School announcements and parent messaging
School-to-parent communication happens in one place: official announcements, in-app notifications, and chat kept inside school accounts. Announcements reach the right people by class or role, and school admins can moderate chat.
AnnouncementsCommunication Available from the Starter package
What you can do
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Announcements by school, class, or role
Write an announcement with basic formatting, keep it as a draft, then publish it to the whole school, specific classes, or specific roles. Important ones can be pinned to the top.
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Read counts and history
Managers see how many people have read each announcement, and readers see what is still unread. Withdrawing an announcement also removes it from recipients' notifications.
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In-app and email notifications
Every announcement lands in the recipients' notification inbox. Announcements marked critical are also emailed, in each recipient's chosen language.
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Direct chat between staff and parents
Staff can message anyone at the school, while students and guardians message staff. New messages appear without reloading the page.
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Class groups for students and parents
Each class has separate student and guardian groups that include the homeroom teacher and the class's subject teachers, plus a learning group for each subject.
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Recorded chat moderation
Senders can edit or delete a message only within one minute. Moderators can remove a message with a reason, and every moderation action is recorded in the audit log.
Frequently asked questions
Are announcements sent by WhatsApp or SMS?
No. Announcements appear in the app and in each recipient's notification inbox, and critical announcements are also sent by email. Arkantara does not send WhatsApp or SMS messages.
Who can create and publish announcements?
By default the school admin and staff roles, or any other role given permission to manage announcements. Readers see only published announcements addressed to the whole school, their class, or their role; guardians also see those for their child's class.
Can people send photos or attachments in chat?
No. Chat is text only, which keeps it light and easy to moderate. Leave letters go through the leave request in the parent portal, which accepts one PDF or image attachment.
Related features
- Parent portal app for school guardiansA parent portal where guardians follow their child's attendance, grades, assignments, report cards, and invoices from a phone, for linked children only.
- School academic calendar and eventsAn academic calendar for exams, holidays, meetings, and school events, with class audiences, RSVPs, day-before reminders, and a private iCal link.
See your school in it
A 14-day trial with every module, with nothing to install at the school. Pricing is per school, not per student.