ParentSquare Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Unifying School-Home Communications and Strengthening Family Engagement

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. SEPTEMBER 10, 2021—For decades, districts, schools, and teachers used different tools to communicate with families, making it confusing and difficult for parents and guardians to keep up. In 2011, parent and computer engineer Anupama Vaid set out to build a solution to engage every family with school communications—and all in one place. That solution, ParentSquare, now celebrates its 10th anniversary.

Since the company’s founding by Vaid and her husband Sohit Wadhwa a decade ago, ParentSquare has become the premier unified school-home engagement platform for K-12 education. The Santa Barbara-based company now serves almost half of all schools in California and has expanded to 44 states.

“When I was working, I was getting so much information from so many different sources at my child’s school, it was nearly impossible to stay on top of it all. When I transitioned to be a stay-at-home mom and volunteered as a room parent, I realized that being involved with school is like a full-time job, and I experienced a big difference in how connected I felt with our school community,” said Vaid, ParentSquare Co-Founder & President.…Read More

ClassTag Launches ClassTag Goods to Eliminate Needless Teacher Out-of-Pocket Spending

NEW YORK, NY, August 12, 2021: ClassTag, the leading parent-teacher engagement platform, today announced the launch of ClassTag Goods, a free community-driven solution for teachers to receive much needed contributions for their classrooms. 

Historically, teachers have had to spend their own money to fund their classroom’s supplies, with the average teacher spending $495 a year out-of-pocket. With ClassTag Goods, teachers can now set up their own Classroom Fund which will enable parents and guardians to donate directly to their classroom on a recurring basis. All funds go directly to the teachers (without any hidden transaction or processing fees) who can then redeem supplies from ClassTag’s robust catalogue of Goods. 

“Existing fundraising solutions for teachers have failed to offer the level of flexibility ClassTag Goods provides,” said Vlada Lotkina, CEO and Co-founder of ClassTag. “Before, teachers were beholden to creating finite fundraising projects that, if not reached, meant they would not receive any of the funds donated. With ClassTag Goods, the goal is to finally put an end to this ridiculous idea that teachers should have to spend their own money on classroom supplies once and for all.” …Read More

What the pandemic has taught me about education

I’m not a formal educator, but I am a parent to a student who spent a good chunk of the last year learning from home. I also work in an industry that supports educators and administrators.

As I reflect on the past 18 months and my discussions with colleagues and partners across the U.S. and in Europe, I have identified a few truths and trends about education.

Educators are infinitely creative and adaptable. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to close, teachers connected with students online, over the phone, and even dropped by students’ homes to deliver books and worksheets.…Read More

7 ways to get teacher buy-in for new edtech

Parent engagement is a driving factor behind any child’s success in school—but a nationwide survey of more than 1,000 teachers found that parents are often disengaged in their child’s learning journey. To harness edtech tools that can help school-home communication, it’s essential to first secure teacher buy-in.

More than half of the teachers surveyed believe parents do not understand the importance of their involvement in their child’s school experience, and they assume education is a teacher’s job–not a collaborative effort between parents and teachers.

As the district technology integrationist in a rural Title 1 district, I continually look for affordable and/or free edtech resources that will bridge the communication gap between teachers and parents. But those resources also require teacher buy-in.…Read More

5 ways to make the summer count for students

For students, summer break often feels fleeting. In what seems like minutes, sunshine and freedom are quickly replaced by books and backpacks once again. 

However, if you are a parent trying to engage your child for the summer, these same two months are anything but fleeting as you balance planning for your child with other obligations. 

And if you are a school or district leader in 2021? Summer offers two months to reignite a love of learning in students and support unfinished learning through acceleration or remediation. You also face questions about how to best help staff and students return to school after a tumultuous year.…Read More

MetaMetrics Unveils Lexile & Quantile Educator Academy for Teacher Professional Development

Teachers enroll now in new online professional development courses designed
to improve student achievement in reading and math

DURHAM, N.C. – June 15, 2021 – Today MetaMetrics® unveiled its new Lexile® & Quantile® Educator Academy. The Lexile Certification Course and Quantile Certification Course help teachers integrate the measurement frameworks and accompanying tools and resources into instruction, student career planning and parent engagement. Each year, more than 35 million students receive Lexile measures and 20 million receive Quantile measures.

Both the Lexile and Quantile courses offer an interactive curriculum featuring direct instruction, knowledge checks, summative assessments and performance tasks. Each course is 10-hours, self-paced and asynchronous. Upon completion of the professional development courses, teachers become Certified Lexile or Quantile Educators. In addition, in more than 20 states, teachers will be awarded CEUs or professional development hours on completion of each course.…Read More

Virtual learning will become more permanent post-COVID

About two in 10 U.S. school districts have already adopted, plan to adopt or are considering adopting virtual learning after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a RAND Corporation study published earlier this year.

