In a society where technology is increasingly becoming an essential element of everyday life, it’s not surprising to see the way schools approach their many varied outreach activities as well. From newsletters from teachers to school administrators, parents are inundated daily by information about events and initiatives related to their child’s education. Furthermore, this digital age has also seen a dramatic change in the way parents interact with schools; in many instances, digital school communication tools like email and social media sites are becoming increasingly commonplace for today’s parents.
However, neither approach is enough on its own to ensure that parents remain engaged in their child’s education. The sheer volume of information makes it difficult for individuals to keep up, while many parents feel that they’re flooded with information but receive little value.
Enter the new tool on the block: school communication software and parent engagement software. This fusion of two industry powerhouses enables schools to streamline their outreach efforts while providing parents with a more personalized experience. Keep on reading to see the importance and many benefits of combining these two types of software!
Importance of Communication Within and Outside Your School
First, you need to understand why there is such importance placed on good communication within and outside of school. Here are four reasons why it is so important:
#1: Communication Keeps Parents Informed
This is the most basic but arguably the most important aspect of school communication. One of parents’ biggest concerns is keeping up with their child’s education, which means they want to be kept in the loop about what’s happening at the school. Schools need to keep lines of communication open with parents not just during certain times of the year, such as during parent-teacher conferences or school events.
#2: Schools and Parents Need to Work Hand in Hand
The days of parents and teachers operating on separate planes are long gone; instead, there needs to be a more equal relationship between both parties. This means that schools need to streamline their communication efforts so that they can keep parents in the loop without overwhelming them with too many messages.
#3: Improved School Community
When schools have strong parent engagement, it improves their school community by making everyone feel involved. When people take an active part in activities and volunteer for projects, it shows how much they care about helping improve their child’s education as well as the betterment of other students.
#4: Parents Want to be Informed
Finally, this is a point that cannot be stressed enough. With school communication and parent engagement software, parents can easily see what’s going on at school and look up any information they want at their convenience. Everything from news about school fundraisers to classroom newsletters is right at their fingertips.
Now that you have seen the importance of communication for schools, it’s time to look at the benefits of combining two very important types of software.
5 Benefits of Combining School Communication and Parent Engagement Software
Here are the five most important benefits of combing communication software and parent engagement software:
#1: More Interaction Opportunities
When schools use both software types to their advantage, they can create more opportunities for parents and teachers to communicate face to face. This not only provides a fruitful discussion point for sharing information, but it also helps foster that aforementioned school community where everyone feels like involved members of the team.
#2: Streamlined Outreach
Another benefit of having a streamlined approach to school communications and parent engagement is the ability to reach a wider audience. This is why it’s important to have one centralized place where everyone accesses information, whether they’re parents or teachers. The fewer emails going around, the better!
#3: More Personalization
Personalizing the software is another huge benefit that comes with combining school communication and parent engagement. It can be overwhelming when there are too many messages to sift through, so the best thing to do is personalize it for parents. This means sending out emails or newsletters tailored towards their child’s grade or class, which makes them feel like they’re an integral part of their child’s education.
#4: Convenient Scheduling
This also ties in with personalized school communication and parent engagement software: convenience. If you’re a teacher, you want the parents’ email addresses so that you can send out messages in advance and when they need to be sent out. You don’t want to bombard parents with too much information, either. If you’re a parent whose child goes to school, you want all the pertinent information sent right to your email or mobile phone so that you can check them out when it’s convenient for you.
#5: Quick Access to Information
Last but not least, the biggest benefit of combining school communication and parent engagement software is being able to quickly access important information about your child’s education. It might sound simple, but when you need a grade or a disciplinary report ASAP, it can be so convenient to have everything in one program instead of going around from source to source.
Be sure to keep these five benefits in mind if your school is considering combining your school communication and parent engagement software!
The School Communication Advantages Small Schools Have Over Larger Schools
Finally, you need to look at the advantages that small schools have versus large schools when it comes to school communication. Here are the three biggest advantages:
#1: A More Personal Approach
When a small school uses communication and engagement software, it can take a more personalized approach. This means that a parent will be a key member in their child’s education instead of just another number on the roster. Teachers can also get to know students better because they can use data from student assessments to tailor lesson plans based on their academic needs.
#2: Quicker Response Rate
Because communication and engagement software can be personalized, it has a much better response rate from school communities. If teachers know what parents need to hear about, they can send out more targeted emails with exactly the information parents are looking for. In addition, since small schools have fewer students who don’t know each other, parents might feel more comfortable asking questions. This will help teachers identify academic problems even sooner, which means they can work on fixing them before the year is over.
#3: Increased Trust
Trust is key when it comes to school communities, and this is much easier to establish in a small school than a large one. Parents might feel uneasy about sending their children to a big school, especially if they’ve always been the type to stay within their comfort zone. In addition, teachers might feel overwhelmed with bigger schools because of time constraints and not feel as though they have enough resources at hand to offer students.
These are just three advantages that small schools have over larger ones when it comes to communication and parent engagement, but the list doesn’t stop there. The important thing is to find a school communication and parent engagement solution that fits your needs as a small school perfectly!
There are dozens of reasons why schools should look into using school communication and engagement software. The benefits from combining the two will be immeasurable for both teachers and parents, as well as integral to a child’s education. In addition, small schools have an advantage over larger ones when it comes to communication and parent engagement because they can take a more personalized approach, have more personal relationships with parents, and can establish trust between school communities better.
SchoolCues is an all-in-one school management system for small schools with limited budgets and resources. Our solutions include admissions and enrollment, online payments, student information system, gradebook, communications, parent engagement, donations and fundraising, alumni management and more. Schedule a demo with us today.