Taunton Public Schools

Taunton Public Schools: 50% Less Communication Work, 90%+ Families Reached Across 18 Languages

Location

Taunton, MA

Type

District of 13 Schools

Students

8,000

Overcoming Language Barriers for Inclusive Family Engagement

Like many districts throughout the country, Taunton Public Schools serves a multicultural, multilingual student population, with families speaking over 18 languages. And while inclusive family engagement has always been a top priority, it was also a mounting challenge for the district to adapt and scale its efforts to keep every caregiver informed in their home language.

In addition to addressing language barriers for greater connection, the district was also looking for a multimodal approach to its communications, so it didn’t have to rely on traditional phone lines to notify parents and caregivers during an emergency.

With all this in mind, the district decided to implement ParentSquare to streamline its daily operations and to enable more equitable and efficient communication for increased caregiver engagement and student safety.

Reaching Caregivers In Their Preferred Language Reaps Big Rewards

Identifying caregivers’ preferred languages and ensuring they receive important school information in that language can pose
significant challenges and leave room for error — not to mention is time-intensive and expensive. However, since onboarding with ParentSquare, Taunton Public Schools reported it has decreased its workload in communicating with families by 50%, while exponentially increasing family engagement.

“As someone who is in the thick of it everyday, I can tell you that ParentSquare’s translation features are a game changer for engaging with families in various languages — our caregivers can’t stop raving about how easy it is to use,” said Superintendent John Cabral.

Not only has the district increased its contactability to upwards of 90%, which is an incredible feat itself, but it also “transformed how we connect with families,” added Cabral. With features like two-way messaging with translation in 130+ languages, teachers can write a message in English and it will get delivered in a caregiver’s preferred language. Caregivers can reply in their home language and it will automatically translate it back to the teacher in English, allowing families to actively engage in their student’s education, no matter what language they speak.

No Phone Lines? No Problem. Multimodal Communication Supports Student Safety Protocol

Despite major advancements in technology, many districts still rely on tools like legacy
robo-dialing systems to communicate with parents. For Taunton Public Schools, when traditional phone lines were down, the district was still able to contact caregivers and inform them of an important situation via the ParentSquare platform.

Once onboarded, all caregivers have the option to create a ParentSquare account, which they can access via desktop or mobile app to receive notifications. However, even caregivers who don’t create an account will still receive emergency alerts on their mobile device as long as the phone number is up-to-date in the school information system (SIS). With seamless integration into its existing systems, ParentSquare helped Taunton Public Schools ensure student safety remained a top priority with reliable multimodal communication.

Redefining Interactions Between Schools and Their Communities

No matter how small or large a district is, without the right communication platform and infrastructure in place, it’s almost impossible to ensure all stakeholders are equitably engaged. By choosing a cutting-edge platform that emphasized usability for every stakeholder amidst linguistic diversity, Taunton Public Schools was able to achieve an interconnected educational environment across all school sites. “ParentSquare made a huge difference in our community — the platform has transformed how we connect with families,” said Superintendent Cabral.

When it comes to effective school-to-home communication, it’s not about keeping up with technology trends; it’s about harnessing them for truly meaningful impact — something Taunton Public Schools has proudly achieved to better serve every family.