The Olympia School District (OSD) Board recently introduced a new communication app, ParentSquare. The newly hired Director of Communications & Community Relations, Conor Schober, transitioned the district to the app and was introduced at a meeting on Thursday, August 8.
To alert parents and district stakeholders in the past years, OSD has used SchoolMessenger “Communicate” to send mass notifications in the form of robocalls, emails, and texts.
This year, the district moved to the ParentSquare platform to streamline all notifications via an online account and accessible phone applications.
ParentSquare sends routine messages via text and/or email, depending on parents' preferences, and urgent messages via voice calls.
The platform also lets users set their notifications and language preferences, and it allows users to automatically receive information about their children’s school offices, activities, and classes.
“It is a central hub for all district, school, grade level, class, and group notifications about your children,” the district’s introductory video showed.
ParentSquare also allows parents to message teachers and staff directly using its Messages feature.
“The benefit to registering in ParentSquare is the access you will have to historical communications, the ability to edit and update your communication preferences and family contact information, and access to additional communication features as they are announced,” OSD’s page stated.
During the meeting, Michael Taylor, a parent at Madison Elementary School, requested that the ParentSquare app also include advance notifications about board meetings.
“I am going to re-up my request from the June 27 board meeting that the district figure out a way to alert families to school board events via ParentSquare,” appealed Taylor.
“I got three different alerts regarding the transportation request form on July 31 but no alerts regarding the board work session on August 1, which is why I wasn't there…and like, no alerts about the board today. I really think…if you do want community engagement for your board meetings, I think you need to find a better way to alert families. And I think ParentSquare is the way to do that,” Taylor added.
The board had an out-of-town retreat at the North Mason County District Office on Saturday, August 10. See related story. The next regular board meeting is set for Thursday, August 22.
The Olympia School District Board welcomed Conor Schober as the new Director of Communications & Community Relations on August 8, 2024.
JOLT STAFF PHOTO VIA ZOOM
The OSD Board welcomed Conor Schober as its newly promoted Director of Communications & Community Relations at a meeting on Thursday, August 8.
Possessing a bachelor’s degree in business administration and advertising from the University of Vermont, Schober has been with the district’s communication department since 2012.
Schober has held various roles, from public information officer to community relations coordinator and, most recently, assistant director of communications.
“During his time in Olympia, he has earned…a well-earned reputation as an incredibly friendly, very effective, and responsive communications partner with both our schools, our departments, [and] the school board,” said Superintendent Patrick Murphy.
“He's expanded our district’s social media presence during his time, he's overseen the transition to a new platform for our district websites, and has been instrumental in our very successful bond and levy election campaigns,” added Murphy.
Murphy emphasized that Schober’s leadership has been “pivotal” to the district’s smooth transition to ParentSquare communications platform, which he says has been warmly received by parents.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here