![Connect + Smore-Blog Hero Connect and Smore Blog Hero - lighter green](https://www.schoolstatus.com/wp-content/uploads/Connect-Smore-Blog-Hero-1-600x333.png)
![How SchoolStatus Connect Helps Schools Reach All Families-blog-header Auto-translated messages for easy 2-way communication](https://www.schoolstatus.com/wp-content/uploads/How-SchoolStatus-Connect-Helps-Schools-Reach-All-Families-blog-header-1200x667.png)
Clear communication between school and families is critical for establishing trust in a school community, especially in the early days of the school year. Families need to know expectations, schedules, available resources, and other critical information from school staff and educators.
But reaching every family can sometimes be a challenge. Parents and guardians often have a specific mode of communication, like email or text, that they’d prefer to use for school communications. And many families speak a language other than English in the home, which can lead to misunderstandings when school-home communication is only available in English.
It’s unrealistic to expect educators to be fluent in every language. A communication platform that can send auto-translated messages in a family’s preferred communication channel can help bridge language barriers and bring a school community closer together. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at how SchoolStatus Connect enables better communication with all families.
An All-In-One Platform
SchoolStatus Connect gives educators and school staff a wide variety of options for reaching out to families. The platform lets you quickly send 1-to-1 messages, mass notifications, classroom updates, and even Smore newsletters from a single location.
That’s a big deal when managing communication to dozens (or hundreds) of families at once. A central platform for communication lets you deploy messages to different channels (like email, SMS text, or phone calls). And educators can effectively communicate without disclosing their personal cell phone numbers or other information. The easy-to-use interface lets you select the recipients you’d like to message. Families can choose their own preferred communication methods, so you can easily share important information in the way it’s most likely to be seen, without needing to send messages across every channel. This helps families know what messages are important, so they continue to check messages instead of ignoring them.
Auto-Translation Overcomes Language Barriers
SchoolStatus Connect is an all-in-one platform, but that doesn’t mean it’s one-size-fits-all. Families who speak multiple languages are more likely to engage with school communications if their preferred language is featured front and center, whether it’s Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, or any one of the 130+ languages available in SchoolStatus.
When you want to send a message to a family, the message is auto-translated into the family’s preferred language, which they choose when they are invited to join SchoolStatus Connect. The message will appear with the preferred language, and can be viewed in the original language with the click of a button. Families can then respond in their preferred language, which will be auto-translated for the teacher to review in their own preferred language. The original message is shared as well for all communications.
Communication for a Stronger School Community
No community can exist without communication. When the members of a community can easily make themselves understood and interact across barriers, trust and respect can flourish. With SchoolStatus Connect, educators can reach across communication divides and bring students and families closer together with their school.
If you want to learn more about how SchoolStatus Connect can help your school communicate with families, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to our team today for a free demo of SchoolStatus Connect.
Stay Connected
News, articles, and tips for meeting your district’s goals—delivered to your inbox.