Success story
Discover how Zen delivered reliable, schoolwide staffing support
Hmong College Prep Academy (HCPA) is a large K-12 charter school serving approximately 2,500 students on a beautiful and expansive campus in St. Paul, Minnesota. Prior to beginning its partnership with Zen, the school needed a dependable way to manage absences and ensure consistent coverage across both teacher and paraprofessional roles, without the centralized staffing infrastructure that districts often provide.
Historically, HCPA relied on a combination of staffing providers and separate absence management tools. These systems were often tedious for staff to use, creating unnecessary friction for educators submitting time off and for administrators responsible for managing coverage. The team sought a simpler, more responsive solution that would streamline absences and help the school quickly secure strong-fit educators whenever coverage was required.
Streamlined Absence Management
Staff submit subbing requests through Zen’s absence management system for reasons ranging from personal days to longer-term leaves. Administrators at HCPA can then view and manage all requests in one place, approve or decline absences, and quickly fill vacancies using either internal substitutes or Zen educators.
Full-School Staffing Support
HCPA relies on Zen to fill both short-term and long-term roles across the school, including K-12 classroom teachers and paraprofessionals. To ensure educators arrive prepared, Zen works with the school to communicate expectations clearly, including campus procedures and standards of conduct that educators review before arriving for their assignment.
Dedicated Account Management
HCPA works closely with a dedicated Zen Account Manager who communicates with the school’s Sub Coordinator multiple times each week to coordinate staffing needs. Through this ongoing partnership, school leaders share the training they value most for educators supporting their students, and Zen works to upskill its educator pool to ensure those placed at HCPA are prepared to deliver strong learning experiences.
93% Paraprofessional Fill Rate
By leveraging Zen’s educator network and centralized absence management system, Hmong College Prep Academy consistently fills the vast majority of short-term paraprofessional vacancies across the school. This reliability ensures students receive the support they need while reducing the administrative burden on school leaders responsible for coordinating coverage.
95% Teacher Fill Rate
Zen has also helped HCPA maintain exceptionally high short-term fill rates for teacher absences, even during periods of high demand. With a streamlined absence management process and a dependable pool of educators, the school can confidently secure classroom coverage and maintain continuity in instruction.
Long-Term Staffing Stability
Zen supports several long-term teacher and paraprofessional roles at Hmong College Prep Academy, helping provide stability for students and staff throughout the school year. Through Zen’s temp-to-perm model, the school can transition educators who prove to be a strong fit into permanent roles, helping build long-term workforce capacity.
"Zen Educate makes managing substitute coverage incredibly easy. We appreciate being able to view all of our sub needs in one dashboard and recognize the faces coming into our building. It brings a lot of peace of mind knowing exactly who will be supporting our classrooms when members of our team are out.
The Zen Educate team does an outstanding job managing our account and is always responsive to our many requests, even in the earliest hours of the morning. They also go the extra mile by identifying guest teachers who are a great fit for our school community for Long-Term assignments. In fact, some of the placements have been so strong that we have welcomed them onto our team permanently!
Thank you, Zen Educate, for being such a reliable and supportive partner!"
Kiersten Sloneker, Subbing Manager
Impact where it matters most
93%
Paraprofessional Fill Rate
for short-term roles
95%
Teacher Fill Rate
for short-term roles
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