In the month of October, every outbound call, outbound 1:1 text message, or outbound 1:1 email made with SchoolStatus automatically enters you* to win CASH FOR YOUR CLASSROOM? How much cash?
$500 for First Prize, $250 for Second, $100 for Third (click here for official contest rules) *winners must be a classroom teacher
Read on to see why Director of Operations, Leslie Ortego, decided to run a crazy, month-long communications contest.
Tell everyone about the contest, Leslie.
It’s about meaningful parent communication. And winning money for your classroom. But mostly about meaningful parent communication.
What makes communication meaningful?
I define ‘meaningful communication’ as communication that actually builds relationships. Not text blasts to entire schools, or recorded calls. Or even social media, really. Meaningful communication happens when everyone’s voice is heard.That happens when parents and teachers are having one-on-one, regular conversations.
How does SchoolStatus help that happen?
Communication in SchoolStatus is so easy for teachers. They can call, text or email parents from their phone or the mobile app without using their personal phone numbers - and parents don’t have to download an app which means texts and calls actually get to them.
Plus, teachers can look at all of a student’s current data while they are on the phone or texting because it is already in SchoolStatus.
We make it really easy to have a one-on-one conversation with parents in whatever form is easiest for them - and to actually talk about the data. To me, that means more conversations are happening about good things kids did, more connections are being made and better insight is being shared both with parents and from them.
We all know relationships with parents make a difference in student success, but it's often too time-consuming to have those conversations, or teachers literally have to give out their cell phone number. SchoolStatus removes the barriers to communication so teachers and parents can truly connect.
And the contest?
This contest is to encourage all teachers to make that first text or that first call. We know using new technology can be overwhelming at the beginning of the school year. We already offer tons of training to teachers, but we thought a contest would be a fun way to get people excited and also reward our favorite people...teachers!
How will you know who has won? Are you manually counting how many times people send a text?
That's actually one thing that makes SchoolStatus so different from other parent communication tools - we automatically record and log conversations. That way administrators can see how often conversations are happening - or even review conversations for professionalism or compliance. Metrics matter! Plus teachers can throw away manual call logs. Everyone seems to love that part.
And are people excited?
Yes! We’ve seen a giant spike in communication since the contest started! This is a real labor of love for me. Each one of those texts or calls is building the bridge from classroom to home. That’s a big deal. When teachers tell me they communicated with parents that don’t speak English using SchoolStatus, or when they finally get a parent to answer a text message using SchoolStatus, I feel very proud. Parent support is a huge indicator of student success. I’m proud to be able to support that.
And to give away prizes?
I LOVE giving away prizes. We thought money for classrooms was a great prize to give. Teachers give so much of themselves to make their classrooms interesting or fun. This is our way of helping a few lucky teachers do that.
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Find out more about SchoolStatus HERE.
