Remind Adds New Tools for K-12 Districts and Schools to Address the Widening Learning and Relationship Gap Among Students

As students return to the classroom, the powerful new platform enhancements for school administrators modernize the two-way communication experience and strengthen the connection between educators and students and their families

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Remind, the leading two-way digital communication platform in education, today announced the release of its latest platform enhancements to help K-12 school districts improve two-way communication with families and strengthen the educator and student connection. The newest additions to the platform include customized voice clips and enhanced mass notifications, both integral in building a bond among administrators, teachers, students, and parents, particularly as the back-to-school season continues.

“The latest engagement enhancements to the Remind platform were built specifically to help administrators and teachers establish a trusted relationship with their families and students,” said Quenton Cook, CEO of Remind. “Establishing a connection and relationship with students is increasingly critical for schools, as so many kids have been isolated over the past year and a half. Providing educators with a simple way to personalize and record a voice message of up to two minutes, or enabling custom mass notifications that allow parents to respond, strengthens the connection and trust that families have with their schools.”

Voice Clips

Voice clips, a widely popular feature on the Remind platform, will now allow administrators and teachers to record custom voice messages of up to two minutes, extended from the original 20 seconds. In addition, when sending an urgent announcement, voice clips will now be played back over landlines to help reach even the hardest-to-reach families.

While other solutions may exist to deliver mass communications to school communities, they often offer limited translation capabilities for English learners and their families. Remind's voice clip feature intelligently falls back to a translated message in the recipient’s preferred language—ensuring no family is left behind.

“As students continue to learn in various environments this coming school year, the ability for the school administrator, teacher, or counselor to record and send a personal message can make a huge impact on that child. If a child is absent, having their teacher follow up directly can be a powerful way to let them know they were missed and provide support if needed. Or if a child is late on a library book, having the librarian tell the student how excited they are that they are enjoying reading and they look forward to helping them find their next reading adventure could be a fun way to remind them to return their current book,” explains Cook.

Advanced Messaging Enhancements

With the latest enhancements to the Remind advanced messaging feature, administrators can now customize and automate mass notifications for up to 50,000 contacts. From notifying families and students about student progress reports, to sending a custom message to specific groups about graduation requirements or immunization forms, the latest updates provide a simple way to reach anyone in their community with a custom message delivered via SMS.

“In today’s digital world, students and families expect to have a simple way to follow up with their school administrators or appointed contact, be it the library or food services. We are now enabling educators to reach the families in their community and also engage with them on a one-to-one basis,” Cook adds.

Now, when a school needs to share updates on school policies, alert families about an emergency situation, or create a custom attendance notification, they no longer need to rely on an auto-generated message with no one on the other end. Parents can quickly reply or ask questions that are routed to the appropriate school or district contact.

The company has also recently added the following new enhancements and capabilities to the platform:

• Preferred language translation: The only tool of its kind to enable two-way translations that allow parents and students to receive and respond to messages in their home language.
• Rostering for ClassLink: Added rostering for ClassLink allows districts to securely manage their school rosters and protect student identities.
• Enhanced names support: This provides administrators the ability to control how the student’s preferred name appears on Remind, while still giving administrators access to the full name that resides in the school’s database when required.

To learn more about the Remind platform, please visit www.remind.com.

About Remind

Remind, the leading communication platform in education, helps educators reach students and parents where they are. With easy-to-use features that allow schools, districts and other educational organizations to activate engagement across their communities, Remind connects the people and resources that help give every student the opportunity to succeed. Founded in 2011, Remind is backed by GSV Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Owl Ventures and Social Capital. For more information, visit www.remind.com.