2. Some families are left out of the conversation. Family contactability is foundational to ensure equitable communications. It’s also critical for urgent communications and an important part of building a healthy school culture and community. A modern, unified school-home communications platform provides the tools needed to consistently engage and maintain lines of communication with at least one parent/guardian per family and ensure equity of access for students. In our district, ParentSquare’s contactability report helps each school maintain accurate and complete records so families don’t miss information.
3. Student data must be protected. When it comes to data privacy, communications containing student-specific information should only reach authorized family and guardians. All communications should be FERPA and COPPA compliant, and many states, such as New York and Texas, have additional privacy regulations to protect student and teacher personally identifiable information (PII). For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that went into effect in 2020 also regulates student data privacy because it includes all education companies doing business with school districts.
4. Your SIS likely isn’t designed for communication. In most districts, parent or guardian contact information is stored in the student information system (SIS). However, these systems were not designed with communication with families as a primary function. While some SIS systems have the ability to send generic mass messages, they lack the nuances of a multi-featured platform designed for true engagement, especially two-way communication.
5. Measuring engagement leads to improvement. Our communication platform’s data dashboard is a valuable tool for measuring which families are engaging with their teachers and schools. Our administrators work with teachers who may be sending too much or too little communication, and we’ve provided professional learning to our teachers to improve their messaging to families. We also found surveys and forms provide a place for parent feedback with additional actionable data.
Know where to go
Rather than relying on different channels for announcements, texts and phone calls, a unified school-home communications platform lets families choose how frequently they want to be contacted, opt in or out of communications, and have a direct channel back to the school with questions or concerns.
An integrated communications platform also offers updated privacy protections while providing schools with administrative oversight and reporting. Finally, these platforms make it much easier for families to “know where to go” when they need trusted information from the district, school and/or classroom.
Related:
5 ways video improves school-home communication
Learn to align your communication strategies with school safety