RIDGELAND, Miss.—January 7, 2025—SchoolStatus, a leading provider of K-12 family engagement and student success solutions, today announced that SchoolStatus Attend was awarded District Administration’s Top EdTech Products Award in the Administrative & Management Systems Technology category. This recognition highlights the platform’s innovative approach to combating chronic absenteeism and revolutionizing attendance management in K-12 schools nationwide.

SchoolStatus Attend combines cutting-edge technology with proven communication strategies to drive significant improvements in student attendance while reducing administrative workload by up to 75%. The platform’s automated intervention system generates and sends school-branded, multilingual communications directly to families, ensuring critical messages reach their intended recipients across diverse communities.

“This recognition from District Administration validates our commitment to developing solutions that make a real difference in education,” said Russ Davis, founder and CEO of SchoolStatus. “SchoolStatus Attend isn’t just about tracking attendance—it’s about creating stronger connections between schools and families to ensure every student has the opportunity to succeed.”

The platform’s impact is demonstrated through impressive metrics:

• 54% of students return to school after initial contact
• 46% improvement in attendance following intervention conferences
• Up to 75% reduction in staff time spent on attendance management

As Candice McGhee, Director of Preventions and Interventions for Troup County School System (TCSS) in Georgia shared, “The biggest piece is the organizational aspect. Everything is in one location. You can see everything.” Through strategic interventions enabled by SchoolStatus Attend, TCSS reduced chronic absenteeism by 25% over the last two school years, from 16.6% in 2022-23 to 12.2% in 2024-25.

What sets SchoolStatus Attend apart is its holistic approach to attendance management, featuring:

• Data-driven insights for proactive intervention
• Granular learning time loss tracking across classes, teachers, and individual students
• Seamless integration with existing Student Information Systems
• Automated, customizable intervention systems
• Positive reinforcement through celebratory communications

This is the second year in a row SchoolStatus has won a District Administration and Future of Education Technology® Conference (FETC®) Top EdTech Products of the Year Award. Last year the comprehensive platform was named the top midsize Information Technology solution.

About District Administration’s Top EdTech Products of the Year Awards

District Administration and Future of Education Technology® Conference (FETC®) Top EdTech Products of the Year Awards showcase the latest innovations in educational technology, with a focus on solutions that break new ground in the EdTech market. Winners are selected based on their ability to solve real-world problems in education and demonstrate measurable impact in schools. 

This annual competition spotlights the most innovative new solutions on the market that are helping leaders meet the ever-evolving education technology needs of their districts and schools. The editors of District Administration conducted a comprehensive evaluation of more than 200 submissions, with input from a panel of superintendents, industry experts, and analysts.

About SchoolStatus

SchoolStatus provides a comprehensive suite of communication and attendance solutions that enhance educator-to-family connectedness and support student success. Instant insight into student information and district attendance trends gives educators and administrators full visibility into all levels of the education ecosystem. Data-informed, multi-touch communications include calling, texting, video, and print materials centered around proactive intervention that improves student outcomes and family engagement. With millions of successful school-home interactions, SchoolStatus is improving student outcomes by facilitating meaningful engagement between educators, districts, and families across the US.

Media Contact

Sydney Stressman
Zer0 to 5ive for SchoolStatus
sstressman@0to5.com
609.238.6663

In a K-12 school district, effective communication is more than just keeping stakeholders and families informed—it’s about aligning every message and medium with the district’s overarching goals and values. Being strategic with communications ensures that every interaction, whether with families, students, or staff, reinforces the district’s mission and helps drive success for the entire school community.

Crafting Consistent and Targeted Messages

One of the hallmarks of strategic communication is consistency. It’s not enough to simply disseminate information—the message must be clear, consistent, and aligned across all platforms and channels. This consistency helps build trust and ensures that all stakeholders receive the same message, whether they’re reading an email, visiting your website, or attending a board meeting.

A clear, consistent message is also easier for others in the district to disseminate. When everyone from administrators to teachers can articulate the same key points, it reinforces the district’s priorities and ensures that the message is understood at all levels.

Strategic communicators also understand the importance of targeting messages to specific audiences. We’re all inundated with emails and texts as it is—tailoring your message to the needs and interests of a specific group ensures that your messages are impactful. Whether you’re sending a monthly update to staff, reminding your middle schoolers about the upcoming science fair, or inviting families to parent-teacher conferences, relevant and timely communication is key.

