Henrico schools expand ParentSquare features; district reports high contactability and growth in use

Eileen Cox and Larry Willis told the board on March 26 that Henrico County Public Schools expanded ParentSquare features and is seeing growing use across the division.

"Parent Square translates into more than a hundred languages," Larry Willis said, noting translation has increased family engagement. Willis and Cox described rollout milestones: a January 2023 pilot at 14 schools, full launch in July 2023, adoption of secure document delivery in July 2024 for individualized records, the StudentSquare option for group messaging, and a virtual-phone feature that lets staff call families without exposing personal numbers.

Presenters cited usage metrics in the presentation: nearly 75,000 posts and alerts to date, a contactability rate of 99.5% across the division, 59% of parents having downloaded the mobile app (exceeding a stated national benchmark of roughly 44.7%), and 72% of teachers actively posting. Presenters also said 84% of teachers use direct messaging and that these features support translated messaging and higher engagement from families.

Staff said secure document delivery reduces staff time spent printing and mailing records; the presentation included an asserted postage-savings figure and a secure-documents count, but those two numbers are garbled in the transcript and require confirmation from the communications office before being reported as fact.

Board members asked about privacy and operation of the virtual-phone feature. Willis said virtual-phone calls are routed through the ParentSquare platform, not a staff member's personal device, and that call logs and recordings (when a parent doesn't opt out) are kept in ParentSquare. If a parent opts out, Willis said, recording stops and the call continues but the transcript indicated staff would confirm whether parents can access recordings of individual calls. Board members requested written guidance for staff on how to handle parental questions about call recording and confirmation about parent access to recordings.

Members also asked how the district will address "message fatigue." Cox said communications staff will host focus groups over the summer and next school year to refine settings, encourage use of daily digests, and coordinate messaging across feeder patterns and school levels. Presenters reiterated that families who do not use the app still receive emergency and time-sensitive alerts via text and phone according to their contact preferences.

District officials said they will continue training and outreach—QR-code downloads at kindergarten registration and back-to-school events, and targeted support for schools with lower contact data quality—so administrators and families receive timely, translated communications.