Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

15 questions to ask when evaluating communications platforms

Key points:

  • Home-school communications systems help to build trust and establish consistency in a school community
  • Districts must be clear in their communications, and to do so, they must select the right platform
  • See related article: Your top 5 school-home communication challenges, solved

The importance of effective home-school communications has never been higher. Families expect to be kept informed of their child’s activities, academic progress, and expectations. However, confusion and frustration often ensue when messaging is not centralized or when individual messages contradict each other.

In today’s educational environment, it is vital the school or district have a clear message with leaders understanding exactly what is to be communicated. It is equally important that families trust the authenticity of the communications.…Read More

5 reasons to use a one-stop-shop communications platform

Key points:

  • School communications platforms shouldn’t make communicating more complicated–they should ease a burden
  • The right platform can result in cost savings and can increase flexibility and consistency across a school district
  • See related article: Your top 5 school-home communication challenges, solved

When our School Administrative Unit (SAU) set out to find a communications platform that all six of its schools could use across all grades, we had good reason for doing so. For starters, our administrators were using one communication system and teachers were using a completely different system.

Teachers had to create their own distribution lists, which weren’t always current. For example, one might develop a distribution list at the start of the new school year but would get a new student in January and forget to add the new parents to the distribution list.…Read More

ParentSquare Announces 2023-24 Advisory Council Members 

Santa Barbara, CA — ParentSquare Inc., the leading provider of school-home community engagement solutions for K-12, today announced the members of its 2023-24 ParentSquare Advisory Council. The Advisory Council members help inform the company’s future development plans for the ParentSquare platform and serve as a peer-to-peer forum for discussing best practices and pressing issues in school communications and family engagement.

The ParentSquare Advisory Council is an invitation-only group, comprised of K-12 communications, technology, and administrative leaders who use ParentSquare. The size of the council has grown from 14 members in the 2022-23 academic year to 18 members for the coming year. New and returning members include:

●      Jason Borgen, Chief Technology Officer for Santa Cruz County Office of Education (Calif.)…Read More

ParentSquare Announces 2022-23 Advisory Council Members

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. MAY 6, 2022— ParentSquare Inc., developer of the premier unified school-home engagement platform for K-12, today announced the members of the 2022-23 ParentSquare Advisory Council. The Advisory Council members help inform the company’s plans for the ParentSquare platform and serve as a peer-to-peer forum for discussing best practices and pressing issues in school communications and family engagement.

The ParentSquare Advisory Council is an invitation-only group, comprised of K-12 communications, technology, and administrative leaders who use ParentSquare. New and returning members include:

  • Abby Broyles, Public Information Officer for Garden Grove Unified School District (Calif.)
  • Brian C. Burke, Executive Director of Communications, Community Partnerships, and Strategic Planning for Bristol Public Schools (Conn.)
  • Dr. Jeffrey K. Butts, Superintendent of Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township (Ind.)
  • Caroline Chapman, Director of Communications and Advisement for Canandaigua City School District (N.Y.)
  • Stacy Conrad, Executive Director of Communications for Center Grove Community School Corporation (Ind.)
  • Kris Hagel, Executive Director of Digital Learning for Peninsula School District (Wash.)
  • Steven Langford, Chief Information Officer for Beaverton School District (Ore.)
  • Marci McFadden, Chief of Communication and Engagement for Monterey Peninsula Unified School District (Calif.)
  • Emily Mejia, Associate Director of Student Data, Achievement First (N.Y.)
  • Susan Moore, Director of Technology for Meriden Public Schools (Conn.)
  • Brad Orth, Executive Director of District Data Management, Business Information Systems, and Data Reporting for Cherokee County School District (Ga.)
  • Michael O’Shaughnessy, Supervisor of Curriculum for Montgomery County Educational Service Center (Ohio)
  • Rod Russeau, Director of Technology & Information Services for Community High School District 99 (Ill.)
  • Kelly Urraro, Director of Technology for Copiague School District (N.Y.)

“ParentSquare has a long history of listening to and incorporating feedback from our school district partners,” said Dr. Chad A. Stevens, Chief Strategy Officer of ParentSquare. “Our Advisory Council members are leaders who are shaping the future of school-home communication. Their expertise is instrumental in guiding our product development roadmap to address key needs and priorities and enhance communication in K-12 districts nationwide.”…Read More

Text, tweet, email, call—what do parents want in school communications?

When it comes to school communications, parents today want more information from their children’s teachers and schools, but they also want that information to be timely, targeted, and personalized to their children or their interest areas.

The latest data from Speak Up Research Project gives insights on school-to-home communications. In “Text, Twitter, Email, Call—What Do Parents Say About School Communications?” Dr. Julie Evans, chief executive officer of Project Tomorrow, shared these insights from parents, educators, and administrators, and discussed takeaways from the research.

Currently: How Most Parents Receive Information…Read More

6 ways texting can improve school communications

SMS texting is the most cost-effective and convenient technology to use in strengthening ties with parents, the author argues

textingA written note home can get lost, “eaten by the dog,” or sit on the kitchen counter to be used as a coaster for weeks on end. eMails get sent to spam, accidentally deleted, or aren’t read in a timely manner. And, honestly, how often do people pick up the phone anymore?

Students touch their cell phones 43 times a day and send about 60 texts, showing that mobile technology is the best way to reach them. And with 91 percent of adults owning cell phones, texting is actually the most efficient means of communication with parents, too—especially for schools.

Here are six ways that SMS texting can help improve your school’s communication with both parents and students.…Read More

TCEA 2013: School network and communication systems

Skyward has introduced a free tool called SkyCoder, giving customers more control over their data management.

An Australian maker of web security software is making a big push into the U.S. education market by offering 10 school districts free one-year licenses of its product.

A Texas firm that designs and hosts school websites discussed how its services—which are 93-percent eRate eligible—are saving school administrators time and money, while improving school communications.…Read More

Smart phones require smart communication strategies

When parents perceive a communication void, they will work to fill it, by creating their own mobile apps or alternative social media sites.

With as many as 49 percent of all U.S. adults using smart phones, according to Nielsen reports, it’s time to get smart about school communications as well.

Today’s on-the-go parents, teachers, and principals require fast, easy access to news and information. In most cases, this requires access to stripped-down mobile websites or special applications (apps) designed for smaller screens and sometimes sketchy wireless internet connections.…Read More

Social media trends should prompt a rethinking of school communications

Websites are slowly taking a backseat to text messaging and micro-blogging tools like Twitter for breaking news, emergency messaging, and sharing other urgent information, writes award-winning columnist Nora Carr in the June edition of eSchool News—and schools should be aware of this trend.

Using QR codes for school communications

Because creating and sharing QR codes takes little time and no money, experimenting with this technology is low-risk and sends positive messages about your ed-tech prowess.

Quick Response (QR) codes—those black-and-white squares that look like a cross between supermarket bar codes and postage stamps—have real potential for school communications.

Created by a Japanese corporation in 1994, QR codes act like print-based hyperlinks to websites and social media networks. The codes are gaining traction because they allow on-the-go consumers to access websites more quickly from their mobile phones.…Read More