Aligning with the District’s Vision

Strategic communication needs to ladder up to a clear, cohesive district vision and mission. Whether you’re a director of communications, superintendent, principal, teacher, or coach, it’s important to understand how your messages support the district’s long-term goals. This means that communicators need to be well-versed in the district’s priorities and use them as a foundation for all messaging. A cohesive approach also helps to build trust with the broader school community.

When crafting your outreach—be it a newsletter, email, social media post, or press release—ask yourself how it aligns with the district’s vision. Are you working to improve student outcomes, foster inclusivity, increase family engagement—or all of the above? By consistently tying back to the district’s overarching objectives, you ensure that your messages are purposeful and impactful. 

Fostering Collaboration & Building Relationships

Communication in a K-12 district is a team effort. Strategic communicators know how to leverage the strengths and expertise of others within the district to enhance their messaging. This includes collaborating with teachers, administrators, and support staff to gather stories, share important updates, and ensure that all voices are heard.

Effective communication also relies heavily on strong relationships with your district leadership. When district leaders understand and back your communication efforts, it amplifies the impact of your work and ensures a unified voice across the organization. Regular, open lines of communication with the superintendent, school board, and other key leaders are crucial for staying aligned with district priorities and ensuring that your messaging reflects their goals.

It’s also critical to build partnerships with parent and community organizations, local media, and other stakeholders who can help amplify the district’s message. By working together, you can create a more cohesive and powerful communication strategy that reaches a wider audience and drives greater engagement from the entire community.

By cultivating these relationships, you position yourself as a trusted advisor who can provide valuable insights into how the district’s messages are being received by the community. This two-way feedback helps craft more effective messages and ensures that collaborators at all levels fully understand how their priorities are being shared and received.

Harnessing the Power of Data for Smarter Communication

In the world of school communications, data is a powerful tool for refining and improving your strategy. Strategic communicators often use student data such as academic performance, behavior, and attendance to understand the needs of their audience, measure the effectiveness of their messages, and make informed decisions about where to focus their efforts.

In addition to student data, it’s important to analyze engagement metrics on social media, track family open rates on email newsletters and direct messages, and conduct surveys to gather feedback from families, educators, and staff. If you notice that certain messages or channels aren’t resonating or that some audiences are less engaged, that’s an opportunity to rethink your approach.

Data allows you to be proactive, ensuring that your communications are always evolving to meet the needs of your stakeholders. Even if you don’t have access to advanced tools, there’s always some form of data available that can provide insights. The key is to regularly review the most relevant data you have, identify trends and areas for improvement, and then adjust your communication strategies accordingly.

The Tools You Need to Succeed

By aligning every message with the district’s vision, maintaining consistency in your messaging, building strong relationships with leadership, leveraging teamwork and collaboration, and using data to refine your approach you can streamline efforts build stronger relationships throughout your district.Using a centralized communications platform with data-driven insights built-in makes that job much easier. Support your strategic communications with SchoolStatus Connect + Smore Newsletters and ensure that every internal and external message not only informs but also supports the district’s goals, fosters community trust, and helps create a positive, unified educational environment.

Published September 19, 2024 on eSchool News.

In my role as Assistant Director of Student Services, I’ve learned that the most crucial factor in improving student attendance isn’t about policies or procedures–it’s about connections. Our district serves a diverse community of hardworking families, including many newcomer families. We’ve faced our share of challenges, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we’re making strides by focusing on what matters most: our students and their families.

In Alvord Unified, we’ve learned that operationalizing our strategic goals around attendance isn’t just about setting targets–it’s about creating systems that foster meaningful engagement. By focusing on building strong school-home connections, we’re not only improving attendance rates, but also driving improved student outcomes across the board. Our approach demonstrates that when we align our daily operations with our broader strategic vision, we can create a school environment where every student is empowered to succeed.

Before the pandemic, our district maintained a respectable 95 percent attendance rate, with chronic absenteeism hovering between 12 percent and 14 percent–on par with surrounding districts and national averages. However, when COVID-19 hit, we saw our chronic absenteeism spike to 25 to 30 percent, mirroring the struggles faced by districts nationwide.

The pandemic created an opportunity for a new approach to attendance management

As we emerged from the pandemic, it became clear that we needed a new strategy. For years, our Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) had included provisions for an attendance management program, but implementation had always been pushed to the back burner. The post-COVID landscape, with its unique challenges and shifting priorities, provided the perfect opportunity to revisit this need.

