FAQ for Staff – SchoolStatus Connect

How can I communicate with my audiences?

There are 3 key ways that you can communicate with your contacts and audiences, depending on your user access and settings:

1. Announcements and Newsletters

Announcements and Newsletters are traditionally a 1-way mass communication to an entire district, school, or classroom. However, you can also use filters or select only specific families to receive an Announcement or Newsletter. You can also adjust settings to allow for responses to these communications. Announcements are best for quick blasts of information, mass reminders and updates, and emergency notifications. Newsletters are best for consolidating a lot of information into one beautifully designed newsletter, like weekly or monthly updates.

Click here to learn more about getting started with Announcements.
Click here to learn more about getting started with Newsletters.

2. Two-Way Conversations

Conversations are meant for two-way interactions between you and another or a group of contacts. All messages within a Conversation are viewable by all other contacts included in that Conversation, much like a group text message. Conversations are best for more personalized two-way communication between you and a student’s guardians.

Click here to learn more about getting started with Conversations.

3. Phone Calls

SchoolStatus Connect also offers 1:1 phone calls. When an email or text message won’t cut it, you can call a guardian directly from SchoolStatus Connect from a private and secure phone number. All calls are recorded for your documentation in SchoolStatus Connect.

Not seeing Phone Calling in your account yet? Have your school or district administrator reach out to our Support Team to have it enabled.

How do parents receive my communications?

Just like all users, guardians may also choose how they prefer to receive communications. Some guardians may choose email, while others choose text message or push notification.

All communications can also always be referenced within the SchoolStatus Connect portal. To learn more about how guardians receive communications, check out this article.

How can a parent send me a message?

There are essentially three ways a guardian can reach out to you:

Log in to the SchoolStatus portal and use the Conversations feature to start a Conversation with you.
Reply to a Conversation via text or email.
Reply to an Announcement via text or email. Note: You must enable the setting to allow replies for that Announcement.

Do parents need the app?

Parents can receive all communications via text or email without downloading the SchoolStatus Connect app. This includes invitations sent through the Connect Directory.

However, messages longer than 160 characters will include a link requiring login to view the full content. Two exceptions apply:

Announcements marked as "public" by the sender display in full
Smore Newsletters, which are public by default

Important: Parents who rely solely on SMS will miss any conversation content beyond 160 characters, as well as all attachments to conversations and announcements. To ensure full access to all communications, we recommend logging in via the web or mobile app.

Here’s what parents can do in the app:

Update personal preferences
View a unified feed of announcements
View a unified feed of events
Sign up for events
Start a Conversation with a teacher
Access important documents in the Classroom Library or the Student Backpack.

How can parents update their language and communication preferences?

Parents and staff members alike can update their language and communication preferences at any time from their avatar within SchoolStatus Connect. This is important to ensure each user is receiving communications in the way they prefer.

Reference this guide to learn more about personal account settings.

What are the best resources for me to learn more about SchoolStatus Connect?

Our Learning Lab provides on-demand courses for which you can become a certified SchoolStatus user.
Our Help Center includes a wealth of information to answer many of your questions about how to use SchoolStatus Connect.

I’m a school or district leader. How should I inform our staff about SS Connect?

We recommend checking out our “Train Your Staff” Guide to equip you with resources and communication templates you can use to introduce SchoolStatus Connect to your staff.

How should I inform families about SS Connect?

We recommend checking out our “Welcome Families” Guide to equip you with resources, communication templates, and best practices for introducing SchoolStatus Connect to your families.

What other questions do you have? Let us know! Contact us by filling out this form