Best Practices for Classroom-to-Home Communication
Research shows that clear, consistent, and timely communication between teachers and families has a positive impact on student achievement and increases engagement between home and school. Everyone has different communication preferences, but in general, families would rather have more communication from their children’s teachers than not enough! This webpage contains tools and tips to help you communicate effectively with your students’ families.
Recommended Communication Tools
SPPS staff have a multitude of tools available for communicating with families, including email, phone calls, paper newsletters, digital learning platforms, Google for Education products, and more. Below is a short list of recommended tools that staff can use to share information with parents and guardians.
Please note: Staff should not use personal email, social media accounts or apps for communicating with students/parents or to conduct official district business. Please refer to the Acceptable Use of Technology and Use of Social Media policies for more information.
Google Voice (All Grades)
Staff can request a Google Voice license via the Service Desk to send families school-related text messages/phone calls. This tool allows SPPS staff to send text messages and make phone calls from a dedicated Google Voice phone number. If you need to send a robocall or group text message, work with your principal or clerk to send a message through Mass Notification.
Infinite Campus (All Grades)
Infinite Campus is the student information system (SIS) for Saint Paul Public Schools. Parents and students view attendance, schedules, report cards and transcripts, bus routes, contact information, and view messages from teachers or school staff.
Teachers can email individual or selected students and/or family contacts directly from the Teacher Message Center.
Seesaw (PreK-5)
Invite your families to join your class on Seesaw and leverage the platform’s communication features for newsletters and other classroom communication. Learn more in the Seesaw Learning Hub or explore this playlist of quick Teacher Essentials videos.
Schoology (6-12)
Teachers can use Schoology to post class updates and messages to students and families. There is not an option for teachers to individually message families through Schoology. Many school administrative teams also post schoolwide updates, news and daily announcements. These can be seen by students and families.
Email Best Practices
- Always use your district (not personal) email when communicating with families.
- Always use current, up-to-date primary guardian contact information from Infinite Campus. (example below)
- Make sure your email signature is up to date and includes your title, school name, and contact information. You may add your school logo to your signature if you wish.
- If you are emailing more than one family in a group email, use the “Bcc” function rather than the “To” field. This eliminates the possibility that someone will reply all and keeps families’ contact information private.
Plain Language 101
Plain language means communicating in a way your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it.
Translations/Interpretation Tools
If a large number of your families speak a language other than English at home, it is important to find ways to communicate with them. If you do not have bilingual staff available, here are some options available to you:
In-Person Communication Tools
Many families in SPPS do not have an email address on file, which means they are not able to receive any emails from the district, their school or individual teachers. In addition to parent-teacher conferences, SPPS offers several programs designed to help educators connect with families in meaningful ways.