During the height of the pandemic, our school sites were overwhelmed. They were juggling COVID case tracking, managing periods of exposure, and trying to maintain some semblance of normal operations. It was during a conversation about reducing the burden of attendance letter mailings that I saw our chance. If we could automate these processes, we could free up our staff to focus on what really matters: connecting with students and families.

After researching options and consulting with colleagues at state conferences, we decided to implement SchoolStatus as our attendance management system. This move wasn’t just about tracking numbers; it was about transforming how we approach attendance altogether.

SchoolStatus has become an integral part of our attendance strategy. It handles much more than just systematic notifications. The system automates our attendance tracking, generating real-time reports that allow us to identify trends and at-risk students quickly. It manages our compliance requirements, ensuring we send out legally mandated notifications, like the crucial first notice that outlines parents’ responsibilities under California’s Education Code. This system allows us to operationalize our strategic goals around attendance, turning our vision into concrete, daily actions.

Read the full article on eSchool News.

Published August 22, 2024 on eSchool News.

Can you point to that moment where a teacher said or did something that changed the course of your life? I certainly can. In my case, it wasn’t what the teacher said to me. It was what she said to my mother.

The reason I even graduated from high school was because my mom ran into my English teacher at the grocery store when I was in 10th grade, and the teacher mentioned that I’d missed class–a lot, actually. That chance encounter saved me from dropping out. 

My mom also happened to be a teacher, so you better believe I started showing up to school daily and made up for the work I’d missed. But what I learned from that moment was how important it is to keep families looped into what’s really happening with their kids at school. Because left in the dark, even the most well-intentioned parents can’t step in to course-correct before it’s too late. I became determined to bridge that communication gap between schools and home.

I started down that path as the youngest school technology director in my home state of Mississippi’s history. But I quickly learned that one-size-fits-all methods didn’t even come close to getting the job done. The tool we needed didn’t exist. For true engagement, we needed two-way communication: conversations based on data, in languages families understand, and tailored to each child’s needs.

I started my journey with that vision of seamless school-home communication. And more than a decade later, I’m still on a mission to empower families with insights and open doors for supportive interventions and greater collaboration between families, teachers, and administrators.

This past winter, my team was laser-focused on integrating six different companies into one cohesive set of solutions to better tackle some of the monumental struggles schools are experiencing–like chronic absenteeism. In the midst of this, I had my daughter’s parent-teacher conference.  I am that parent who’s guilty of missing information in the firehose of communications that come home from school because they are often school-wide announcements and rarely have anything to do with my specific child. But the parent conference was solely about my kid and had my full attention.

Read the full article on eSchool News.

As the new school year approaches, district leaders have a unique opportunity to boost morale and set a positive tone for the months ahead. By implementing these three proactive strategies, you can energize your team, foster innovation, and create a vibrant educational environment that benefits students, staff, and the community alike.

1. Capture the First-Day Magic

The first day of school is filled with excitement and potential. Harness this energy by sending your communications team out to school buildings to document the day through photos and videos. This approach offers multiple benefits:

• Creates a wealth of authentic content for your website, newsletters, and social media channels
• Allows your team to experience the positive atmosphere firsthand, boosting their own morale
• Provides valuable insights into the school community’s needs and experiences

By immersing your team in the day-to-day realities of your schools, you’ll foster a deeper connection between your communications efforts and the district’s mission.

2. Implement a District-Wide Appreciation Initiative

Recognize and celebrate the efforts of all staff members, from teachers to support personnel. Consider these ideas:

• Launch a digital recognition platform where colleagues can share kudos and success stories
• Create a weekly or monthly spotlight feature highlighting outstanding contributions
• Organize surprise appreciation events throughout the year

By consistently acknowledging the hard work of your team, you’ll cultivate a culture of gratitude and motivation.

3. Facilitate Cross-Departmental Collaboration

Breaking down silos between departments can spark innovation and create a sense of unity. Try these approaches:

• Organize regular cross-departmental meetings or workshops to share ideas and best practices
• Implement a district-wide communication tool that allows for easy information sharing and collaboration
• Create mixed-team task forces to tackle specific district challenges or initiatives

By encouraging diverse perspectives and fostering teamwork, you’ll not only boost morale but also drive the innovation your district needs.

Remember, effective communication is key to the success of these initiatives. Utilize comprehensive communication platforms that offer features like mass messaging, data analytics, and customizable dashboards to keep everyone informed and engaged. By leveraging technology to streamline your efforts, you’ll be able to focus on what really matters: creating a positive, supportive environment for your entire school community.

