021–22, the deck describes compliance challenges as high risk and requiring a quick turnaround. WAB needed families to be able to complete the process more readily.
Infocare’s OnePortal solution
A familiar way in, built around WAB.
WAB asked whether a custom WeChat Mini Program could let users upload compliance documents and health information to PowerSchool. Alongside the user experience, the school considered security, reliability, affordability, manageability and the ability to grow.
A referral brought WAB to Infocare. Kevin’s presentation reports that Infocare had a production-ready solution in four months. Infocare’s role extended to the connection with PowerSchool: it built the API through which the Mini Program accesses school data.
Through OnePortal, WAB could bring school services into a familiar parent experience and extend them over time. The initial document workflow provided a starting point for a wider set of requests, records and campus services.
OnePortal at WAB
Family access connected to school operations.
Parents can begin with school services in WeChat. Staff have tools to manage the work behind those requests, while PowerSchool continues to hold the school’s source data.
This is the value of the connection Infocare supports: the parent interface, the school team’s workflow and the existing data foundation can work together.
OnePortal across school life
A wider set of school services.
WAB’s OnePortal implementation has grown beyond document uploads to include practical family requests, access to school records and services that support participation in campus life. Families can use the same WeChat entry point for different school needs.
Explore WAB’s OnePortal services
Keep the school day moving.
- Report student absence
- Student schedules
- Bus change notices
- After-school activities
Connect plans with a campus visit.
- Events and meetings
- Facilities access
- WAB ID and vehicle passes
Bring key records within reach.
- Academic reports
- Credential requests
Give families a place to respond.
- Trip forms
- Parent permissions
- Parent consent for PIPL
- Surveys
For families, the improvement is a common place to find services and take action. For WAB, the range shows how OnePortal can grow around the school’s priorities, extending the value of the original document workflow.
The information foundation
PowerSchool stays at the centre.
OnePortal for the parent experience.
PowerSchool as the source of data.
Infocare’s OnePortal supports a familiar interface for families while WAB keeps PowerSchool as its source of data. Kevin describes the solution as self-hosted, customisable and able to work through APIs, with room to extend it over time.
The deck also sets out how identity connects to access. WMC uses WeChat authentication and a phone number linked to the WeChat identity. That number must be registered in PowerSchool. The Mini Program then accesses PowerSchool through a secure API built by Infocare.
- 01
WeChat identity
Authentication uses the user’s WeChat identity and linked phone number.
- 02
School record
The phone number must be registered in PowerSchool.
- 03
School API
An Infocare-built API provides access to PowerSchool.
Infocare’s API connects the parent experience to the school’s existing data foundation. The phone-number match described in WAB’s approach ties that access to a record held by the school.
Back-end management
The school’s side of the screen.
OnePortal’s value also reaches the school team. WAB Mobile Connect Admin provides an events management view, bringing event dates, times, venues and status together with management actions.
This gives the school team a structured view of the work behind a family’s interaction. Infocare’s contribution connects the service families use with the tools staff need to manage it.
Lessons from WAB
Custom development needs school ownership.
Kevin frames the choice between an off-the-shelf product and custom development around the work that follows the decision. His lessons include understanding the product development lifecycle, writing requirements and testing software, supported by a clear purpose and roadmap.
Understand how the product develops.
The school needs to understand the development lifecycle so it can take an informed part in the process.
Make requirements clear.
Being able to read and create requirements helps turn a school need into something a development team can build.
Plan for testing.
Kevin’s deck describes separate PowerSchool and WMC development environments, a Mini Program test environment and a parallel production test environment for user interface testing.
Keep a clear purpose and roadmap.
A defined direction helps the school guide a system that can continue to expand beyond its initial task.
Looking ahead
Further connections across school life.
The presentation’s “What’s Next?” section identifies four areas for further development:
- Two-way communication
- Full activities and sports management from elementary through high school
- Parent-teacher conferences
- Facilities booking
Future directions in Kevin’s presentation. These are distinct from the services listed under “Development So Far.”
WAB’s experience shows how Infocare’s OnePortal can turn a specific school need into a connected service experience. Families gain a familiar WeChat entry point, staff have tools to manage school services, and PowerSchool remains the source of data. WAB Mobile Connect brings these parts together around the school’s own priorities.
About this story
Adapted from Kevin Crouch’s supplied presentation, WAB Mobile Connect: Transforming School Operations with a WeChat Miniprogram. Kevin shared WAB’s experience at the K-12 Digital Leadership Conference, held at the International School of Beijing on 16 October 2026. Product screenshots come from the presentation, with identifying details masked in the admin view. The conference photograph was supplied for this story. Development milestones and feature descriptions reflect the school’s account in the deck.