Press Coverage
See where ParentSquare is mentioned in the news
Hart district approves $2 million grant for career and college readiness
Jose Herrera — 03/07/23 — The William S. Hart Union High School District board approved a $2 million state grant Wednesday night to promote inclusive access to college and career readiness opportunities for its students. In addition, the district approved an approximate $89,250 agreement to transition from Blackboard, a one-way mass communication system, to ParentSquare, a two-way communication system with capabilities of translating messages... (Read More)
2022 Excellence in Equity Awards | Equity & Access PreK-12 Issue 22: Feb/Mar 2023
01/28/23 — [Page 79] ParentSquare is the only fully unified product that engages every family with two-way communications and communications-based services all the way from the district office to the classroom teacher, and all in one place. The platform features reports and tools to improve contactability and offers extensive integrations with student information and other critical administrative systems, translation to more than 100 languages... (Read More)
Northshore School District readies to roll out new app for parents
Kevin Opsahl — 01/23/23 — The Northshore School District (NSD) is readying the rollout of a new app designed to centralize communications and help families who speak English as a second language–yet some parents are already expressing skepticism about the platform. ParentSquare will replace Blackboard, Interim Superintendent Michael Tolley wrote in a recent message to parents upon their return from winter break. He explained that the importance of... (Read More)
5 ways to use school communications to build strong bonds with families
Krista J. Stockman — 12/21/22 — When it comes to education, Indiana is a highly competitive state. We have vouchers, charter schools and in our district, in particular, we have many private schools. Our area is known as the “City of Churches,” and a lot of those churches have historically had their own schools. Now, students can use state vouchers to attend one of those schools.... (Read More)
4 reasons we put all of our district communications on one platform
Heather Heater — 12/15/22 — With 22 schools and 8,000 students—nearly all of whom qualify for free or reduced lunch—we have to cover a lot of area in our district. We’d been using a number of applications to maintain open lines of communications with our parents and guardians. We knew that some were working, and others weren’t, and we wanted to create a more unified... (Read More)
Using Good Communication to Improve Turnaround Schools
Josh Wucher — 12/07/22 — Establishing a culture that encourages strong home-to-school bonds was built into the DNA of our organization, Transformation Waco. Formed in 2018, its foundation was built on the need for a Waco-driven solution to school improvement. We operate with a community schools model and mindset. We treat schools as neighborhood hubs that bring together academics, youth development, and family and community engagement with... (Read More)
Confidentiality, Integrity & Availability: 4 Ways Schools Can Securely Build A CIA Triad
Steve Smith and Rod Russeau — 12/06/22 — The focus on student privacy has grown in recent years and for good reason. As consumers, we want to know that the banks, retailers and other organizations that we do business with aren’t misusing or reselling our data. The same goes for schools, which have always gathered, stored and shared student data... (Read More)
5 Ways for Rural Schools to Get the Most out of a Districtwide Communications Platform
Stephanie Hinds — 11/08/22 — Our rural school district operates from a single campus, but that doesn’t make school-home communications any easier. With 1,500 students across grades K-12, we were previously using a blend of different tools to sync up our teachers, students, and families. The selection included a host of other apps that teachers would discover on their own... (Read More)
Parent Square is a hit for BISD
Jason May — 10/19/22 — The Brenham ISD board of trustees met Monday and Communications Coordinator Brooke Trahan delivered a presentation about ParentSquare, the new mass communications application which was brought in to replace school messenger. According to the ParentSquare website, the application is a communications tool used to provide a safe way for... (Read More)
National Hispanic Heritage Month: Latino family connects with teachers like never before
Lindsey Jensen — 10/13/22 — The Yakima School District started using the ParentSquare platform last year as students returned to back-to-school learning. ParentSquare helps parents communicate in their native or home language in real time. Ana Castillo and Francisco Mendiola only speak Spanish with two kids at Nob Hill Elementary School. They said they feel heard and in the... (Read More)
4 ways transparent communication builds trust in our district
Travis Hamby — 10/10/22 — One of the best ways to build trust with parents is through transparent communication about what’s happening on campus, the status of all things school-related, and how we’re meeting our students’ needs. Parents are busy and don’t always have time to chase this information down on their own, so it’s up to district and school leaders to open up those... (Read More)
KSD Launches New School-Parent Communication App
John McKay — 10/4/22 — Beginning October 4th, Tuesday, KSD parents will have the option to receive all school communication, share files, and a host of other tasks via the new KSD app. It's called ParentSquare, and KSD says it's available for download in the App Store or Google Play. Parents who currently receive emails from the District and/or their child's school will receive... (Read More)
