District Overview
District: Westside Community Schools
Size: 6,200
Products Used: Smore for Teams
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Introduction
Westside Community Schools, a Nebraska-based school district, uses Smore For Teams for newsletter creation, distribution, and tracking to enhance parent-teacher communication and streamline information sharing. Elizabeth Power, Director of Communications and Engagement, said “Our entire district utilizes Smore and it is a huge hit. It’s a great resource, a safe, easy, and comfortable way for our teachers and staff members to be able to communicate on a regular basis to our families.”
Our entire district utilizes Smore and it is a huge hit. It’s a great resource.
Elizabeth Power, Director of Communications and Engagement, Westside Community Schools
Smore for Teams Impact
As SchoolStatus, Smore’s parent company, discovered in recent family and educator surveys, 47% of parents want consistent weekly information from schools, while only 15% of educators report sending information on a weekly basis. By using Smore for Teams throughout a district, it’s easy to establish consistency in cadence and design for families at every grade level. That way a family knows what to expect and when, especially as they transition across the schools in a district.
Ms. Power emphasizes the importance of this type of consistency for Westside’s families, “When your student starts as a kindergartner, K-6, you know exactly what that newsletter is going to look like. Then they go into a brand new middle school and so many things change…But one thing that remains consistent is that school newsletters look just the same as they did when your child was in elementary school.”
Administrative Benefits
From a communications director’s perspective, Smore For Teams also offers valuable oversight capabilities. “What I really love is that at any point in time I can jump into the platform and see what has been sent, what is being sent, and what’s scheduled,” shared Ms. Power. “It cuts out the gray area. It cuts out the questions. You know exactly what’s being said.”
This visibility has led to improved strategic communication planning, “Through the time that I’ve been with our district, it’s been a really fun learning opportunity for me to be able to help teach our district leaders about the critical times for sending communication…helping them understand how we all are on the same team and we all impact each other on those open rates.” Using this data, Power is able to recommend the best times to send communications so families aren’t overwhelmed, leading to stronger school-home engagement and higher open rates for their newsletters.
For other districts, Power offers encouraging words, “I think it is sometimes daunting to think about adding another tool or onboarding another platform into your district. Whether it be a large district or a small district, whether you have an IT team to help you bring it on or you don’t, it can be scary and nerve-wracking.” To mitigate this, she emphasizes the value of the support available. “The team at Smore, they’re here to help…don’t ever hesitate to ask a question because there’s somebody here who has the answer.”
Conclusion
All of our teachers love Smore. They are always requesting access to it.
Elizabeth Power, Director of Communications and Engagement, Westside Community Schools
The success of these platforms at Westside Community Schools is perhaps best summarized by Power’s description of organic adoption, “It is a tool that’s a little bit of a unicorn in our district. All of our teachers love Smore. They are always requesting access to it…I don’t have to even tell people they need to use Smore. Their peers are telling each other that they need to use it.”
Smore for Teams provides a simple, accessible newsletter builder with robust reporting that enhances collaboration and strengthens connections between schools and their communities. Whether your goal is to quickly create well-designed newsletters, increase family engagement, or promote consistency in district-wide branding and communications, Smore for Teams is the ideal solution.
Learn more about how Smore for Teams can enhance your school district’s communication strategy and engage more families by scheduling a demo today.