Board approves ParentSquare to centralize district communications; year‑one pilot planned
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Summary
The board approved ParentSquare as the district's primary communications platform, approving year‑one implementation and a pilot that administrators say will consolidate messaging across apps and support two‑way translation for parents.
The Minooka Community Consolidated School District 201 Board of Education voted to adopt ParentSquare as the district’s primary communication platform, a move administrators said is intended to streamline school‑to‑home messaging across multiple apps and support multilingual two‑way translations.
Director of Communications Aaron Souza described a two‑round review that narrowed options to ParentSquare and one other vendor; a larger committee of about 30 staff members evaluated demonstrations and recommended ParentSquare for features including two‑way translation, digest settings for parents and the ability to include community groups for athletics and clubs. "We can still send them emails and text messages even if they don't get the smartphone app," Souza said, noting the platform supports multiple delivery channels.
Administrators outlined a launch plan that would include a mid‑April pilot with staff from each building, one‑on‑one onboarding support for early adopters, training materials and a broader fall rollout for families. Souza said year‑one costs are estimated at about $25,000 with a slightly lower Year 2 estimate; the district expects to discontinue PowerSchool's SchoolMessenger function (roughly $8,000 annually) to offset some costs.
Board members asked about parental onboarding and support; administration said the vendor supplies onboarding materials and that the district will produce local videos and run in‑person help during events like open house. Several board members and staff who used ParentSquare in other districts described it as user friendly and valuable for consolidating multiple messaging sources.
The motion to approve ParentSquare passed on a roll call recorded as unanimous.
Ending: Administrators said they will begin technical setup with PowerSchool integration, run a spring pilot and plan a broad fall rollout supported by training materials and district communications.
