New Company Created to Provide Data Systems to Help Children – COMET Informatics LLC
Non-profit Children’s Institute, Inc., in cooperation with software developer SophiTEC, Inc., create a new company serving children through schools and community-based organizations
Rochester, N.Y., December 20, 2011 – Two Rochester, New York, organizations formed a new company named COMET Informatics LLC. These two organizations are the non-profit Children’s Institute, Inc., and the for-profit software company, SophiTEC, Inc.
COMET Informatics LLC continues the development of, and markets, a web-based data application named “COMET®”. COMET aids people who care about and are responsible for children’s success in school and life. COMET supports children's learning progress and outcomes with powerful real-time data and assessment evaluation tools.
In schools, COMET enables evidence-based interventions, matching a child with a specific need to a proven form of therapy or corrective action. For community-based organizations serving children, and for funders of these organizations, COMET enables and simplifies the process of evaluating their programs.
On December 7, 2011, the date the company’s founders signed its operating agreement, COMET was in use at 85 customers, including schools and community-based organizations. From COMET’s inception, over 160,000 children, and the organizations serving them, have benefited from COMET.
In the school segment, COMET customers include large school districts, such as the Rochester City School District, as well as smaller districts, such as Westmoreland Central School District, both in New York State. COMET customers include school districts throughout the USA and in Canada.
In the community-based organization out-of-school program segment, COMET customers include the United Way of Greater Rochester, Upstate Cerebral Palsy, Volunteers of America, the City of Rochester, N.Y, and many others.
COMET helps United Way of Greater Rochester measure the effectiveness of its innovative, community-driven strategic planning process. This help is vital because the process – with the goal of ensuring positive change in the community – raises the bar to look at the impact of the strategies it employs. COMET specifically enables United Way to more easily collect and use data on its evidence-based programs that help parents meet the challenges of raising children.
The Co-CEOs of COMET Informatics LLC are A. Dirk Hightower, Ph.D., from Children’s Institute, and Serge Lossa, Ph.D., from SophiTEC.
About the COMET Web-Based Application
COMET integrates assessment processes, including attendance, assessment instruments, and technology, into a single system. It captures and manages the large volume of data required for each child or youth. COMET does this across years, in educational institutions, and in other public and private organizations that serve children and families. COMET monitors the performance, outcomes, and success of children, parents, providers, programs, and organizations.
COMET provides individual and aggregate reporting. This makes COMET useful to early educators, teachers, and out-of-school staff, who conduct educational planning and interventions for specific children.
Administrators, who need to evaluate results of programs, benefit from COMET. Funders of non-profit programs, who need to determine the return on investment, also benefit from COMET.
COMET works in conjunction with existing data systems. It is designed for actionable research and evaluations across multiple domains such as social and emotional health, learning, physical health, mental health, and academic skills. COMET collects data from thousands of instruments and generates both generic and customized reports to meet the needs of customers. COMET’s professional staff can design and customize both assessment and program evaluation solutions for COMET users.
For more information, visit www.comet4children.com.
About Children’s Institute, Inc.
Children’s Institute, is a non-profit organization whose mission is to strengthen the social and emotional health of children. For more than 50 years, Children’s Institute has conducted research and developed and promoted prevention and early intervention programs, materials, and best practices to ensure children’s success.
For more information, visit www.childrensinstitute.net.
About SophiTEC, Inc.
With over 20 years of experience in software development, SophiTEC designs develops, and deploys customized databases and expert systems to meet corporate, school, governmental, and not-for-profit customers’ needs. SophiTEC is headquartered in Bushnell’s Basin, near Rochester, New York.
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Media Note: Please contact Paul McAfee for a photograph of the signing of the COMET Informatics LLC operating agreement.
Media Contact: Paul McAfee, COMET Director
Media Contact Cell Phone: (716) 830-5219
For Media Only: Paul.McAfee@comet4children.com
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