When Should I Use Classrooms?
Classrooms are especially useful for:
Regular communication from the early childhood and elementary school classroom teacher: With the Classroom, the teacher gets a hub to post updates, add classroom events and important dates, add documents, display online forms, include a parent directory, include galleries, and more. Parents get a single place for all the classroom info.
School-home communication from the middle school or high school teacher: Middle school and high school teachers use Classrooms to update parents on all communication that needs to reach home. The classroom is especially useful if the class/course takes field trips, has forms that parents need to fill out, or is looking for parents to help out on any aspect of the course.
Specialty subject teachers such as art, PE, and music. The specialty teachers can visit primary teachers' classrooms and add their communication there, or they can create a classroom just for their subject. A music teacher might create a classroom for 4th-grade music class, or they might create just one classroom that combines communication with all their grades, from K to 4th. Both options are available.
Do I need to create a Classroom to Communicate at Grade-level?
Creating a classroom is not necessary to communicate grade-level news and updates. Admins and teachers can post to any grade level or levels as long as your school has chosen to enter student data and parent accounts into the system so the system can recognize which grade-level information parents should receive.
Several teachers teach a 4th-grade class (as an example). How should I configure the Classroom?
There is no single right way to organize this. The best setup depends on how your teachers prefer to communicate and how often they expect to share information with families.
If subject and specialty teachers do not want to manage separate Classroom spaces, they can post updates and add information within the primary (classroom) teacher's homeroom classroom. You can also make them Classroom Admins so they receive notifications about new communication and activity.
Teachers who regularly share subject-specific updates may prefer to create their own Classroom for that subject or specialty area.
Discuss the options with your teachers and choose the approach that feels manageable for them. The goal is to create Classroom spaces where communication remains active and consistent.
What are the Classroom types in School Signals?
Homeroom classrooms are linked to a teacher and one or more grade levels. Students are added automatically based on their grade level and primary teacher. Parents are automatically included when their child belongs to the classroom.
Subject classrooms are for a specific teacher’s subject (for example, Science) within particular grade(s).When available, student schedule data is used to add students automatically. You can also manually add students to a subject classroom. Parents are automatically included when their child belongs to the subject classroom.
How do I add parents to the Classroom?
For early childhood and elementary students' parents, the homeroom classroom membership is created automatically based on the student data. Since we know the student's primary teacher and their parents, we can automatically add the parents (and students over 13 years old) to the classroom based on this student data.
For subject classrooms, parents may be added automatically if the student information about course teachers is imported from the SIS. After creating the classrooms, admins can also “manually” add parents to the classroom by using the "Add Members" button displayed on the Classroom page.
Do students have access to the Classroom?
A school can grant accounts for students who are 13 and older, and these students can be added to a Classroom to receive classroom communication and notifications. Students can be granted user rights to comment and make classroom posts. The School Admin sets these user rights.
What are the Classroom Features?
Features include:
Classroom News & Updates: Share announcements and updates.
Events & Volunteering: Organize and manage signups.
Forms & Documents: Fill out forms and view classroom documents
Photo Galleries: Share classroom moments.
Pages: Create informational pages.
Classroom Directory: Connect with other parents by seeing their contact and/or clicking to Message.
How Are Teachers and Parents Notified?
Teachers and parents are notified by email and app push about new posts. Users set their notification preferences in My Account > Notifications.
Who Can Make Posts and Leave Comments to Classrooms News & Updates?
School administrators and teachers can post to the Classroom News & Updates communication feed. Parents' and students' posting rights depend on the school's settings. Parents' and students' posts may go automatically live or be visible only to admins and teachers. Parents and students may also be restricted from making any posts.
Can I Access Classrooms Using the Mobile App?
Yes, click the hamburger menu in the lower right corner, and select Classrooms.
Can a Room Parent be Granted Admin Rights to the Classroom?
Yes, the system has this functionality. The School Admin has the rights to grant parents additional user rights. Once these rights are granted, the parent can be added as the Classroom Admin.