As you implement these strategies, you’ll find that an energized, collaborative team is better equipped to face challenges and drive positive change in your district. Here’s to a successful and inspiring new school year!

Contact us to learn more!

Effective communication is essential for any school district. With many stakeholders across multiple schools, it’s crucial to keep everyone informed and aligned. Here are three actionable tips to enhance internal district communication and make life easier for everyone.

1. Use Mass Announcements for Important Updates

When there’s important news to share, such as policy changes, staff retirements, or incident reports, sending mass notifications ensures everyone gets the news simultaneously. This prevents misinformation and keeps teachers and staff on the same page. Draft templates for different types of announcements in advance so you can quickly send out information without starting from scratch each time.

Tips:

• Schedule consistent monthly or weekly announcements
• Include a summary of key points at the beginning of each message for quick reading
• Use bullet points and numbered lists for easy skimming

SchoolStatus Connect allows you to easily send mass announcements and follow up one-on-one as needed, ensuring consistent and timely communication.

2. Digitize & Simplify Processes

Switching from paper forms to digital workflows can save time and reduce errors. For example, handling equipment and room requisitions through an online system allows staff to easily submit and track their requests. This eliminates the hassle of lost paperwork and speeds up the approval process. Clear and consistent digital workflows help everyone understand what steps to take and where their requests stand.

Tips:

• Digitize common forms such as leave requests, maintenance requests, and permission slips
• Set up automated reminders to follow up on pending approvals
• Create a centralized online portal where all forms can be accessed and submitted

SchoolStatus Forms & Flows offers customizable digital workflows, making it simple to handle requisitions and other administrative tasks efficiently.

3. Create Engaging Internal Newsletters

Regular internal newsletters are a great way to keep everyone updated and engaged. These newsletters can include updates from district leaders, highlights of staff achievements, and upcoming events. Encourage contributions from different departments to ensure a variety of content and perspectives. This fosters a sense of community and keeps everyone informed about what’s happening across the district.

Tips:

• Feature a “Staff Spotlight” section to recognize individual contributions
• Include a calendar of upcoming events and important dates
• Add links to resources, such as professional development opportunities or district policies

Smore Newsletters are now integrated into SchoolStatus Connect. Creating and distributing engaging newsletters has never been simpler! Now you can maintain regular, professional communication with all staff members.

By implementing these strategies, district leaders can improve communication, streamline operations, create a more cohesive and informed community, and buy back time in their lives for the human interactions that make schools tick. Use these strategies to make daily tasks easier while building a stronger, more connected district.

Ridgeland, Mississippi—June 12, 2024—SchoolStatus, a leader in K-12 data-driven solutions that empower student success, today announced that the company and their partner district, Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS), were awarded a silver-level Learning Impact Award from 1EdTech Consortium (1EdTech), for their innovative collaboration on the “Focused Student Support” dashboard and the positive impact that it has had on PWCS students, educators and administrators. 

1EdTech’s annual Learning Impact Awards are conducted globally to recognize evidence-based breakthrough digital learning solutions, partnerships, and bold strategies implemented in an educational setting to power unlimited potential in every learner. The awards are judged on their impact on personalized learning, institutional performance, and the digital learning ecosystem. 

PWCS established a goal of a 95% on-time graduation rate for all students by 2025. To help meet this goal, the district partnered with SchoolStatus to develop an integrated dashboard merging data analytics and communication tools for educators. This initiative aligns with PWCS’ Strategic Plan to improve graduation rates, enhance student performance in reading and math, and decrease chronic absenteeism and dropout rates among key student demographics. To date, PWCS has seen double-digit declines in chronic absenteeism; the graduation rate outcomes for the 2023-24 school year will be known by August. 

“The customized dashboard from SchoolStatus has been a game-changer for our district,” said AJ Phillips, Director of Information and Instructional Technology at Prince William County Public Schools. “Having all of our students’ information in one place allows us to quickly and easily identify which students need intervention and support. With limited resources, the real-time data insights provided by the dashboard are invaluable, helping us to see how students are performing across various categories. This tool, designed with educators and administrators in mind, has significantly enhanced our ability to support our students effectively.”

“This achievement is a remarkable testament to the outstanding efforts within PWCS, showcasing their commitment to supporting ‘every student by name and by need,’ and their admirable goal of achieving a 95% on-time graduation rate for all students. We are deeply honored to be part of this journey,” said Russ Davis, Founder and CEO of SchoolStatus.

