Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


Notification Service Adds Option for Broader Community Outreach

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 10/01/21

A notification service designed for K-12 has added the ability to reach community members too. ParentSquare, which produces a platform intended for two-way contact with families either at the classroom level or at the district or school level, now includes a "Community Groups" feature.

The format for communications with ParentSquare includes texting, email, voice, social and web sharing and app notifications. The service can also accommodate direct messaging, document sharing, appointments, invoices and calendar and RSVP invitations. The company said that the program translates messages into more than 100 languages.

The newest functionality lets people who aren't parents, guardians, students or staff sign up for various communications offered by the district and schools. Those might include notifications about fundraisers, afterschool programs and sporting or alumni events. Community web pages can be enabled at the district or school level, or both.

The idea, according to the company, is to eliminate the need for schools to subscribe to a separate mass email distribution service for communicating with the larger community.

"Our new Community Groups feature provides another layer of communications outreach to strengthen the relationship between schools, families and the community at large," said Anupama Vaid, the company's founder and president, in a press release. "Involving interested community members in school-related activities not only fosters awareness and goodwill, but it can also bolster resources through donations, volunteering and partnerships."

The feature is available to customers with the full ParentSquare subscription. Customers with the Community Groups feature can also add SMS text messages and automated voice calls. Those can be added for an additional charge.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • children sitting on white chairs, holding up colorful speech bubbles

    Why Title III Is Lacking in Today's Multilingual, Technology-Enhanced Classrooms

    When Congress strengthened Title III in the early 2000s, the focus was helping students acquire English and access academic content. That goal remains important, but the classrooms of 2026 look very different from those of 2001.

  • Abstract background with a dynamic wave

    New Microsoft Initiative Aims to Help Move AI Projects from Experimentation to Production

    Microsoft has launched Frontier Company, making a $2.5 billion bet that the next competitive battleground in artificial intelligence will not be foundation models, but helping enterprises put those models to work.

  • abstract smartphone translucent screen displaying AI interface

    Apple Unveils Redesigned Siri AI

    At its recent Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced Siri AI, a redesigned version of its voice assistant that Apple describes in its own announcement as "a profoundly more capable and personal assistant." The update is intended to make Siri more conversational, more context-aware, and more useful across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro.

  • artificial intelligence on laptop

    OpenAI Plans to Combine AI Products into Desktop 'Superapp'

    OpenAI is reportedly developing a desktop application that would incorporate several of its emerging AI products into a single platform, according to reports, marking the latest step in the company's effort to transform ChatGPT from a standalone chatbot into a broader productivity and automation environment.