EdCircuit Staff 
Chad Stevens 
Communication and family engagement are essential to creating well-functioning school communities. However, with the ever-changing communications and technology landscape, it is harder than ever to communicate effectively. So, how do we best communicate with parents and families about their children’s education?
In this episode of Conference Connections, an interview series with K20 thought leaders, we chat with Dr. Chad Stevens, Chief Strategy Officer for ParentSquare. The edCircuit team caught up with Chad at TCEA 2023. The topic of this discussion was community engagement, communications strategy, and technological development.
“If I went around this room today and asked, ‘What percentage of families do you know are engaging with what [the school district] is sending out?’ I would say many don’t know, and if they do it’s not 100%.”
ParentSquare’s Mission of Increasing Parent Involvement and Communication
At the beginning of this conversation, Chad explores ParentSquare’s revolutionary approach to communications. The goal of the ParentSquare app is threefold. Firstly, they are dedicated to making a teacher’s job of engaging parents on the success and challenges of the classroom easier. Secondly, they are attempting to make it easier for district administrations to connect with parents and give them the communication tools to engage with their community. Thirdly, ParentSquare wants to ease the burden on parents to find information about their children’s schools and learning communities.
Essentially, ParentSquare takes every interaction a school can have with parents and aggregates it in a single source. That single source is easy to use and manage IOS app that parents can use to access any information they need and engage with their student’s school. From emergency notices to newsletters, the ParentSquare application is one of a kind. A particularly effective tool is the two-way communication function that allows parents to ask questions and become involved.
Communications Leads to Student Success
In the second half of this episode, Chad discusses the benefits of engaged families and how access to clear and concise communications makes it easier for parents to participate in student success. Chad shares that when families receive proper communication, it increases their investment in their children’s education.
Particularly for families of English language learners, the translation tools of ParentSquare’s app create equitable success. ParentSquare’s mission is to make communication as consistent as possible to increase these positive success outcomes.
The Future of Schools and Information Technology
The conversation closes with a discussion on the use of technology integration to make family engagement even easier. Parent Square is focused on making personalized experiences for parents. Chad points out the need for individualized communication. If a communication strategy is designed for individual families, it ensures that families aren’t bombarded by the information they don’t need and gives them a chance to truly engage.
Overall, this conversation highlights the importance of community engagement and communications strategy. From building trust to creating student success, ParentSquare is making information useful to schools and members of their communities.
To learn more about ParentSquare, visit their website and follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
For more episodes on Conference Connections, visit edCircuit.
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