The Trinity School Scheduler (TSS)

for Trinity School at Meadow View

OR 699/SYST 699: Masters Project

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Problem Definition:

Trinity School at Meadow View is a local, private, co-ed junior-high and high school with 145 students and 21 teachers that provides a classical education for grades 7-12. Many schools, like Trinity, are faced with large classroom assignment problems every semester. The majority of these institutions solve the educational timetabling problem by completing a brand new classroom assignment every semester with a large room booking log taking about 2-3 weeks OR leaving classroom assignments unchanged and making a minimum number of changes to satisfy faculty requests. Currently, Trinity assigns students and teachers to periods and classrooms by hand which is a time intensive process. Our team created a tool that, given input parameters such as section sizes, teacher availability, and classroom constraints, can find a feasible schedule for future school semesters.

Solution Strategy:

For our project, we:
Created a User Interface to add/edit input parameters
Constructed an Integer Program to find an optimal master schedule
Integrated the UI and IP to make a cohesive, easy-to-use tool
Designed an output interface that produces a clear, concise schedule
Developed a User Manual to assist trouble-shooting and share information on maintenance

Solution Implementation:

Input User Interface: MS Access VBA
Integer Program: MPS File
Solver: NEOS Server w/ Gurobi
Output User Interface: MS Excel VBA
User's Manual: PDF