When communicating with families, sending notifications and updates is just a small part of what a school-home communication platform can do. To support districts’ needs beyond simple messaging, ParentSquare offers a secure document delivery service to provide a fast, effective way to share documents with families.
ParentSquare Secure Document Delivery makes it simple and efficient to send home important records, including progress reports, report cards, letters about academics and extracurriculars, and anything else with students’ personal details or other sensitive information.
What is ParentSquare Secure Document Delivery?
Instead of waiting to get hard copies from their students or through the mail, parents and guardians receive important documents directly through ParentSquare. Plus, as with other ParentSquare communications, delivery statistics let schools confirm when documents have been delivered—and seen.
ParentSquare Secure Document Delivery is one of the paperless workflows available on the ParentSquare platform and allows schools, administrators, and teachers to digitally share confidential and sensitive documents with families. The files are delivered directly to parents’ ParentSquare accounts, where they can access, download, and save the documents at their convenience.
By sending documents through the ParentSquare platform, districts can address the data privacy risks associated with printed documents or email attachments. Plus, Secure Document Delivery helps schools and districts streamline administrative processes, lowering printing and postage costs and saving countless hours stuffing and labeling envelopes.
Common documents shared:
- Report cards and progress reports
- Bus passes and transportation information
- Academic intervention letters
- Graduation requirement notices
- Academic schedules
- English Language Learner (ELL) placement letters
- Information about IEPs and 504 plans
Saving time and money
Switching to ParentSquare Secure Document Delivery has helped districts reduce operational costs and administrative time spent—all while increasing the effectiveness of communications.
At Hampton City Schools (VA), schools used to spend thousands of dollars per mailing cycle on printed report cards. With Secure Document Delivery, the district drastically cut those expenses while increasing successful document delivery rates.
“We were looking for a way to cut down on our postage fees and cut back on the amount of manpower it takes to send printed report cards. We were already using ParentSquare for a while and had great adoption, so it just seemed like the natural thing to use Secure Document Delivery.”
—Dewitte Wilson, Programmer Analyst, Hampton City Schools
Similarly, Cherokee County School District (GA) streamlined operations and saved $130,000 by using Secure Document Delivery to send home the district’s code of conduct and student handbook. Along with easing staff workload, the district was able to replace multiple tools with ParentSquare and provide families with a single, reliable hub for all communications.
“The hard copies were going to cost $130,000 to print and send. Instead, we leveraged ParentSquare to send those documents out with links. That covered the statute requirement and saved the district a great deal of money.”
—Debra Murdock, Ed.D, Chief Operations Officer, Cherokee County School District
Using Secure Document Delivery for progress reports and report cards also helps solve the problem of documents that never make it to parents—whether because students forget or because incorrect contact information results in undelivered or returned mailings.
Before Wyandanch Union Free School District (NY) implemented Secure Document Delivery, sending physical documents could take up to two business days, and incorrect addresses often led to undelivered mail. Now, staff can distribute hundreds of documents in under 30 minutes—and have reduced returned mail by 25 percent.
Delivering sensitive documents with confidence
Privacy is of the utmost importance when handling student information and data. With Secure Document Delivery, each student’s records can only be accessed by their verified parents and guardians. Every file is delivered within the ParentSquare platform and can only be viewed through the parent’s password-protected account.
ParentSquare’s industry-leading data security practices help districts stay compliant with K-12 data privacy regulations by limiting confidential student information to only the intended recipients. The platform also allows schools and staff to track when a document is sent, received, and opened, preventing important information from falling through the cracks.
Ways to use ParentSquare Secure Document Delivery
Some of the most common ways to use Secure Document Delivery include sending home progress reports, report cards, and class schedules. Along with these uses, here are some other ways that districts across the country are leveraging Secure Document Delivery with their families:
- Wyandanch Union Free School District (NY) uses Secure Document Delivery for bus information as well as English Language Learner (ELL) placement documents and orientation letters. With ParentSquare, the district can easily update families if bus routes or schedules change. Meanwhile, multilingual families can easily ask questions with two-way translation.
- Hampton City Schools (VA) uses Secure Document Delivery for letters about graduation requirements, Advanced Placement courses, and other academic matters.
- Brentwood Union Free School District (NY) uses Secure Document Delivery for academic intervention letters and welcome packets for different programs, such as summer academies, athletics, or extracurricular activities.
- Canandaigua School District (NY) uses Secure Document Delivery for anything that contains students’ personal information or their student number, including surveys, Honor Roll letters, eligibility letters for extracurricular activities, and student schedules.
“We wanted fewer tools and fewer things to send to our families. Using ParentSquare for report card delivery really drove up the number of people participating in ParentSquare and allowed us to have that oversight of who had been opening things.”
—Caroline Chapman, Director of Communication and Advisement, Canandaigua City Schools
By making documents available through a platform their families already use, districts are able to streamline workflows, consolidate costs, and help to make sure that their families are receiving—and engaging with—important information.
In a time when digital communication is essential to school operations, ParentSquare Secure Document Delivery offers an easier and more effective way to keep families informed. It supports transparency, builds trust, and supports privacy—all while saving schools time and money.
Ready to simplify school-home communication and reduce costs? Book your demo of Secure Document Delivery with the ParentSquare team today.
