ParentSquare

ParentSquare boasts many useful tools for fostering consistent, streamlined communication. The site prioritizes social interaction and community, encouraging parents and school personnel to connect with one another to foster partnerships and collaborative initiatives. It also gives administrators valuable data about how parents are engaging with the content, so they can better achieve outreach and foster more productive, active school communities. The rich feature set offers a much-needed transformation away from traditional newsletters and inconsistent paper-based or even digital communication methods, providing more opportunities for engagement than pure messaging apps. Administrators should be vigilant about monitoring messages and communicate clear guidelines to avoid the likelihood of negative or excessive parent interaction. Teachers will want to encourage parents to set only the notifications they want to receive in order to avoid over-communication, which can lead to disengagement.

Because it lacks student voice and input, however, there's still room for ParentSquare to grow. Students need to learn skills that will foster a sense of responsibility, even from a young age. Building in a gradebook or an assignment system, or even a space where students could have a role in transmitting needed class information to their parents would be a welcome addition; this could bring students into the conversation and help foster student accountability while providing flexible, regular communication between schools, parents, and students.