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?
The SchoolStatus Connect app is optional for guardians. Guardians should still be able to receive and reply to your communications without accessing the app, though longer messages may be cut off and attachments missed if they only receive messages via SMS.
We believe that the SchoolStatus portal or app provides a unique experience that allows guardians to access all of their communications in one place, plus so much more!
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