Award winners are selected after presentations and interviews with educators from K-12 and higher education, and evaluations from Learning Impact conference attendees and the EdTech community at large.

“1EdTech’s Learning Impact Awards highlight the most effective uses of innovative teaching and learning technology in practice,” said Sandra DeCastro, vice president of marketing and higher education programs for 1EdTech. “We congratulate all of this year’s winners who showcased projects that offer clear evidence of enhancing learning impact and outcomes and can inspire others.”

Eight projects worldwide earned a Learning Impact Award in 2024. A complete list of award winners can be found here, including project videos and case studies.

About SchoolStatus

SchoolStatus provides a comprehensive suite of communication, attendance, and educator development solutions that enhance school-to-family connectedness and support student success. Instant insight into student information and district attendance trends gives educators and administrators full visibility into all levels of the education ecosystem. Data-informed, multi-touch communications include calling, texting, video, and print materials centered around proactive intervention that improves student outcomes and family engagement. With millions of successful school-home interactions, SchoolStatus is improving student achievement by facilitating meaningful engagement between educators, districts, and families across the U.S. For more information, visit schoolstatus.com. 

Media Contact:
Sydney Stressman
Zer0 to 5ive for SchoolStatus
sstressman@0to5.com 
609.238.6663

Ridgeland, Mississippi—June 12, 2024—SchoolStatus, a leading provider of cloud-based solutions for K-12 school communications, attendance, and operations, today announced the launch of Forms & Flows, a new add-on product that allows schools and districts to digitize paper-based processes and automate administrative workflows. Forms & Flows seamlessly integrates with the robust SchoolStatus Connect communications platform to create a unified system for managing tasks, gathering data, and communicating with all stakeholders.

With Forms & Flows, educators can convert tedious manual processes like student onboarding, parent forms, internal requests, and approvals into streamlined digital workflows. Smart logic and automated actions ensure information flows seamlessly between families, staff, and administrators without bottlenecks. Routine tasks that previously required printing, collating, data entry, and back-and-forth communications can now be completed paperlessly in one centralized solution.

“Administrative inefficiencies act as a constant drag on school productivity and momentum,” said Russ Davis, Founder and CEO of SchoolStatus. “With Forms & Flows, we’re helping districts eliminate those resistance forces so they can unlock their full potential and focus resources on priorities that truly move the needle for students.”

Key capabilities of SchoolStatus Forms & Flows include:

• Paperless data collection through customizable eForm templates
• Automated workflows to route requests and approvals with smart logic 
• Self-service portals for families and staff to submit information anytime
• Seamless integrations with SIS platforms and other data systems  
• Multilingual form translations to ensure accessibility
• Built-in e-signature capabilities for secure approvals
• Centralized admin dashboards to track processes in real-time

Forms & Flows will be available in North America starting in July 2024. SchoolStatus Connect customers can purchase Forms & Flows as an add-on to the communications platform, while new customers can bundle the solutions together as part of their contracting process.

Forms & Flows is the latest addition to SchoolStatus’ comprehensive suite of solutions aimed at boosting efficiency and meaningful engagement for K-12 schools. To learn more about Forms & Flows, visit /products/forms-and-flows.

About SchoolStatus

SchoolStatus provides a comprehensive suite of communication and attendance solutions that enhance educator-to-family connectedness and support student success. Instant insight into student information and district attendance trends gives educators and administrators full visibility into all levels of the education ecosystem. Data-informed, multi-touch communications include calling, texting, video, and print materials centered around proactive intervention that improves student outcomes and family engagement. With millions of successful school-home interactions, SchoolStatus is improving student achievement by facilitating meaningful engagement between educators, districts, and families across the U.S. For more information, visit schoolstatus.com.

Media Contact:
Sydney Stressman
Zer0 to 5ive for SchoolStatus
sstressman@0to5.com
609.238.6663

School district superintendents know how important it is to stay engaged with their students’ family members and caregivers. It can lead to improved student achievement, fewer disciplinary issues, and a more positive learning environment.

But with the day-to-day issues that crop up, it’s easy to get sidetracked and lose focus on engagement activities. Here are three essential ways superintendents can continually and effectively engage with families in the districts they serve.

