Norfork School District to roll out ParentSquare app and updated website

The Norfork School District board on meeting night reviewed plans to roll out ParentSquare, a communications platform staff said will replace disparate tools such as Remind, Facebook posts and paper forms. A presenter explained that ParentSquare ‘‘rolls this all into 1 app’’ and connects securely with the state student information system eSchool to deliver digital forms, push alerts and teacher-parent messaging while preserving teacher privacy through virtual numbers.

The district’s website coordinator said she had updated the district site to integrate ParentSquare content and that the new site was scheduled to go live the next day. ‘‘They gave us kind of a format… all of our directories were workable,’’ she said, and staff will transfer the domain so the old site redirects to the new one. Board members discussed access for families without smartphones; presenters said forms and promotional materials will be available in paper at open house and that parents with correct contact data in eSchool Plus will receive texts or emails even if they do not download the app.

Staff said a trainer has volunteered to provide a teacher training session next week and that role-based permissions will limit who can post districtwide; classroom teachers can create posts that require admin approval before being published. Presenters also described how ParentSquare can send targeted bus alerts if student bus rostering data is exported into groups. The board did not take a formal vote on this item; staff characterized the rollout as phase one of implementation.