These slides are from a Back2School webinar hosted by Blackboard Connect. Learn about important ways to get your parents involved in activities related to student achievement early in the school year.

1. Bring Your ParentsCloser and Your Students Will Go FartherZach DemingClient Care Director, Blackboard ConnectDon MaceWeb Specialist, Union County Public Schools, NC

3. Back-to-school events

4. Meeting vaccination deadlines There is no better time than Back2School for parents to get involved in all aspects of their child's academic success!

6. Engage with parents on their terms:

7. Email, SMS, Voice Messages, Social Media

8. Correspond in parents’ native language

9. Share Important information related to academics

10. Testing schedules

11. Achievement and performance updates

12. Changes in curriculum

14. HTML emails

15. Email attachments

16. Weather Alerts

17. Language TranslationsConnect 5.0 Connect 5.2 Connect 5.1 2011 2009-2010 Set new record: 19M+ messages in a single day 2009 545M voice calls 153M emails 4M SMS 2010 639M voice calls 191M emails 8M SMS 4

18. 5 “I need my administrators to be able to manage complex access levels and sites.” “I think a smartphone app would be a perfect addition to your program” “Maintaining contact info is a huge burden on our schools. A parent portal would be a HUGE benefit.” “I want parents to have the ability to set a time to receive outreach messages and attendance calls.” What are District Needs? K-12 client in Massachusetts K-12 client in Wyoming K-12 client in Kentucky K-12 client in Arizona 5

20. A proven and flexible messaging infrastructure

21. New online environments for organizing leaders and the audiences they serve

22. Dozens of enhancements designed to make communications more effective and parents, students and staff more responsive6

24. 3 million emails per hour

26. 9 Let’s See How Connect 5 Helps With Your Back-to-School Activities

27. Back to School Using Blackboard Connect Don Mace Web Communications Coordinator

28. Who is UCPS? Union County Public Schools Union County, North Carolina (Monroe) 40,000 students (53 schools) – 68% White, 14% Hispanic and 14% African American About 31% Free and Reduced Lunch 5200 employees – 2900 licensed “Prepare All Students to Succeed!”

29. UCPS Vision Globalization – Innovation – Graduation Our Communication Strategy… Provide clear, effective, timely and accurate information Expand our sphere of influence Expand our web communications

30. Types of Communication Superintendent’s “Welcome Back!” Cafeteria Menu changes Open house, Orientation and school “Welcome Back!” Reminders about required paperwork, supply lists and vaccinations We use several avenues to present these.

31. Vaccination Communication Inform parents and the community about vaccination clinics available to them“…The Union County Health Department will be offering NC required kindergarten health assessments at the fair. The assessment includes all required immunizations. The cost will be $60 flat fee, cash or check only. A limited number of appointment slots are available. … The NC required Tdap will be available free to all rising 6th graders. Tdap for adults will be available at $40.00…” Keeping families informed and providing a cost effective vaccination alternative NC Immunization Requirements NC Immunization Law

32. Looking forward… We like … The Simpler Interface The Streamlined Message Center The Community Portal The Improved Message Targeting The Real-time Reports The Smartphone App …it all!

33. 16 Q&A 16

34. 17 Thank you for attending! Contact info for Union Public Schools Don Mace – don.mace@ucps.k12.nc.us 17

35. 18 Please contact us to upgrade to Connect 5: (888) 599-2720 Not a part of the Bb Family? Join Today: (800) 424-9299 18