Parents voice concerns on school notifications

Switch to Schoology from Remind Me is causing problems for some

Some Avon Grove families are finding it hard to keep up with a change in technology for school notifications.

PENN >> Some Avon Grove families are finding it difficult to keep up with a change in technology. This year, the district began the switch from Remind Me to Schoology systems designed to provide parents with school-wide related alerts and notices tailored to individual students, straight from their teachers.

Remind Me had become a familiar tool for parents, letting them know about changes in sports practice schedules or when homework was due. If they have not yet downloaded the new app, parents accustomed to getting a text notice from Remind Me now must go through a longer process. They first receive a text telling them they have a notice, which they then must find and open. If the parent does not have the app on their phone it requires them to log in.

“What took me 10 seconds now takes ten minutes,” is a complaint school board member Jeffrey Billig relayed to the board at their March 9 meeting.

One of the main reasons for dropping Remind Me was that the system included advertising, which is against district policy.

The district website contains instructions on downloading the app for Schoology, which was introduced three months ago. This is the first year of a three-year deployment plan for the system.

Another complaint is that classroom information such as grades and homework assignments are not getting updated by teachers in a timely fashion. Some have made the transition to Schoology while others are still in the process of making the switch.

“It seems like we have a way to go to get all the dots connected,” Billig said.

Communications strategies was one of two topics discussed by the Committee of the Whole, with Director of Educational Support Services Thomas Alexander updating the board on community outreach efforts. In addition to a recent annual report, which was sent to every resident in the district, a postcard was sent to district families with children in non-public and charter schools. The post card promotes the success of the district and encourages families to consider sending their students to Avon Grove.

“Our goal was to market our schools,” Alexander said.

Also discussed at the meeting was the new topic of strategic plan for professional development. Within the next year and a half a number of new initiatives will be rolled out, reaching all teachers in the district.

“We want to make sure our students are being served,” Director of Secondary Teaching and Learning Michael Snopkowski said “What they (the teachers) learn and they model, they can communicate to the students in their classrooms.”

“It seems like we have a way to go to get all the dots connected.” — Avon Grove School Board member Jeffrey Billig