Charlotte Andrist 
SAN FRANCISCO — April 30, 2026 — Research shows that family involvement has a positive influence on students’ academic achievement, regardless of family income or background. A new white paper from ClassDojo, How Strong Family Engagement Builds District Trust, Reputation, and Academic Success, examines the different ways school–family communication benefits student learning and enrollment stability. The 12-page report explains how districts can overcome communication hurdles to create a culture of honesty, clarity, and trust that increases family engagement.
“When families feel genuinely connected to their school community, they stay, which leads to the enrollment stability that districts desperately need,” said Jeff Buening, General Manager at ClassDojo. “This white paper shares over two decades of research on the ways that involved families improve students’ academic, behavioral, and social outcomes. It also explains how ClassDojo can help educators strengthen the trust that makes families stay part of school communities.”
How Strong Family Engagement Builds District Trust explains that classroom-level messaging is foundational to the district’s credibility with families. The report also shares best practices that schools have adopted to engage families with ClassDojo, including the success stories of three districts that needed to address a high risk of families pulling students from schools:
- McDowell County Schools in North Carolina needed to resolve ad hoc communication methods that were confusing parents and damaging the district’s reputation.
- Moline-Coal Valley School in Illinois needed to overcome language barriers so that educators could communicate with the increasingly diverse community.
- Hamilton Elementary School in San Diego needed to heal the rifts that arose between parents and educators right after the pandemic.
According to Hamilton Elementary Principal Brittany Daley, ClassDojo was “the foundation for trust.” Initially, the school used the platform to facilitate relationship-building activities and fun learning events such as monthly Family Fridays. Once a foundation of renewed positive relations was established, Daley involved families more in their children’s academic lives. The result has been a drop in chronic absenteeism by more than 20 percentage points over the years and an approximately five-fold increase in the percentage of students reading on grade level.
“Families help schools understand what to expect and appreciate about their students, providing the ‘missing piece’ of support that every student needs,” said Buening. “ClassDojo already has a powerful reputation with families for sharing small and large moments in their child’s classroom. Using ClassDojo for Districts allows schools to add new visibility, communication, and insight tools designed to help district leaders without disrupting the effective teacher-family relationships.”
The full white paper is available for download here:
ClassDojo
ClassDojo is on a mission to give every child an education they love. Used in 95% of U.S. schools, ClassDojo helps teachers and families build stronger school communities through everyday communication. ClassDojo for Districts is a unified communication and engagement platform that brings everyday classroom updates and districtwide messaging into one seamless experience—helping families feel connected, students stay engaged, and school culture grows stronger. It’s built with privacy at its core and available to districts at no additional cost.
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