Foster an Open Dialogue

The relationship between districts and families is a collaborative partnership that requires open and frequent communication. Here are some ways to assure families that their voices are heard:

• Invite families to attend school board meetings, conferences, and other education-focused events
• Review attendance data with families and work together toward finding solutions to address attendance challenges
• Send out surveys to learn more about families’ perceptions, experiences, and needs
• Share information about what volunteer opportunities exist, such as serving on committees

Leverage Technology

Districts have at their fingertips all kinds of communication tools to stay engaged with families. Here are a few:

• E-newsletters. Send out a monthly email in multiple languages to family members and caregivers
• Social media. Use various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter), to keep families updated on school events and make important announcements
• Notifications. Send reminders and alerts through a district app, text system, or emails in multiple languages

Promote Transparency and Accountability

Administrative changes and discussions that occur behind closed doors can generate feelings of distrust. Therefore, it’s important for districts to share information on an ongoing basis.

Here’s how sharing information from the top down garners trust:

Districts should share information about key issues—such as attendance data, leadership changes, policies, and goals—and any big news that impacts the district and its students.

Superintendents who stay engaged with district families can realize ongoing, long-term benefits that positively impact the entire community, as it generates good feelings and confidence in the decisions they make.

To stay up to date with SchoolStatus, subscribe to our mailing list below.

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week! This week we celebrate the dedicated and hardworking individuals who spend countless hours preparing lessons, grading assignments, and providing guidance and support to students. Teachers display immense resilience and creativity as they continue to put students first. 

At SchoolStatus, we see firsthand the incredible impact that teachers make in the lives of their students. Many of us have been educators in our careers, and all of us have had the course of our lives changed thanks to the teachers who helped us develop into who we are today. 

This Teacher Appreciation Week, we’re celebrating teachers everywhere by sharing stories about the inspirational teachers who have impacted our lives—and whose influence can still be felt today.

Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) has received the prestigious 2024 Community Leadership Award for Digital Equity from the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). This award highlights PWCS’s unwavering commitment to promoting digital equity, narrowing the homework gap, and providing students with the tools they need to succeed.

Bridging the Digital Divide with Innovative Solutions

PWCS has taken bold steps to address digital inequities and empower students as responsible digital citizens. The district has distributed over 91,000 instructional devices, ranging from iPads for PreK-2 students to HP laptops for grades 3-12. To further ensure equitable access, PWCS has provided hotspots for students without home internet, closing a critical gap in connectivity.

Enhancing Communication with SchoolStatus Connect

To support its digital equity initiatives, PWCS has adopted tools like SchoolStatus Connect to strengthen family-teacher communication. This innovative platform enables two-way, translated messaging between teachers and families. For example, teachers can text parents in their native language, and replies are automatically translated back into English.

Heather Huff, Instructional Technology Coach at Sinclair Elementary, emphasized the impact:

“SchoolStatus Connect has closed a significant communication gap for our families.”

A Spanish-speaking parent shared how this feature has transformed her ability to stay involved in her child’s education:

“Receiving texts in Spanish and replying in my language allows me to communicate quickly, even with my busy schedule. It’s a game-changer for families like mine.”

This functionality is especially valuable for English Language Learner (ELL) families, fostering stronger school connections and boosting engagement.

Combating Chronic Absenteeism with SchoolStatus Attend

In addition to improving communication, PWCS has implemented SchoolStatus Attend to address chronic absenteeism. This platform uses data-driven insights and tiered interventions to improve attendance and student outcomes. PWCS has seen measurable progress in attendance rates, student support, and graduation rates as a result of this proactive approach.

Recognized for Outstanding Commitment

PWCS expressed gratitude for the CoSN recognition, with one district leader stating:

“Our commitment to bridging the digital divide is unwavering. Receiving the Community Leadership Award for Digital Equity reflects the collective efforts of our schools and the division.”

Celebrating Success

SchoolStatus congratulates Prince William County Public Schools on this well-deserved award and their dedication to digital equity. We are proud to partner with PWCS in leveraging innovative tools to ensure equitable access to education for all students.

To learn more about PWCS’s success with SchoolStatus solutions, read our case study.

When we engage, we can work together as a team to reach our goals. The first step, of course, is getting all team members through the door. Our students already know how to step into their classrooms, but do their families know we are looking for their participation too? Our school community is only complete when everyone feels that they are an important member of our team. We have the opportunity to increase family involvement and establish strong connections when we invite everyone into our school community.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation encourages schools to pro­vid­e families with clear ideas for active par­tic­i­pation, and to promote families by letting them know their voic­es are important. When done successfully, this helps remov­e any bar­ri­ers to engage­ment. 