How WISD is looking to streamline communication to families
Chris Roark — 09/13/22 — Waxahachie ISD is moving to a new information sharing platform that looks to streamline its communication efforts. During Monday’s WISD Board of Trustees meeting Jenny Bridges, director of public relations, updated the board on the district’s transition into ParentSquare, a program that ultimately will serve as WISD’s primary information sharing program... (Read More)
New communication platform helps educators connect with East Hartford parents
Mike Agogliati, Roger Susanin and Rob Polansky — 08/24/22 — As students in East Hartford began the new school year, educators utilized a new tool to better communicate with parents and guardians. All that’s needed is a phone or computer for the ParentSquare app. East Hartford parents have all been automatically enrolled in a new district wide communication platform... (Read More)
Schools modernize infrastructure as first day approaches
Kara Jeffers — 08/15/22 — Parents have a new app for communication with teachers, credit cards will be accepted for assorted school purchases, and electric buses may be in the future for the transportation department- Lincoln County R3 [LCR3] keeps modernizing as they gear up for the school year. Several departments gave updates on multiple projects at the board of education... (Read More)
How the right communications platform can strengthen your school community
Patrick Gannon — 08/15/22 — When I joined Pleasanton Unified School District in 2016, I inherited a communications platform that was doing its job but didn’t support good two-way communication between our district, schools, families, and the broader community. It was, in fact, primarily used by me and our principals to send out emails or autodialers—all one-way communications... (Read More)
How a Poor District in NY Leveled the Playing Field with Better Communications [and Lightened the Load for School Staff]
08/04/22 — As the poorest school district in Long Island, N.Y. — one of the wealthiest suburbs in the U.S. — our district faces some unique challenges. Ninety-five percent of our families live below the poverty line, our entire district is eligible for free lunch through the community eligibility provision, and two of our schools have been identified for improvement. Fortunately, our team never backs down from a challenge. In assessing the current situation... (Read More)
Alexandria’s interim superintendent of schools will detail mental health, safety
08/04/22 — Alexandria Interim Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt said the city will focus on social-emotional learning next school year. While hiking as a child, Melanie Kay-Wyatt came across another hiker who needed help in the play areas. She stopped and worked to help the girl, and was overwhelmed when the girl’s parents approached her, thanking Kay-Wyatt for interacting with... (Read More)
Springs Integrating New Communications Program, Moving Toward Website Revamp
08/03/22 — The Springs School District will be transitioning from Blackboard Connect to Parent Square beginning this upcoming school year. At its meeting on July 26, the Board of Education approved the... (Read More)
BCSC updates plans for first day of school Thursday
08/03/22 — As the school year starts, BCSC will begin using a new platform for family communication. The app, ParentSquare, will replace BCSC’s previous e-alert system. More information is available at bcscschools.org/parentsquar... (Read More)
Why we use a multilingual districtwide platform for personalized communications
Kirsten Fitterer — 07/08/22 — With more than 15,000 students across 25 different schools in central Washington state, one of our biggest goals coming into this past school year was to develop a feature-rich communications system that was the same for teachers, schools, and the district. We looked at the options on the market, talked to other districts about what they are using, and then put in a new school-home communications platform in place for the 2021-22... (Read More)
School communications platform: What to consider
Kellie Goral and Dewitte Wilson — 06/28/22 — With the contract for our previous school-to-home messaging solution nearing its end, we started looking for a school communications platform that would serve all of our district’s communications needs. Our previous contract included a set number of licenses and was primarily for principals and administrators, and not for... (Read More)
Finding a centralized voice for safe, accurate and timely school-home communications
Brian Burke — 06/17/22 — When I joined Bristol Public Schools as its first-ever communications director in November 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was about eight months old and schools nationwide were struggling with how to educate and support their students and families through various learning models. One of my first action items was to conduct a communications audit, a strategy... (Read More)
Report examines how tech can improve school-family engagement
Anna Merod — 05/04/22 — Increased technology use can improve communication between schools and families, the report found, but this strategy is only practical if all families have access and support to use this technology. The pandemic created a real need for parents and educators to be resourceful when communicating with each other as schools shifted to 100% virtual... (Read More)
How Are Schools Reaching Families?
