Oklahoma City district set to launch mobile app
SCHOOL CONNECT WILL ALLOW PARENTS TO RECEIVE UPDATES ON MOBILE DEVICES
Oklahoma City Public Schools launches a new mobile application Wednesday that will allow patrons to receive updates from the district on mobile devices.
The application, known as School Connect, was first launched by Norman Public Schools in October.
Since then several school districts across the state and nation have signed up to launch the mobile application.
“We have capped our number of schools that we’re launching in January to 40 schools,” said Steve Mcdaniel, the owner of School Connect. “The new application has got a lot more robust and has a lot more features.”
The application can be downloaded from the Apple or Android application stores by searching “schconnect” or “school connect.”
Among the new features rolling out with the Oklahoma City schools application are versions in Spanish, Vietnamese and Arabic.
“We have a native speaker that has gone through the application and she has taken it home to her family to make sure that it all makes sense,” Mcdaniel said.
In Oklahoma City Public Schools, slightly less than half of the district’s 43,000 students are Hispanic and 9,600 students are learning English as a second language.
“We are proud to be the first school district to offer push notifications to our patrons in Spanish,” Sandra Park, deputy superintendent, said in a statement.
“This will be a vital tool for the thousands of Spanish-speaking students and parents in our district.”
The application was developed by School Connect, based in Norman, and is free to both the school district and those who download the application. Student-friendly advertisements will appear on the application to help pay for development of the program.
Parents and students can follow a specific school using the application and receive notifications from the district specific to that school.