What is the best software for managing boarding school dorms?

It depends on whether you want dorms inside the SIS or in a separate app. PCR Educator keeps dorm buildings, rooms, head of house and next year's room assignments on the student record, with weekend and overnight leave approved by parents and dorm staff from a phone and evening check-in by house. REACH and Orah are dedicated residential life apps that sync with your SIS and add leave, sign-out and roll call tools.

What software do boarding school health centers use?

Dedicated options include Magnus Health and SchoolDoc. PCR Educator records health center visits with vitals, medication schedules with every dose, immunizations and care plans inside the SIS, and emails the family when a student checks out of the health office.

Do boarding schools need a separate boarding app if the SIS has dorm features?

Not always. A separate app adds a second system and a sync to maintain. If your SIS covers dorm assignments, leave, evening check-in and the health office, one system is simpler for staff and for families; if your SIS does not, REACH and Orah are the common additions.

Can parents see dorm and leave information?

In PCR Educator, parents view room assignments in the parent portal, approve leave and see check-in status from a phone in any time zone, and access emergency contact and medical forms, alongside grades, attendance and statements.

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Boarding school software

What software do boarding schools use for students, dorms and the health office?

Most boarding schools run three kinds of software: a student information system for admissions, academics and billing (for example Veracross, Blackbaud or PCR Educator), a residential life system for dorms, leave and roll call (for example REACH or Orah), and a student health record for the health center (for example Magnus Health or SchoolDoc). Some platforms cover more than one layer: PCR Educator keeps dorms, leave, evening check-in and the health office on the same student record as the SIS, and the residential life apps add medication and wellbeing tools of their own.

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Last reviewed October 2026. PCR Educator publishes this page and includes itself. Every competitor detail below comes from that vendor's own website, listed at the end of the page.

The three layers of a boarding school stack

Student information system (SIS)
What it holds	Admissions, enrollment, academics, attendance, family records, tuition and billing
Common choices	Veracross, Blackbaud, PCR Educator, iSAMS (international)
Residential life
What it holds	Dorm and house rosters, room assignments, leave and weekend permissions, sign-in and sign-out, roll call, pastoral notes
Common choices	REACH, Orah, or the SIS itself
Health center
What it holds	Visits, medications and doses, immunizations, allergies and conditions, health forms, care plans
Common choices	Magnus Health, SchoolDoc, or the SIS itself

The big decision is how many of these layers live in one system. Every extra system needs a sync to the SIS, and every sync answers the questions a dean asks at 10 p.m. ("who is on campus, who is on leave, who saw the nurse today") with data from the last sync, not from the moment.

Comparison table

PCR Educator
Students (SIS)	Yes
Dorms and residential life	Day or boarding status, dorm buildings and rooms, room attributes, head of house, this-year and next-year room capacity; weekend and overnight leave with parent and staff approval; evening check-in by house from a phone
Health office	Clinical visits with vitals, visit templates, medication schedules with every dose recorded, immunizations, health issues, care plans, email to the family at visit check-out
Notes from the vendor	One student record across admissions, academics, finance, residential life and health; founded 1989, 500+ schools
Veracross
Students (SIS)	Yes
Dorms and residential life	Through integrated partners Orah and Reach
Health office	Magnus Health, part of the Veracross portfolio
Notes from the vendor	"Trusted by 60+ leading boarding schools"; 3,300+ schools overall; open API, 200+ integration partners
Blackbaud
Students (SIS)	Yes
Dorms and residential life	Ask the vendor
Health office	Ask the vendor
Notes from the vendor	K-12 suite: SIS, LMS, enrollment, billing, financial aid, Financial Edge NXT, Raiser's Edge NXT
iSAMS
Students (SIS)	Yes
Dorms and residential life	Ask the vendor
Health office	Wellbeing listed among its areas
Notes from the vendor	1,800+ schools; independent and international K-12
REACH
Students (SIS)	Syncs with 30+ SIS
Dorms and residential life	Leave requests with approvals, sign-in and sign-out, roll calls on any device by QR code, NFC or biometrics, duty scheduling, meal planning
Health office	Pastoral care, wellness checks, medication dispensing
Notes from the vendor	Positions itself as a boarding management platform used across six continents
Orah
Students (SIS)	Syncs with iSAMS, Veracross, Blackbaud, FACTS, Synergetic, Senior Systems and others
Dorms and residential life	Leave requests and approvals, roll call, check-in and check-out, pastoral notes and incidents
Health office	Medication administration and health records
Notes from the vendor	"Trusted by 500+ independent schools", 150k+ students
Magnus Health
Students (SIS)	Works beside the SIS
Dorms and residential life	No
Health office	Electronic student health record: digital forms, reminders, immunization tracking, treatment notes, medication administration, mobile app
Notes from the vendor	Part of the Veracross portfolio
SchoolDoc
Students (SIS)	Integrates with PowerSchool, Blackbaud, Senior Systems, Reach Student Life
Dorms and residential life	No
Health office	EHR: digital forms, eMAR with alerts, immunizations and allergies, clinic visits in SOAP format, behavioral health
Notes from the vendor	1,250+ schools and programs; states HIPAA, FERPA and SOC 2 compliance

