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July 6, 2026

Case Studies – Beverly Hills Unified School District

Adam Hausman

School events sit at the heart of district life. From graduations and performances to back-to-school nights and community celebrations, these gatherings build connection, mark milestones, and showcase what a district stands for. That means that ensuring that they run smoothly, safely, and at scale is a high-stakes responsibility.

For a district welcoming thousands of guests, moving an event from open to the public to fully closed and secure introduces real complexity. Access control, identity verification, capacity planning, and a polished guest experience all have to come together at once. That's where a flexible, dependable event management platform can make all the difference.

Recently, RSVPify sat down with Colby Gilardian, Public Information Officer for the Beverly Hills Unified School District, to learn how the district used RSVPify to run its first-ever closed graduations across all four of its school sites.

About Beverly Hills Unified School District

The Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) serves roughly 3,000 students across four campuses: Beverly Hills High School, Beverly Vista Middle School, and El Rodeo and Horace Mann Elementary Schools. Widely regarded as a “lighthouse” district that other public school systems look to and model themselves after, BHUSD places a premium on security, innovation, and a best-in-class experience for its students and families.

The Challenge: A First-Ever Closed Graduation

As the district’s Public Information Officer, Colby leads communications and continually evaluates the platforms BHUSD relies on every day. This year brought a significant new mandate: for the first time in the school’s history, graduations would be closed events rather than open to the wider community, where anyone could simply walk in.

That shift turned a long-standing tradition into a major logistical and security undertaking across four separate ceremonies, including a high school graduation that welcomes more than 3,000 guests.

The district needed to:
- Transition from open, walk-in graduations to fully closed, controlled-access events
- Verify who was entering, across four separate school-site ceremonies
- Manage very large crowds — the high school graduation alone draws 3,000+ guests
- Accurately gauge attendance to plan seating, staffing, and venues
- Maintain a clear, consistent security protocol that families could trust

Previously, the district had no system in place for these events at all — attendance was unmanaged, which meant guessing at turnout, occasional overcrowding, and guests left standing. BHUSD needed a platform that could bring structure, security, and predictability to its most important events of the year

The RSVPify Solution

RSVPify became the backbone of BHUSD’s closed graduations across all four campuses, giving the team control over access, confidence in security, and a seamless experience for the thousands of families attending.

Customizable, Secure Registration: Families registered in advance through a page tailored to exactly what each event needed to capture, then received a unique QR code for entry. Conditional questions let the district show the right fields to the right guests. “I did see that, and that was very cool.”

Seamless On-Site Check-In: On event day, guests simply presented their QR code, which was scanned through RSVPify’s check-in feature — keeping a 3,000+ person ceremony moving without long lines. “The process was very smooth, and there weren’t a lot of lines.”

Built-In Identity Verification: RSVPify flagged duplicate scans in real time, so anyone presenting a code that had already been used was caught on the spot and asked to confirm their identity with an ID — a layer of security families noticed and appreciated. “We were able to see that’s a double scan — you’re not who you say you are.”

Real-Time Capacity Insights: Live RSVP counts gave the team a dependable read on turnout for the very first time, replacing guesswork with real numbers they could plan seating and staffing around. “It was very great to have a gauge.”

A True Partnership: Beyond the software itself, the district leaned on the RSVPify team throughout planning and event day — a level of hands-on support Colby singled out as the standout part of the experience. “I’ve never had this much support from a platform. With you guys, it was a true partnership.”

The RSVPify Factor

RSVPify has become central to how BHUSD runs its largest, most important events:

Powered the district’s first-ever closed graduations across all four school sites

Welcomed 3,000+ guests to the high school ceremony with smooth, low-wait check-in

Strengthened event security with QR-code verification and real-time double-scan detection

Replaced attendance guesswork with reliable, real-time forecasting for seating and staffing

Delivered a seamless, professional guest experience that families praised

Backed the team with responsive, partnership-level support at every step

“I just wanted to share my gratitude — RSVPify has been absolutely incredible for all of our events.”

“We’re a lighthouse district, so I hope this vision can become a reality and get implemented by schools all over the world.”

Partner with RSVPify for your district’s events

Are you looking for powerful, scalable event software that keeps control, security, and customization in your hands?

Contact our team to book a demo and learn more about features, pricing, and tools designed for schools and districts hosting events of every size.

RSVPify is proud to partner with organizations like the Beverly Hills Unified School District to help them host secure, meaningful, and seamless events that bring their communities together. We’d love to help tailor a solution to fit your district.

Adam Hausman

About the Author

Adam Hausman co-founded RSVPify in 2013 and has been passionate about event tech and ticketing software ever since. Also founder of Greenlight Growth Marketing, he holds degrees from Indiana University (BA English/Psychology 2008) and the University of Illinois-Chicago (M.Ed. Secondary Education 2012). He lives in Maine with his wife, 2 kids, and 2 annoying cats.