Back-to-School

2 Key Reasons Digital Updates Reach More Parents than a Flyer in a Backpack

Dr. Kara Stern
2 min read
Two women using a small laptop.

Regular school newsletters are integral to strong parent involvement & communication.

Why? Because the more parents have a window into what’s going on at school, the more they support the decisions of the adults in the building & their child’s learning. It literally leads to better attendance rates & improved academic performance.

You can’t go wrong! Just read the research, here.

1.Digital Updates reach more families.

In 5 years, 100% of kindergarteners will have millennial parents, and 1 in 4 students will speak another language at home. Digital updates make a difference with both constituent groups.

Let’s break it down.

Millennial parents conduct their business via smartphone. It’s where they read email, how they manage their calendars, how they keep in touch with colleagues at work & personal connections. It’s the device they turn to for celebrating wins and commiserating with losses. So, why trust important information to a backpack?

Wanna meet folks where they are? Meet them on a smartphone.

2. Right now, 20% of K12 students in the US speak a different language at home.


By 2025 it’ll be 25%. To welcome multilingual families into your community, you must provide translation services. If parents don’t know what’s going on, they cannot support their child to succeed. Digital updates with easy translation features mean that parents, aunts & uncles, and grandparents call all access the information they need to help their learner thrive.

Want to take a deeper dive? This newsletter has a webinar recording, slides, templates, blog posts, and stats.

Everything you need to know to keep all parents in the know.

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Dr. Kara Stern

Dr. Kara Stern began her career as an ELA teacher, then shifted into administration as a middle school principal. Dr. Stern is a fervent advocate for equitable communication and family engagement. She spent five years as Executive Director at Math for America, where she designed the professional learning community that exists to this day. An unexpected move to Tel Aviv launched her into the world of EdTech where she became the Director of Education Content for Smore and then the Head of Education Solutions at SchoolStatus. Outside of work, she indulges her love for reading, devouring two novels weekly, with a particular fondness for heists and spy stories.

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