The options in detail

PCR Educator: SIS, dorms and the health office on one record

Best for: boarding and day schools that want the dean of students, the dorm parents, the health center and the business office reading the same student record.

PCR Educator is a student information system with admissions, academics, finance and advancement on one data model, and it carries the boarding and health records on the same student:

01Day or boarding status on every student.
02Dorm buildings and rooms with room attributes, phone, occupancy and head of house, and capacity tracked for this year and next year so next year's housing plan is a report.
03Bulk dorm assignment for the current or the next year, and dorm room imports for the first setup.
04Weekend, overnight and holiday leave requests with parent and staff approval, submitted from the portal or a phone. Approved leave updates attendance and the student's location for those dates.
05Evening check-in by house from a phone, with late returns flagged. Students on approved leave, travel or at the health center are already placed, and the record keeps who was seen, by whom and when.
06Health center visits with time in and out, complaint, vitals (temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, blood glucose, oxygen saturation, pain score), assessment, intervention, follow-up and disposition, with visit templates to speed up common visits.
07Medication schedules and every dose recorded, given at what time, by whom and by which route, with a history of every dose given.
08Immunizations, health issues and care plans on the student, and physician, dentist and insurance details on file.
09An automatic email to the family when a student checks out of the health office.
10Boarding fees, trips and incidentals billed to the family account with tuition, on one statement.

"I can see the whole school from one screen, and the parents can see their child from anywhere in the world."

Marcus DeLeon

Dean of Students, St. Luke's School

For the full residential life walkthrough, see Boarding School Software for Residential Life.

Veracross with partner products

Best for: larger independent boarding schools that want Veracross as the SIS and are comfortable running partner products for residential life and health.

Veracross says it is trusted by 60+ boarding schools and lists Orah and Reach as integrated residential life partners. Magnus Health, its student health record, is part of the Veracross portfolio.

Blackbaud with partner products

Best for: large independent boarding schools already invested in Blackbaud's suite. SchoolDoc and Orah both list Blackbaud integrations, which is a common way to add residential life and health records.

iSAMS

Best for: international and British-curriculum boarding schools. iSAMS serves 1,800+ schools and lists wellbeing among the areas it manages.

REACH

Best for: schools that want a dedicated boarding management platform beside their SIS, especially boarding houses that run frequent roll calls. REACH lists leave, sign-in and sign-out, roll calls by QR code, NFC or biometrics, pastoral care, wellness checks, medication dispensing, duty scheduling and meal planning, and syncs with 30+ student information systems.

Orah

Best for: schools that want a student life and safety app beside their SIS. Orah lists leave requests, roll call, check-in and check-out, medication administration and pastoral notes, reports 500+ independent schools, and integrates with iSAMS, Veracross, Blackbaud, FACTS and others.

