School Website Provider Finalsite Acquires Anthology's Blackboard K12 Community Engagement Division

  • By Kristal Kuykendall
  • 09/15/22

Finalsite, a website provider for K–12 schools, today announced it has acquired Anthology’s Blackboard K–12 Community Engagement division, which includes Blackboard Web Community Manager, Blackboard Connect, Blackboard Reach, Blackboard Mass Notifications, and the Blackboard Mobile Communications App, according to a news release.

The deal makes Finalsite a significantly bigger player in the K–12 digital marketing and communications software field; the company said its client base now totals over 7,000 schools and districts across 115 countries.

With the addition of Blackboard K–12, Finalsite “can provide its clients enhanced access to more solutions, services, and thought leadership designed expressly for K–12 institutions, delivered and supported by a focused team of industry experts,” the company’s announcement said.

Anthology said that selling the division will allow it “to continue its accelerated investment in Blackboard Learn Ultra, Anthology Student, and other areas of the business where Anthology can provide significant value to the global education community.”

Schools that use Blackboard Learn LMS will not be affected by the acquisition, Anthology said.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Glastonbury, Connecticut, Finalsite provides the software and hosting for about 5,000 school and university websites; a ransomware attack targeting the company’s servers in January knocked its operations — and about 3,000 of its client websites — offline for several days.

About the Author

Kristal Kuykendall is editor, 1105 Media Education Group. She can be reached at [email protected].


Featured

  • Abstract AI circuit board pattern

    Nonprofit LawZero to Work Toward Safer, Truthful AI

    Turing Award-winning AI researcher Yoshua Bengio has launched LawZero, a nonprofit aimed at developing AI systems that prioritize safety and truthfulness over autonomy.

  • abstract pattern of cybersecurity, ai and cloud imagery

    Report Identifies Malicious Use of AI in Cloud-Based Cyber Threats

    A recent report from OpenAI identifies the misuse of artificial intelligence in cybercrime, social engineering, and influence operations, particularly those targeting or operating through cloud infrastructure. In "Disrupting Malicious Uses of AI: June 2025," the company outlines how threat actors are weaponizing large language models for malicious ends — and how OpenAI is pushing back.

  • tutor and student working together at a laptop

    You've Paid for Tutoring. Here's How to Make Sure It Works.

    As districts and states nationwide invest in tutoring, it remains one of the best tools in our educational toolkit, yielding positive impacts on student learning at scale. But to maximize return on investment, both financially and academically, we must focus on improving implementation.

  • red brick school building with a large yellow "AI" sign above its main entrance

    New National Academy for AI Instruction to Provide Free AI Training for Educators

    In an effort to "transform how artificial intelligence is taught and integrated into classrooms across the United States," the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), in partnership with Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and the United Federation of Teachers, is launching the National Academy for AI Instruction, a $23 million initiative that will provide access to free AI training and curriculum for all AFT members, beginning with K-12 educators.