ParentSquare is dedicated to strengthening ties between communities of learning and families in order to boost academic performance and student outcomes. To that end, we constantly come up with new ideas and think about how we might bring innovation from other industries to school-home connections, leading to new means of communication and building relationships.
ParentSquare’s History
As a stay-at-home mother in 2011, Anu, a computer engineer, saw a change in how involved she was with her children’s life at school. She had recently taken a break from work to be with her young children. To give all families at the school the same sense of belonging, ParentSquare was established. The program was created with the help of additional founders from four distinct local schools, and over the course of two years, it was adopted by 20 additional Jewish preK–12 local public, charter, private, cooperative schools. In the fall of 2014, ParentSquare became accessible to the rest of the world.
Describing ParentSquare
ParentSquare serves as a central hub for information on school events, fostering participation from both the home and school. Unlike some other school-to-home communication technologies, it is based on school-wide adoption. There are several ways to become involved, including organizing events, downloading photos and files, getting health checks, paying fees, signing up, keeping track of volunteer hours, and more.
Teachers and administrators at schools can conduct surveys and engage in two-way communication via the web, email, and text messages. Users of Smart Alert can communicate critical alarms, send voice messages to parents, and immediately translate messages (for an additional fee). School administrators can fill out forms, recruit volunteers, request items, collect fees, communicate secure documents, get RSVPs, and even conduct fundraising activities using the administrator dashboard, which also displays user interaction data.
Events are connected to the school calendar, which makes it easy to see what is happening at a glance. Parents may, with permission, even download images from the website and post comments. In addition, schools may permit parents to upload pictures into albums for other people to view. Parents and guardians can contact teachers and administrators directly through the school’s website by using a list of staff members and families that the school can give.
Thanks to iOS and Android apps, ParentSquare is mobile, and schools can enable extra add-ons like fundraising campaigns, archives, a registration app, volunteer hours, and an alumni database.
Who utilizes ParentSquare?
A communication system was created with the intention of helping American public and charter schools connect with, engage, and communicate with their parents, families, and students more effectively.
How Might Parentsquare Help Teachers?
ParentSquare’s success depends on users’ engaged participation, which includes building positive relationships with families, adding events to the integrated school calendar, offering information to kids, and exchanging images and files from student and school-related activities. Engage stakeholders with interactive polls that let them RSVP for events or sign up to donate supplies to the classroom. Utilize the safe Payments feature to solicit donations from caregivers, collect information, register for events, pay for supplies and field trips, and more.
Keep in touch with students by using StudentSquare to give them reminders, links, or even personalized compliments. At the administrative level, use the usage dashboard to inform future communications. Here, you can see how many users you have, how many of them are active on the site, and how far emails, texts, and the app have traveled. Speak to parents in their preferred language and offer support to those who might not feel secure enough to bring their children to school.
To prevent unfavorable or excessive parent contact, administrators should regularly monitor messages and provide clear guidelines. Additionally, school staff should exercise caution when disseminating information through a variety of communication channels because inconsistency in the material, repetition of messages, or an excessive number of notifications may cause disengagement.
Does Parentsquare Help Students Learn?
ParentSquare includes a ton of beneficial features for promoting regular, straightforward communication. The website emphasizes social engagement and community, encouraging back-and-forth communication between educators and parents to create alliances and collaborate on projects. Additionally, it gives administrators crucial data on how users engage with the content, enabling them to enhance outreach and create more productive, active school communities.
The wide feature set offers more choices for interaction than pure messaging apps, allowing a much-needed transition away from conventional newsletters and ineffectual paper-based or even digital communication tactics.
There is a possibility to teach organizing and communication skills that will instill a feeling of responsibility in children from an early age because teachers can communicate with students directly through the website or the StudentSquare app. ParentSquare performs a good job of promoting student accountability while also providing flexible, regular contact between school and home, even though it is not meant to be a full learning management system (LMS). It is a pretty comprehensive platform despite the need for school-wide adoption, the lack of a free version, and the sometimes-challenging UI.
Login to ParentSquare
You have three options for registering with ParentSquare as a family member. Use the email or text message the school sent you to activate your account. Visit the ParentSquare website and input the phone number or email address that is registered with your school to activate a new account. Request activation after downloading the ParentSquare app for iOS or Android.
Before the start of the school year, families who have not yet signed up for ParentSquare will be invited to do so. Utilize the email or text message that your school sent you to activate your account. You will receive an email or text message from your school requesting you to sign up for ParentSquare. By clicking on the link, users can activate their accounts.
By providing the email address or phone number that is listed on file with your school, you can activate your account on the ParentSquare website. Open the Parentsquare mobile app, log in, and activate your account. Activate the ParentSquare app. Your email or cell phone number should be entered. The email address and/or mobile number must match what is listed in the database or information system at your institution.
Note: You can ‘Request Access’ or call your school administration and ask them to change your contact information if ParentSquare does not recognize your email or phone number.
Create and verify your password after that. By pressing the button, proceed.
A registration code will be texted or emailed to you. After entering your registration code, click “Verify.” This will direct you to your ParentSquare home feed! Please be aware that you will need to request a new registration link if your current one has expired. Please get in touch with the administration of your school and ask them to send you a new link.
Top Replacements for ParentSquare
Schoology
It has reimagined the learning management system (LMS) in order to make online and blended learning a collaborative endeavor and to maximize the overall impact of everyone involved in a student’s education. Schoology assures that the virtual classroom is as powerful as, if not more powerful than, traditional learning environments.
Bloomz
This software is a free mobile and online software that connects teachers and parents in a secure, private, and user-friendly environment. Bloomz assists instructors in scheduling classroom volunteers, parent-teacher conferences, communicating directly with parents, and sharing photos of students who had amazing learning experiences.
ClassTag
ClassTag is the only software that changes the way you communicate with parents, saves time on communication, and brings in free goods for your classroom.