05/02/22 — In a new national survey from ParentSquare, school and district leaders across the U.S. shared their current school-home communications practices and their plans for future communications. Edtech industry veteran Frank Catalano and a team of people developed the survey. The basic idea was to find out, “What communications channels are being... (Read More)
Email rules! 8 things to know about leaders’ favorite ways to reach families
Matt Zalaznick — 04/21/22 — In a world of texts, Tweets and Snaps, it may come as a surprise to hear that good old email is still the No. 1 tool education leaders use to keep the school community informed. Clear and consistent communication is now becoming an even higher priority for many administrators as COVID and remote learning have gotten parents more involved in their schools... (Read More)
School PR Drive Time Episode 24 - Tips for Parent Engagement
03/23/22 — Today, we dive into the topic of parent engagement and why it's so important. To help us with the conversation, we're speaking with Dr. Chad Stevens, Chief Strategy Officer for ParentSquare and Tanae Sump-McLain, Chief Communication Officer with Mooresville Graded School District... (Read More)
4 best practices school communication experts are embracing to improve family engagement
Anna Merod — 03/18/22 — Schools are making a major transition from just communicating with parents to actually engaging with them. This premise led the conversation during a March 8 panel among three school communication experts moderated by Chad Stevens, chief strategy officer of ParentSquare, an ed tech communications platform, at SXSW EDU in Austin, Texas... (Read More)
New platform streamlines communication for the Southern Hancock school district
Renee Delport — 03/10/22 — When I joined our district, I became the first full-time communications officer. I came into the position not fully understanding how the district communicated to its key stakeholders but quickly learned that, for the most part, most of the district’s knowledge of communications from school site to school site was based on assumptions... (Read More)
New platform streamlines communication for the Southern Hancock school district
Tom Russo — 02/14/22 — Officials with the Community School Corporation of Southern Hancock County say they will soon have a better way of communicating with parents. District officials plan to roll out a new a new communication tool called ParentSquare — a unified information hub for everyone that should be ready in time for the 2022-23 school year... (Read More)
5 ways new school-home communication meets family, staff needs
02/15/22 — Up until last year, our school district was using our student information system to manage all of our school-to-home communications. With four school sites and 2,500 students, our district was limited to using plain text for those interactions and was unable to easily customize messaging with eye-catching fonts, graphics or photos. On top of that, the voice feature... (Read More)
4 Ways a Districtwide Communications Platform Strengthened Our Stakeholder Relationships
Shelly Reggiani — 02/11/22 — On any given school day, our 17,300 students across 32 schools speak more than 60 different languages. Where the top languages (aside from English) spoken include Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese and Chinese, in that order. Our district has numerous specialized programs, three bilingual elementary schools, a bilingual middle school, and a high school that... (Read More)
EdTech Digest - State of EdTech 2022-2023
02/07/22 — Technology can do so many things, but it can’t replace that human connection. It’s there to make life easier, freeing educators from mundane tasks so they can spend quality time with their students. ParentSquare allows educators to focus on what’s most important, which is teaching students and connecting with families. It allows the whole village... (Read More on Pgs 17 & 56)
5 ways a more equitable school-home communication system helped our district
Efraín Tovar and Norma Barajas-Ruiz — 01/26/22 — The pandemic has forced districts to rethink how they communicate with parents, and things aren’t going to go back to the “way they were” anytime soon (if at all). Forced to operate remotely, and without much warning, our district knew it had to move away from snail mail as a primary mode of school-home communication... (Read More)
7 education communication and technology trends that offer benefits for the future
Jason Borgen and Andrew M. Marron — 01/05/22 — When the pandemic hit, districts had to change many of the ways in which they operated. Some changes, such as advances in technology use, have had a positive effect beyond the continued operation of schools. For example, both our districts turned to technology to help strengthen and deepen communication... (Read More)
How an Effective Communications Platform Can Transform Engagement with Families of Students with a Disability
Amber Akapnitis — 12/06/21 — as one of two school sites that make up the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, Phoenix Day School for the Deaf serves a large group of students and babies who are deaf, hard of hearing... (Read More on Page 36)
Champions of Equity: Anupama Vaid
12/06/21 — Anupama (Anu) Vaid is the visionary, Founder and President of ParentSquare, where she oversees all aspects of the company. Anu came up with the idea for ParentSquare during a sabbatical when her children were young, after seeing the need for better, more equitable communication between schoold and families... (Read More on Page 43)
7 reasons to implement a districtwide two-way communications platform
11/02/21 — As the person responsible for the distribution of district communications in the 2020/21 school year, I managed all communications-related activities across 28 schools serving more than 17,000 students from Transitional Kindergarten (TK) to grade 12. Until the previous year, our schools were using various online platforms for everything from district-level mass notification... (Read More)
ParentSquare looks back on 10 years of unifying Santa Barbara County school-home communications