The survey of district leaders indicates that virtual learning was the innovative practice that most district leaders anticipated would continue, citing both student and parent demand for continuing various forms of online instruction.

District leaders who mentioned plans to continue offer virtual learning and instruction after the COVID-19 pandemic has abated said they want to do so to offer students more flexibility, meet parent or student demand, meet the diversity of students’ needs, and maintain student enrollment.…Read More

Emeritus Expands into K12 through Acquisition of iD Tech Bringing Equitable STEM Education to Adults and Youth Globally

The companies will bring expert instruction in STEM fields to individuals worldwide,with a shared goal of bridging the STEM opportunity gap

Singapore and Mumbai, India– May 19, 2021 –  Emeritus, the global leader in making high-quality education accessible and affordable to individuals, companies, and governments around the world, announced today a definitive agreement to acquire iD Tech, the world leader in youth STEM education for $200 million. The acquisition, which is being made through Emeritus’ parent company Eruditus, marks Emeritus’ expansion into K12 STEM education, as the company grows to prepare individuals of all ages to succeed in the workforce, and positions Emeritus as one of the largest and fastest growing skilling platforms. Upon the closing of the transaction, iD Tech will operate independently, maintaining its all-star team of instructors and employees. Emeritus and iD Tech’s distinct, yet highly complementary, offerings will be scaled to support a global audience with improved learning experiences.

STEM career opportunities are projected to grow exponentially, with an estimated 3.5 million jobs in the U.S. alone that need to be filled by 2025. With offerings from both companies in coding, math, game development, robotics and more, Emeritus and iD Tech are positioned to make STEM learning more accessible, paving the way for brighter futures in STEM occupations.…Read More

PTC Wizard Integrates with Zoom

Only Parent-Teacher Conference Scheduler with Zoom Video Conferencing

Boca Raton, FL―April 16, 2021―PTC Wizard, developer of the PTC wizard platform, an online parent-teacher conference scheduler, announces full integration with Zoom video conferencing.

Now, it is possible for faculty at middle schools, junior highs, and high schools to enjoy the user experience of personalization and parental engagement. Schools offer benefits of face-to-face communication and the freedom to schedule their parent-teacher conferences without investing valuable time to organize individual Zoom meeting links for every meeting.…Read More

3 tips to cultivate meaningful parent engagement

With the onset of COVID-19, parents have stepped-up and continued to play an active role in their children’s daily education activities. Teachers, schools, and districts have put their best foot forward to ensure students are learning but still struggle with meaningful parent engagement, which has proven critical to a child’s ongoing success in the classroom.

The best school communities know the importance of giving parents a voice and a seat at the table. Here are three simple ways you can get parents more involved and start cultivating meaningful parent engagement.

1. Shift towards two-way communication…Read More

321 Insight Offers Curated Collection of Videos to Support Parents

321 Insight, an organization empowering all school staff to meet the needs of today’s students, has curated a collection of videos from their ParaSharp Series to meet the needs of a new group of learners: parents. This series is intended to support parents and caregivers in their newfound roles of facilitating their children’s remote education, prompted by COVID-19.

Research has documented for many years the connection between parental engagement and student achievement. Nearly half of district administrators say that engaging parents in supporting student learning at home is an important tool in their arsenal to ensure that their students are well-prepared for the future. The parent-focused series aims to help parents manage stress so they’re better equipped to manage the at-home virtual learning experience.

Due to the unique school environment this year, 321 Insight gathered these videos to lend essential skills to parents, which will be available through a district-wide login. The Parent-Access account includes a video series that helps caregivers create structure in the learning environment, avoid power struggles, use interventions to support positive behavior, and teach and reinforce both academic and social-emotional skills to students.…Read More

ClassTag Launches ClassTag Connect Parent Engagement Platform

ClassTag, the leading parent-teacher communication platform, today announced the introduction of ClassTag Connect, an all-in-one engagement platform that provides robust data-driven insights to facilitate greater parent, teacher, and administrator involvement and insights from classroom to district. Over 25,000 schools and several districts, including South-Western City School District, Phoenix Talent School District, and Salado Independent School District are currently using ClassTag Connect.

“The COVID pandemic has prompted school districts to recognize the value of a single, cohesive engagement platform that will avoid overwhelming parents with siloed communications. Our platform provides a way for districts and their individual schools to facilitate meaningful, personal, two-way communication between parents, teachers and administrators while simultaneously offering school and districts actionable insights behind parental engagement levels, ensuring that every family is empowered during this challenging time,”  said Vlada Lotkina, CEO and Co-Founder of ClassTag.

For example, ClassTag Connect allows schools and districts to send important updates in real time to each parent’s preferred messaging channel, whether that’s via the app, email, SMS, web or paper. The accessibility of ClassTag Connect also extends to families who do not speak English as a first language as well, as the app allows for automatic translation into 60+ languages.…Read More