Why not open our doors with clear communication tools from the SchoolStatus Connect Advanced Tier! Building community and engaging families is achieved through accessible 2-way messaging—automatically translated into the family’s preferred language—as well as broadcast communications—allowing you to send district-wide welcome messages, mass newsletters and event notifications, and circulate volunteer coordination. By implementing easy-to-use tools, engagement can be simple, more personal, and have lasting impacts for the success of all.

Here are 3 great ways to start engaging every family in your community. 

Step 1: Engagement as a Relationship Life Cycle

Great relationships have a life cycle: they form, extend, and deepen as partners grow and mature together. With SchoolStatus Connect Advanced Tier, districts use the tools to help every stage of the relationship to thrive. 

Families at all stages—new, returning, and alumni families—have different communication needs. By meeting families where they are, districts can successfully include everyone.

• New Families: offer targeted events, personalized attention, and family to family mentoring
• Returning Families: deepen relationships with opportunities for learning and service that connect families with teachers and other educators
• Alumni Families: encourage family members to step into mentoring roles and hold recognition events to honor the mutual benefits of long-standing family involvement 

Insights from all levels can help school leaders prioritize improvement strategies. Sustaining involvement through the entire relationship capitalizes on every benefit of involving families in our community and in their student’s education.

Step 2: 1-way & 2-way Communications

Sometimes school efforts sound like a 1-way conversation. But that’s just the beginning. Broadcast messaging—emailing a general district update or sending school-wide newsletters—are very important communications. We just need to be sure we don’t miss the next step. The next level of communication—true engagement—is what happens when 2-way communication extends a message with personalized strategies.

Examples of public forums, surveys, focus groups, and in-person discussion, can begin meaningful conversations and ways to learn which kinds of settings foster meaningful family involvement. 

Some questions that work well for surveys, focus groups, and conversations include:

• What is your favorite thing about our school?
• What is one thing you wish our school would do more of?
• If our school makes the paper, what do you hope is the headline?
• What’s the best idea you’ve heard of that could make our school better?
• Tell us about a Family that you respect and admire.
• If we make one major change next year, what should it be?

Families want to learn how their child is doing, but they also want to share feedback about their child’s experiences and needs. 

Families can’t always initiate the conversation, however. With the 2-way communication tools in the SchoolStatus Connect, districts can invite dialogue—in any language and at any time—turning messages into a resource helping schools improve and students achieve.

Step 3: Feature Family Engagement as a Celebration

It can be difficult to coordinate everyone’s schedule and get families to attend all events. If in-person attendance lapses at events, send a newsletter to share highlights and celebrate those who attended! SchoolStatus Connect keeps families informed through virtual communications at any time. 

Schools can also double the effectiveness with follow-up communications that can turn any event into a source of information for future engagement. Ask attendees what worked? How might they improve? Do they have ideas for future events?

Here are some ideas from successful events that foster intrinsic engagement: 

Elementary School Events That Build Community: 

• Learning-Focused events like “One School One Book.” Everyone reads the same book and then gathers to celebrate with a party or a movie. Some popular events included Willie Wonka, Charlotte’s Web, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and The World According to Humphrey.
• Family-Focused events like family-student parties invite families to attend and connect with other families. Carving pumpkins, cooking chili, racing matchbox cars, and “family olympics” are all events that schools have used to get more family members through the doors.
• Community-Focused events like a clean-up day in a local park, volunteer service at a charity, or a collection drive to support local food banks are ways to give everyone a shared purpose while introducing philanthropy and service.
• Celebration events like ice cream socials, spring picnics, and holiday parties are simple ways to use food and fellowship to bring families together.

Middle and High School Events to Build Community: 

• Career showcase events featuring families and their profession—think of a science fair where adults are the display, and students explain their profession
• Life skills event—students and families team up to change a tire, make a snack, offer first aid, apply to vote, plan a purchase, etc. Engaging families and students with life-after-school topics are both practical and fun!
• Topical events that focus on identified needs in the school community, such as financial aid applications, college selection, workforce planning, educational technology, personal wellness—whatever the community identifies as an interest is potential for a topical gathering.
• Talent Shows. Family-student games, concerts, projects, and adventures all have proven appeal.
• Hosting a series of events—and tracking participation—can provide information on what’s working and how to better support family engagement in the future. 