10/27/21 — ParentSquare is helping educators and families communicate better, especially after a virtual year online. The company was built by parent and computer engineer Anupama Vaid who set out to build a solution to engage every family with school communications. She and her husband Sohit Wadha developed ParentSquare... (Read More)
Technology and the Power of Connection
10/27/21 — In fall 2010, when Anupama Vaid’s second child started elementary school, she struggled to keep track of the various communications being sent home from her kids’ school. She realized what was needed was a school-home, 21st-century communications system—and the idea for ParentSquare was born. Her willing-to-tackle-anything... (Read More)
Measuring Some Sort of Pandemic Progress
10/12/21 — The COVID-19 pandemic is still very much with us and continues to affect millions of teachers and students who wrestle with the challenges of hybrid, virtual, and full in-person learning scenarios. But if you step back and look at the positive side of things, you’ll find that teachers and students have become incredibly adept at using new technology tools... (Read More)
In Conversation with Women Who Win: ParentSquare Founder Anupama Vaid on Designing a Leading Education Tech (Ed Tech) Platform Used in Schools Across the Globe
10/05/21 — A computer engineer by education, today’s woman dreamer is a California-based entrepreneur. Anupama Vaid is the Founder and President of ParentSquare, a leading education technology platform aiming to better connect schools with families... (Read More)
Breaking through Language Barriers
10/04/21 — With about 7,200 students speaking 20 different languages, our district needs technology tools that support its diverse student population and families. Up until last year, we used standard postal mail for most of our parent communications, with some announcements distributed via social media (e.g., Twitter and Facebook) and email... (Read More)
Notification Service Adds Option for Broader Community Outreach
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... (Read More)
ParentSquare marks 10 years
Madison Hirneisen — 10/01/21 — Ten years ago, Santa Barbara-based computer engineer and parent Anupama “Anu” Vaid developed a vision. A vision for a platform where school communications would be centralized — where parents could receive all school correspondence in one place and have the option to communicate with teachers and administrators in a simplified way... (Read More)
5 best practices for communicating with parents
Sujata Wycoff — 09/28/21 — It takes very few push notifications for most mobile users to turn off app notifications. While most parents are invested in their children’s education and want to be “in the know,” schools must be strategic and purposeful in how they are communicating. Bombarding parents with messages is not an effective way to keep them informed and engaged... (Read More)
Five Benefits of a District-Wide Communication Platform
John Karstetter — 07/22/21 — When our school district wanted to replace existing classroom communications apps nearly four years ago, we searched for a solution that could streamline our operations, provide oversight of all communications, and adhere to our district’s privacy requirements. We found what we were looking for in a safe and secure platform... (Read More)
6 communication and technology trends worth keeping
Jason Borgen — 07/13/21 — As the chief technology officer at Santa Cruz County Office of Education in California, my teams and I faced many challenges when the COVID-19 pandemic hit -- but we also found some silver linings. For example, we witnessed significant advances on the communications front as our schools turned to technology to help them create stronger... (Read More)
Four Unexpected Benefits from Our Districtwide Communication Platform
John Karstetter — 07/12/21 — Like most districts, our whole world changed overnight in March 2020. We all left for Spring Break, thinking that we’d be back in class the following Monday. A few days later, we received a shocking message: not only would we not be returning to campus as planned, but we had no idea how long the hiatus from in-classroom learning would last.... (Read More)
Implementing a Unified Communication Platform to Build Community Trust
Bruce Potter — 07/01/21 — When I joined Mechanicville City School District in 2019, I immediately noticed that communications to students and their families were few and far between. I also noticed that communications between our district and homes only included input from select staff and wasn’t a collaborative effort. Instead of families receiving the entire story... (Read More)
Navigating customer service in the age of the pandemic
ANUPAMA VAID FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, PARENTSQUARE June 15, 2021 — When the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in early 2020, and schools looked likely to close, we knew the need for safe, secure school-to-home communication was going to skyrocket. Our first step was to ramp up our organizational capabilities behind-the-scenes. Every team from across the organization... (Read More)
The Learning Counsel - App of the Week | ParentSquare is the premier unified school-to-home communications platform for K-12 education
ParentSquare is the premier school-to-home engagement platform for K-12 education. It is the only fully unified product that engages every family with school communications and communications-based services — all the way from the district office to the classroom teacher, and all in one place. Schools know who is not being reached, and have the reports and tools to improve... (Read More)
30 questions to ask when selecting a unified district communication platform
Pete Just — May 4, 2021 — Just as most legacy communications systems have been pieced together, with various systems unable to talk to each other, most school districts have cobbled together their school-to-home communication technology platforms by adding one program at a time. As is often the case with legacy systems, each stakeholder group has its own preferred method... (Read More)
Has your district unified school-to-home communications?
