Woodland Launches ParentSquare for Communications June 10

Beginning Monday, June 10, ParentSquare is replacing Lakota's current notification system for sending email, phone and text alerts to all Lakota families and staff. The new, more unified school-to-home communication tool was piloted by eight Lakota schools during the last month of the 2023-2024 school year.

No action is required to continue receiving important communications at the phone numbers and email addresses parents update via FinalForms (or for staff, phone numbers added to our previous notification system). Users will also automatically benefit from ParentSquare’s more powerful translation features, which delivers most messages to you in your preferred language.

To get the most out of ParentSquare and take advantage of options to customize your Lakota communications, parents and staff should consider taking these steps: 

1. Log into your ParentSquare account via OneLogin beginning June 10 to set your notification preferences for receiving school and district emails, text messages or app alerts instantly or via a daily digest. (Email and text default to "digest," while app notifications default to "instant.") Lakota will override these settings when sending an urgent, time-sensitive alert. You can also update the language preference that is automatically set based on Lakota’s records.
    
2. Download the free app (iOS or Android version) for on-the-go access to your principal and district-level alerts in ONE place. You can also search "LLSD ParentSquare" from your app store. Teachers will not be using ParentSquare to communicate classroom updates at this time. 
    
3. Join More Groups: While you are auto-subscribed to receive updates from some groups based on your associations (i.e. school, grade level, etc.) you are welcome to join other public groups. From Home, click “Groups” in the left sidebar under “Participate.” Check this periodically, as new groups get added.
    
4. Review the contact information Lakota has on file for you. All parent/guardian updates must still be made through FinalForms via OneLogin. Staff will be able to add or edit their phone number within ParentSquare.  

Please take a few minutes to watch this Getting Started with ParentSquare video for parents and guardians. The shift to ParentSquare is a direct response to survey feedback that prioritized a more centralized tool for school-to-home communications. While the video goes into a wide range of features, Lakota will only be using posts and Smart Alerts at this time.

We look forward to eventually using ParentSquare as a true hub that includes teacher and classroom communication in addition to other custom group messaging, direct messaging and tools like volunteer sign-ups and permission slips.

Complete our ParentSquare feedback form to share your experience with the new platform and help us continually improve its functionality. Visit the parent/guardian, staff or community tab on Lakota's Communications Sign-Up webpage for more details about how to stay connected to Lakota.