ParentSquare - Explorer Academy

South Kitsap School District uses ParentSquare for school communication, primarily with email, text and app notifications. ParentSquare automatically generates an account for each parent, using their preferred email address and phone number. We encourage parents to access their accounts so they can download the mobile app and update their preferences on when and how they are notified.

Here’s what you can do with ParentSquare:

Receive messages from the school via email, text or app notification
Choose to receive information as it comes or all at once with a daily digest at 6pm
Communicate in your preferred language
Comment on school postings to engage with your school community
Direct message teachers, staff and other parents
Participate in group messages

Keep Your Contact Information Up to Date

It is important your contact information is up-to-date with your school. ParentSquare automatically generates an account for each parent/guardian using their preferred email address and phone number listed in Skyward Family Access. We recommend reviewing your contact information annually.

Note: ParentSquare considers phone numbers marked as a cell phone as a parent/guardian’s primary phone number.

ParentSquare Overview for Parents

Get Started in 3 Easy Steps!

Download the free iOS or Android mobile app.
Log in with your email or phone registered with Skyward Family Access.
Start receiving posts relevant to your student.

Communication Process Before ParentSquare — **Before ParentSquare:**

District, schools and teachers use different tools, platforms and apps. Parents/Guardians are confused and can't keep up!

Communication After ParentSquare — **After ParentSquare:**

Parents/Guardians know exactly where to go to find information and engage about their child!

Download the App:

If you are viewing this message on your phone, click on a link below to download the app. If you are viewing on your computer, use your phone camera to hover over the QR image to download the app.

iPhone - Apple Store
Android - Google Play Store

Android

iOS

Overview for Parents Video (English)

ParentSquare Overview for Parents from ParentSquare on Vimeo.

Overview for Parents Video (Spanish)

ParentSquare resumen para padres - español de ParentSquare en Vimeo.

Updating Your SMS/Cell Phone Number in Skyward To Receive Alerts From ParentSquare

Your contact information was pulled from Skyward Family Access and imported into ParentSquare.

To Enter or Update Your SMS Number In Skyward:

NOTE: Parents who are also SKSD staff members should follow the Staff SMS Numbers instructions.

For Parents who are not SKSD staff members, please follow the instructions below.

Log in to Skyward Family Access (https://skyward.skschools.org)
In the upper right corner, click My Account
Just below the Phone box, choose Cell from the dropdown menu and type your phone number in the next box
Click Save button to finish

Updates to cell phone numbers and email addresses may take overnight to process.

Tips for Parents & Guardians

Notification Types: Instant vs. Digest

Users can fine tune their notification settings for both school and notification type. For General Announcements, you can select Digest, Instant, or choose to turn off notifications altogether (excluding emergency alerts and notices) for email, text, and app notifications.

These settings allow a secondary parent/guardian contact to turn off all notification except for emergency alerts (particularly useful if their partner parent/guardian manages school-related daily activities).

ParentSquare allows users to customize their notifications based on notification type and select their preferred delivery method for each school. The Instant setting will send all post notifications in real-time. The Digest setting sends direct messages, alerts, and time-sensitive posts instantly, but sends all non-time sensitive posts at the end of the day, reducing the number of notifications you receive daily. (We recommend the Digest setting.)

Notification types include:

Urgent Smart Alerts & Notices includes any urgent alerts, attendance notices, and auto notices marked as critical notices (cannot be disabled).
General Announcements & Messages includes any posts, direct messages and reminders.
School Alerts includes any Smart Alerts and other student notices.

Under General Announcements, you can select when you want to receive notifications for posts. Select Off, Instant or Digest notifications.

Off: no notifications about posts will be sent to you. Emergency Alerts and Notices will still be sent. School Alerts will still be sent if turned on.
Instant: you'll receive an email and/or text and/or an app notification every time a notice or message is sent.
Digest: you'll receive an email and/or text and/or an app notification once a day in the evening with all posts from that day.

The default setting is typically Digest, so that you receive all notices and post messages in one convenient notification once a day. All emergency notifications still come through instantly, and a school can override settings as needed for an urgent message. If you choose Instant notifications, and have multiple children in multiple schools, that can add up to a lot of messages.

Opt-Out

Frequently Asked Parent Questions

How do I sign up for ParentSquare?

Your child's school will most likely send you an invitation email or text to join ParentSquare, and you'll click a link to activate your account. If you are a parent and the school's database (SIS) contains your contact details, you can use your email or phone number to set up your account without the invitation.

