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Congratulations on making it through another back-to-school season! Now that the stress from the beginning of the school year has simmered, the timing is perfect to start thinking about improving communication. A new parent communication app for your school will ensure that all your communication needs are being met.
Special Offer
There are many reasons a mid-year launch can be helpful but this is the biggest one: To celebrate the end of 2022 (almost!), we are offering the option to set up a branded mobile app with no annual fee until July 1, 2023!
Ready to learn more? Set a meeting with a member of our team to discuss the offer and how to get started.
Are you skeptical about launching a new communication tool mid-year? Read on to see why many of our customers have found a mid-year launch beneficial to improving communication in their school or district.
New Year, New App
January is usually a time for people to regroup with New Year's resolutions and (in the Northern Hemisphere) try to stay warm! Normally there are fewer distractions in January, making it the perfect time to introduce something new. Plus if your school is closed to students during the winter holidays, you and your team will have time to focus on working with the SchoolInfo content team to get the app updated with all the latest and greatest information.
Launching a new app is a great way to create buzz and excitement after the winter break!
Showcase Your Forward Thinking
In keeping with the theme of the start of the new year being a bit quieter, your community will notice that you are doing something new! An app shows that you are providing a robust, modern communication tool for your community. Showing that you are up to date with modern communication technology also builds your school brand.
Sending a press release to your local newspaper can showcase to your whole community how your team is continually upgrading technology to keep everyone connected to your school or district.
When you launch an app mid-year, it shows that progress and improvement are happening, even after your break. You can use this phrasing to market your new app to your community: "You asked, we listened – we’ve heard our community say that there are too many places to look for information, so we put it all in one spot on your phone!"
Engage Your Staff
A great way to pilot your school communication app is to ask your staff to start using it! Here are just a few of the many ways current schools use their app with staff:
- Create targeted lists for various groups to share a group chat, documents, forms, and more
- Start a staff-only calendar including key events like professional development, parent/teacher conferences, and when staff will be out of the office
- Securely share agendas and documents for meetings
- Have a water cooler chat to share fun conversations, tips on how to de-stress, and memes. Because let's face it, memes help us all de-stress and build a thriving work environment
- Connect personal learning groups with Conversations, where staff can chat when they are able to without having important information lost in email
The best part: when your staff sees the value of the app, they'll use it more to communicate and encourage their students and their parents to use it as well! It's a win-win for adoption.
Involve Parent Volunteers
In our ebook Spread the Word: Get the Word Out About Your Branded Mobile App by SchoolInfo we focus on finding early adopters who will spread the news of your new app. If you involve volunteer groups such as parent-teacher or booster clubs with the launch of the app, the excitement will spread! Active members of your education community will be excited about the app and can serve as your advocates for integrating the app into the daily lives of your users.
Your volunteers are in the midst of preparing for a busy spring, they will appreciate the ability to organize using your new app! It's the perfect time to introduce something new and will get used right away!
Back-to-School is Busy
Let's face it, during back-to-school season, everyone is a bit crazed. Administrators and staff are making sure everything runs smoothly, teachers are calming excited students, and parents are dealing with the behavioral shift of returning their children to a stricter schedule. You may not have the time to launch an app effectively with everything else going on. Starting in the New Year can be a less stressful transition. Consider it a soft launch to give your team the tools they need to communicate effectively with your community.
Have we convinced you? Set a meeting to get started on your new app, and your school won’t pay an annual fee until July 1, 2023!
