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Key points:
Our district is incredibly diverse, with 33 languages across our 13 schools, according to our latest home language survey data. When we were in the middle of the pandemic and everything in education was turned on its head, we realized that we needed a better way to communicate with parents and caregivers quickly and efficiently.
Up until that point, we relied solely on our student information system to send out text messages and automated calls. We wanted to centralize that process, bring our clubs and athletics onto one platform, and ensure that it complied with the acceptable use policy that everyone signs off on each year.
During the pandemic, a lot of superintendents talked and one of the platforms discussed openly and widely within our network was Remind Hub, so we jumped on board. When ParentSquare acquired Remind, we seized the opportunity to migrate to the ParentSquare platform. This transition has proven to be one of the best decisions our district has made to enhance school-home communications.
Here are six ways we’re using that platform to boost district engagement:
1. Real-time language translation. The platform’s translation function gives us complete confidence that our incoming and outgoing messages are being translated accurately. Portuguese-speaking members of our community were shocked by how accurate and natural-sounding the automated voice messages are.
2. Improved accountability. There’s also an accountability factor built in. We always know when our messages are received. Now, if someone doesn’t receive the message, we know it, and we can straighten it out quickly in the language that the recipient speaks.
3. Access to data, metrics and analytics. The solution’s dashboard notification history helps us distribute the right number of communications–like knowing when to use targeted Smart Alerts for parent and guardian communication–versus sending correspondence to the entire school. We’re really starting to drill down and utilize those specific tools to send the right messages to the right audience at the right time.
4. Attractive, engaging correspondence simplified. In addition to the smooth transition from our original communications platform to our current one, we really like the platform’s easy-to-use Studio Editor newsletter designer, which helps us create visually-appealing communications. It also offers rich formatting tools and a scheduling feature that supports a “set it and forget it” process. This allows us to shift our focus towards other work versus worrying about whether a message was sent and received.
5. Easy dissemination of information. The Secure Documents feature that is available on our platform takes the time and effort out of disseminating high school accountability tests for nearly 3,000 students. Not having to use the traditional interoffice mail or snail mail creates significant cost savings. We can securely email parents their child’s state assessments and other forms. The high school is already doing that and now our middle and elementary school principals are considering how to leverage Secure Documents to be more efficient.
6. High contactability rates. Our district is currently at 99 percent contactability across the 8,400 students we serve and two of our schools are at 100 percent contactability. We’re currently on a mission to achieve 100 percent districtwide and are working with principals to get every student’s family into the system. Overall, our district is really pleased with the high rates of contactability we are seeing and we continue to “peel back the onion” and discover even more of the platform’s features.
Maximizing platform capabilities for long-term success
As we continue to explore and optimize the capabilities of our unified school-home communications platform, we anticipate that we may eventually consolidate tools and reduce our costs even further by eliminating other vendors. Our platform really is a one-stop shop–from the newsletters to Secure Documents to everything in between.
As classroom teachers, principals, and superintendents, we have a lot coming at us every day. Our plates don’t get smaller; they only expand, and time is the one thing we can’t get more of. Our communications and engagement platform helps us maximize that limited resource.
