District Launches New Family Engagement Tools
District Launches New Family Engagement Tools
Redwood City School District (RCSD) is launching three new family engagement tools: PowerHub, Safe Arrival, and SchoolMessenger. These tools are part of the district’s commitment to improving communication and ensuring the safety and well-being of students. This school year will serve as an implementation transition period, during which families will receive detailed information throughout the school year about each tool’s features and benefits.
SchoolMessenger offers an advanced messaging system that integrates seamlessly with the district’s existing student information system (SIS). This tool improves the reliability and efficiency of communications sent to families, ensuring that important updates are delivered promptly and accurately. During the summer, all families and staff members were sent a text message from SchoolMessenger making them aware of the texting component for this new messaging tool.
Mr. Carlos Reyna, Director of Technology, explained the significant improvement:
“In the past, our technology team manually exported data from our SIS and used a complex coding language to organize and send this data to our mass notifications system nightly. This complicated process is now streamlined, fully automated and synchronized with our SIS.”
Safe Arrival enhances student safety by allowing families to quickly and easily report absences. This system ensures that schools are immediately notified of any student absences, streamlining the process for attendance tracking.
“Safe Arrival provides a more efficient way for families to report their child’s absence,” said Mr. Antonio Perez, Director of Student Services. “By streamlining the process, we can quickly take attendance, giving parents peace of mind and enhancing our overall safety protocols.”
As the school year gets underway, families can call 1-888-403-5535 and follow the instructions to report absences.
PowerHub is designed to streamline communication between the school and families, providing a centralized platform for accessing important information about student progress, school events, and district news.
“PowerHub is a game-changer for RCSD families and staff,” said Mr. Jorge Quintana, Director of Communications and Community Engagement. “It consolidates various communication channels into one user-friendly platform, making it easier for families as a one-stop shop to stay informed and engaged with their child’s academic progress and wellbeing.”
As the district rolls out these new tools in 2024-25, district staff will participate in training sessions, which began in the spring and summer. Additionally, families will be informed as new features become available.
Superintendent Dr. Baker expressed enthusiasm about the new tools: “Our goal is to make communication with our families as seamless and effective as possible. I am grateful for the collaboration between these three departments, which was led by our technology team. The implementation of these new tools reflects the district’s ongoing dedication to leveraging technology to support and engage families in the academic careers of our students.”
Download the SchoolMessenger App
Families will find both Safe Arrival and SchoolMessenger features in the same app.