ACTION:

Go to www.parentsquare.com/signin. You can also install the ParentSquare app and follow the prompts to sign up.
Use Google single sign-on, your email, or your phone number to set up your account. Your email/phone number must match contact details in the school's database for this to work.
If your contact details aren't recognized, contact your school administrator to get them added. After they update your information in their database, the new contact details will appear in ParentSquare after the next daily sync, and you will be able to create an account.

Note: After you are added to ParentSquare by your school, you will receive school communications even if you have not registered your account. However, you will need to register your account in order to participate in two-way communications and to access any confidential student-specific documents or forms.

How do I fix or change my contact details?

Is the phone number wrong? Do you want to change your primary email? Is your name misspelled? Do you see information for a student who's not yours?

Contact details in ParentSquare are managed by your school and usually synchronized from secure student information system (SIS) records. Please contact the school office directly to ask for your contact information to be updated. Once the school updates their official records, changes will automatically be reflected on your account in ParentSquare.

If you have registered in ParentSquare (and set up your personal login), you can make corrections and updates in ParentSquare itself. Go to My Account, and select “Edit” (or “Confirm Contact Info” if you have unconfirmed contact information). Your changes will be sent to the school to finalize. Once they do, you’ll see it reflected in your account.

ACTION:

Contact the school office and ask for your official contact information to be updated.
Or, if you have set up your login to ParentSquare, login to the app or website, navigate to Account settings, make the updates and we’ll notify the school for you.

How do I add a student who's missing in my account?

If you are missing a child/school, it may be because:

Your contact information is inconsistent across the school's student information system.
You have more than one ParentSquare account with different contact information.

ACTION:

Contact your child's school to update your contact information in the SIS. Ensure you have the same email and phone number on file for all children and all schools. Your account will be corrected when we sync with the SIS (daily).
If you have multiple accounts: Combine the accounts. You can sign in to learn more about how to merge multiple accounts here.

How do I change my language preference?

Do you want to have messages translated to another language? Are your messages showing up in the wrong language?

ACTION:

If you are using the web browser: On your home page, click your name and select "My Account." Then, select "Language Setting.”

If you are using the mobile app: From your home screen, click the triple bar in the top left corner. Click on "Account," then "Preferences," then "Language Settings."

Select your preferred language and save.

WHAT IF MY LANGUAGE PREFERENCE DOESN'T STAY AFTER I MAKE THE CHANGE?

The school or district most likely syncs ParentSquare with their student information system (SIS), and your language preference in that database is overriding ParentSquare settings. Contact your school(s) and ask them to update your language preference in their database of record.

How do I change or stop notifications?

ParentSquare allows users to customize their notifications based on notification type and select their preferred delivery method for each school.

You can choose between "instant" and "digest" notifications or choose to turn off notifications altogether (excluding emergency alerts and notices). The "instant" setting will send all posts notifications in real-time. The “digest” setting sends direct messages, alerts, and time-sensitive posts instantly, but sends all non-time sensitive posts at the end of the day, reducing the number of notifications you receive daily. (We recommend the “digest” setting”.)

ACTION:

If you are using the web browser: On your home page, click your name and select "My Account." Then, select "Customize your settings" under Notification Settings.

If you are using the mobile app: From your home screen, click the triple bar in the top left corner. Click on "Account," then "Preferences," then "Notification Settings."

How do I unsubscribe? I'm not a parent!

Sometimes, non-parents get messages from a school using ParentSquare.

ParentSquare synchronizes with each school's internal student information database. It contains contact details provided by families (on forms, during enrollment, etc.)
Most likely, a parent or staff member made a typo, and there is incorrect contact data for a parent or student that matches an actual phone number or email.
Only the school or district is authorized to update contact details to maintain security and protect student privacy.

ACTION:

To unsubscribe from text, text STOP to the number sending you the texts. However, if you only click "unsubscribe" on an email or text, ParentSquare will still notify you of an emergency.
To stop receiving all notifications, please contact the school that is sending you messages to have them remove your contact details from their database.

Need more help?

To find answers on your own, you can also go to our help articles. To do this from the web, log into ParentSquare, click on the ? symbol at the top right side of the page and click on "Help Articles." To do this from your app, click the triple bar in the top left corner, and then click on the "Help" button to access "Help Topics."

You can also click here to go directly to the help articles for parents and students.

FOR ALL PERSONAL ASSISTANCE OR TROUBLESHOOTING, PLEASE REACH OUT TO YOUR SCHOOL.

Your school's ParentSquare administrator will contact our Support Team to escalate any issues that they are unable to resolve.

~ The ParentSquare Team

Communications Systems Help

If you are having trouble with your ParentSquare or Skyward Family Access please fill out the following form and we'll be in touch.

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