April 16, 2021 — Maintaining efficient and effective communication with students’ families is challenging in the best of times, but it’s become even more onerous—and critical—during the global pandemic. The shift to 100 percent remote online learning tested communication capacity in districts nationwide, with many school districts turning to comprehensive communications... (Read More)
Tech Moves: Adaptive Biotech co-founders join life sciences SPAC; new edtech execs; and more
April 15, 2021 — Longtime education technology consultant Frank Catalano has joined Santa Barbara, Calif.-based ParentSquare as chief marketing officer. He is based in Seattle. Founded in 2011, ParentSquare is an engagement platform for K-12 students used by school districts, educators and families... (Read More)
WSCUHSD approves COVID-19 Safety Plans to reopen in hybrid model
April 5, 2021 — On March 30, the West Sonoma County Union High School District board approved the COVID-19 Safety Plans (CSPs) required for each of the district’s three schools to reopen in a hybrid model in less than two weeks. The trustees also authorized facilities director Jennie Bruneman to purchase roughly 450 laptops for the incoming freshmen this fall to use for their four years in the district... (Read More)
EdTech Needs to Embrace Parents Post-Pandemic - MarketScale EdTech Today Podcast
SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. — March 16, 2021 — Not even one month into his new role as Chief Strategy Officer at ParentSquare and Chad Stevens has created the first and possibly most important edtech acronym for 2021. In this episode of EdTech Today, Chad drops the particulars of Parent Relationship Management (PRM) and how the present technologies that kept families connected to schools during COVID will only improve as we move past it... (Read More)
As Districts Return to Remote Learning, Are They Any Better Prepared?
December 10, 2020 — When educators describe their frenzied switch to remote learning in the spring, most talk about being caught off guard. Some mention how little they knew then—about virtual learning, as well as the virus that forced them out of their school buildings... (Read More)
Evaluation: Carson City schools’ superintendent ‘exceptional’ during COVID
November 29, 2020 — Carson City School Superintendent Richard Stokes received a “very satisfactory” rating from the Board of Trustees on his annual evaluation Tuesday, with trustees acknowledging the difficulties that have come since COVID-19 first presented in March... (Read More)
ParentSquare Featured in ABC50 InformNNY News Segment Highlighting Watertown City School District's Preparation for School Re-Openings
September 3, 2020 — Schools in the North Country are preparing to reopen their doors for the first time since March in less than a week. With new COVID-19 guidelines and months of preparation, many districts have chosen to utilize the app ParentSquare... (Read More)
Many school districts turn to ParentSquare to communicate during pandemic
WATERTOWN, N.Y. August 20, 2020 — As the first day of school nears, communication between parents and teachers is more important than ever because of COVID-19. If you haven't heard of the app ParentSquare, you may soon. Superintendents in the area are calling it a "one-stop shop" for all things school-related... (Read More)
ParentSquare Creates a Virtual Conversation Starter for Parents and Teachers
July 1, 2012 — Peabody Charter School parent Anupama Vaid thought there had to be a better way for elementary school parents and teachers to communicate so she created ParentSquare, an online portal that combines announcements, calendars, fundraisers and wish lists in one place... (Read More)