Tip 8: Set up a school communications schedule

In times like these, it’s critical to communicate with your parents and students. Over the last three weeks here at ParentSquare, we’ve seen schools and districts increase their school-to-home messaging by 300-800%!

But how much is too much? How much is too little? You want to make sure students and their families feel supported and in-the-know, but also aren’t inundated with messages — updates from the principal, a letter from the superintendent, messages from their teachers — and that many more messages if they have kids in different classes, grades, or schools! 

So as you adjust to remote learning, think about how to get organized with a communications schedule. Help your community understand what to expect from you — and if they’d like to look back at information — they can easily find what they are looking for. 

After talking with some of our schools, we created a visual example of a school’s weekly messaging schedule for remote learning. Feel to use this resource and adjust it according to your school/district.

And, if even you DON’T organize parent-student communications across your school, let parents know what channels to expect communication from. Here’s a hypothetical example letter (inspired by Lincoln Avenue Elementary School).

Hello Families,

Hope everyone is staying healthy and well. As we transition into remote learning, we just want to let you know that we'll communicate in the following ways:

• Office staff will use ParentSquare
• K-5 teachers will use Google Classroom and ParentSquare
• 6-12 teachers will use NEO and ParentSquare

School psychologist Mrs. Willebrands (mwilliebrands@schoolname.com) and our social worker Mr. Contreras (lcontreras@schoolname.com) will be following up with students and parents individually as concerns arise, identified by students themselves, parents or teachers. They also have created this webpage sharing general social-emotional tips and strategies as we navigate remote living.

Thank you for your understanding, patience and support in these unprecedented times. Please don't hesistate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. Stay safe and healthy!

The original example lists out each teacher, their email, and how they plan to communicate — which is also an option.

Do you have to follow these examples?

Of course not! Do whatever makes the most sense for your school/district. Our hope is that by providing these examples, you can start to think of actionable ways to organize your communications, and prevent a cluster of information that’s overwhelming for parents and hard-to-track. Whatever you do, make sure it’s clear so everyone has a better idea of what to expect.

K-12 Remote Tips

We send out an email with each new remote communications tip for K12. Some examples use ParentSquare, but these tips will work with any comprehensive communications tool. Sign up to receive them straight in your inbox.

We’d love to know what you are doing — what great examples or ideas would you like to share with other schools? Simply comment below or submit your tip via our web form.