Magnus Health

Best for: health centers that want a dedicated student health record with digital forms, immunization tracking and treatment notes, particularly at Veracross schools.

SchoolDoc

Best for: health centers that run like a small clinic and want a dedicated EHR. SchoolDoc lists eMAR with alerts, SOAP-format clinic visits and behavioral health, states HIPAA, FERPA and SOC 2 compliance, and reports 1,250+ schools and programs.

Where PCR Educator fits, and where it does not

A strong fit when:

→You want fewer systems: the SIS, dorms, leave, evening check-in and the health office on one record, with no sync between a boarding app, a health app and the SIS.
→The dean of students needs leave, attendance, discipline, notes and health visits for a boarder in one place.
→Boarding fees and health center charges should land on the same family statement as tuition.
→You enroll international families and want one portal and one statement for them.

Probably not the best fit when:

→Your health center wants a dedicated clinical EHR with SOAP-format notes and an eMAR. SchoolDoc and Magnus Health are built for that.
→You are happy with your current SIS and only want to add a boarding layer. REACH or Orah add residential life without changing the SIS.
→Your houses run roll calls by QR code, NFC or biometrics. REACH lists those methods.

What to ask any vendor

01Where does each record live? Dorm roster, leave, sign-out, health visits, medications, billing. Count the systems.
02How fresh is the sync? If residential life or health runs outside the SIS, ask whether sync is one-way or two-way and how often it runs.
03Who sees health data? Dorm parents often need allergy and medication visibility; the health center may not want to share visit notes. Check how granular the permissions are.
04What happens at 10 p.m.? Ask for a live demo of evening check-in, a late return and a health center visit, then show where each appears for the dean.
05How do families abroad take part? Leave approval from another time zone, statements in their currency, portal in their language.
06What does it cost across all layers? SIS, boarding app, health record, subscription fees and integrations over five years.

Frequently asked questions

What software do boarding schools use?
- Most boarding schools combine a student information system (Veracross, Blackbaud or PCR Educator in the U.S., iSAMS internationally), a residential life system (REACH or Orah) and a student health record (Magnus Health or SchoolDoc). PCR Educator covers the SIS, dorms and residential life, and the health office on one student record.
What is the best software for managing boarding school dorms?
- It depends on whether you want dorms inside the SIS or in a separate app. PCR Educator keeps dorm buildings, rooms, head of house and next year's room assignments on the student record, with weekend and overnight leave approved by parents and dorm staff from a phone and evening check-in by house. REACH and Orah are dedicated residential life apps that sync with your SIS and add leave, sign-out and roll call tools.
What software do boarding school health centers use?
- Dedicated options include Magnus Health and SchoolDoc. PCR Educator records health center visits with vitals, medication schedules with every dose, immunizations and care plans inside the SIS, and emails the family when a student checks out of the health office.
Do boarding schools need a separate boarding app if the SIS has dorm features?
- Not always. A separate app adds a second system and a sync to maintain. If your SIS covers dorm assignments, leave, evening check-in and the health office, one system is simpler for staff and for families; if your SIS does not, REACH and Orah are the common additions.
Can parents see dorm and leave information?
- In PCR Educator, parents view room assignments in the parent portal, approve leave and see check-in status from a phone in any time zone, and access emergency contact and medical forms, alongside grades, attendance and statements.

Book a demo

See boarding on one record

A specialist walks through the house roster, evening check-in, weekend leave, a health center visit with medications, and the handoff into billing, using data that looks like your school's.

Book a demo

Product detail: Boarding School Software for Residential Life

Comparing with a boarding app? Read PCR Educator vs Orah.

Sources for competitor details (checked 2026-10-07): veracross.com/schools/boarding; veracross.com; veracross.com/magnus-health; magnushealth.com (Magnus Health and Veracross integration); blackbaud.com/who-we-serve/k-12-schools; isams.com; reach.cloud/boarding-schools; orah.com/boarding; schooldoc.com.