Actions Are Better Than Ideas

Schools with great communication gain trust and inspire their community members. Opening our doors and inviting all to engage is the place to begin.

The Advanced Tier of SchoolStatus Connect

• Meet families where they are 
• Reach families on in-app, SMS, phone calls, or email
• Learn how reporting lets you know who is engaging
• See how the portal makes event management easy for your educators

Learn More

As we continue our mission to improve student outcomes with industry-leading technology, we are excited to announce a new pillar of our platform: SchoolStatus Boost. 

SchoolStatus Boost (formerly TeachBoost Pro) is an educator growth platform that streamlines coaching and development with collaborative goal setting and transparent, centralized feedback. SchoolStatus Boost gives district leaders a way to foster a growth mindset in their district by engaging more closely with educators and facilitating stronger feedback cycles. 

Our goal at SchoolStatus is to create products that equip educators with data-driven tools that help them overcome challenges and create better outcomes for students. Expanding our products to include SchoolStatus Boost allows us to help districts support, empower, and retain educators as they develop their careers. 

SchoolStatus Boost helps turn feedback into action with a suite of coaching and observation features.

• Transparent feedback conversations: Streamline communications with centralized feedback, observation notes, and automated follow-ups—all in one platform
• Collaborative growth planning: Engage educators in the coaching and development process with dynamic goal-setting and performance tracking, to give them a voice in setting their career direction
• Standardized process: Save time by coordinating coaching and observation across your entire district from one platform and view district performance data to identify challenges and give support where it’s needed most

Build your coaching program quickly — without compromising your district culture. SchoolStatus Boost makes it easier to implement effective coaching programs in K-12 districts. The platform is customizable and can be adapted to fit your district’s unique activities, framework, and terminology, so you can quickly and seamlessly integrate SchoolStatus Boost into your processes.  

SchoolStatus Boost joins our established suite of K-12 solutions alongside SchoolStatus Connect, which enables better school-home communication to help engage families and build communities, and SchoolStatus Attend, which reduces chronic absenteeism with data-driven interventions. 

Want to learn more about if SchoolStatus Boost is right for your district? Schedule a call with our team for a demo.

Leading EdTech platform SchoolStatus affirms its secure data privacy and usage policies with Data Privacy certification from 1EdTech.

RIDGELAND, Miss. – March 20, 2024 – SchoolStatus, a leading K-12 success platform, has received a Data Privacy certification from 1EdTech. With this certification, SchoolStatus demonstrates its commitment to maintaining high data security and privacy standards for its products. 

1EdTech is a non-profit educational technology community whose mission is to power learner potential by fostering the evolution of an open, trusted, and innovative education technology and digital credentials ecosystem. SchoolStatus is now a trusted Education Technology partner with 1EdTech.

Chief Product Officer Jason DeRoner shared, “As an education technology company committed to creating better student outcomes, data security and privacy are top concerns. Our platform is designed to give educators a trusted resource for school-home communications, attendance monitoring and intervention, and educator coaching and success. These goals require a persistent focus on secure data practices in everything that we do.”

In order to achieve 1EdTech certification in Data Privacy, SchoolStatus demonstrated that their products meet stringent requirements for secure storage and handling of sensitive data. SchoolStatus ensures proper data privacy on its platform with secure login and access permissions for educators who use the platform every day. They also offer a secure communications portal where families can engage in private dialogue with teachers. And with robust and secure groups and caseloads, educators and staff only have access to the appropriate data at any given time. 

As a K-12 success platform that helps educators perform school-home communication, monitor and manage attendance, and conduct district-internal coaching and growth planning, SchoolStatus considers data privacy critical to its mission. Going forward, SchoolStatus will continue to demonstrate exceptional care towards data privacy and security across all of its products. 

About SchoolStatus

SchoolStatus provides a comprehensive suite of communication, attendance, and educator development solutions that enhance school-to-family connectedness and support student success. Instant insight into student information and district attendance trends gives educators and administrators full visibility into all levels of the education ecosystem. Data-informed, multi-touch communications include calling, texting, video, and print materials centered around proactive intervention that improves student outcomes and family engagement. With millions of successful school-home interactions, SchoolStatus is improving student achievement by facilitating meaningful engagement between educators, districts, and families across the U.S. For more information, visit schoolstatus.com. 

Media Contact:
Sydney Stressman
Zer0 to 5ive for SchoolStatus
sstressman@0to5.com 
609.238.6663