ParentSquare is an easy-to-use communication tool that combines multiple communication streams into one easy-to-use interface for families and staff. UPSD will be transitioning from our previous notification system, School Messenger, to this robust communication platform, ParentSquare, beginning in the 2023-2024 school year. 

Here’s what you can do with ParentSquare this year.

• Receive messages from the school via email, text, phone and/or mobile app notification 
• Choose to receive information as it comes, or all at once at 6 pm daily
• Communicate in your preferred language

ParentSquare automatically generates an account for each parent, using the primary email address and phone number you gave your school office (also the email used by Skyward Family Access). If you do not remember the email address you used, please contact your school office and they can provide it. We encourage parents to access their accounts so they can download the mobile app and update their preferences on when and how they are notified.

ParentSquare allows the district and schools to send messages in a variety of ways. One method is a post that would only go to your school’s “feed” in the ParentSquare app or web portal. Your school and district could also choose to send that post to parents/guardians in the form of a text or email. The third method is a “smart alert” sent at the district and school level — things like the district newsletter, messages from the superintendent and messages about school events and activities. They can be sent via text, email or phone call. The final category is an “urgent smart alert.” These messages will be sent via text, email and phone call and include inclement weather notifications and health and safety issues.

ParentSquare allows users to customize their notifications based on notification type and select their preferred delivery method for each school.

• The Instant setting will send all post notifications in real-time.
• The Digest setting sends direct messages, alerts, and time-sensitive posts instantly, but sends all non-time sensitive posts at the end of the day, reducing the number of notifications you receive daily. (We recommend the Digest setting.)  

Notification types include:

• Urgent Smart Alerts & Notices includes any urgent alerts, attendance notices, and auto notices marked as critical notices (cannot be disabled).
• General Announcements & Messages includes any posts, direct messages and reminders.
• School Alerts includes any Smart Alerts and other student notices.

Under General Announcements, you can select when you want to receive notifications for posts. Select Off, Instant or Digest notifications.

• Off: no notifications about posts will be sent to you. Emergency Alerts and Notices will still be sent. School Alerts will still be sent if turned on.
• Instant: you'll receive an email and/or text and/or an app notification every time a notice or message is sent.
• Digest: you'll receive an email and/or text and/or an app notification once a day in the evening with all posts from that day.

The default setting is typically Digest, so that you receive all notices and post messages in one convenient notification once a day. All emergency notifications still come through instantly, and a school can override settings as needed for an urgent message. If you choose Instant notifications, and have multiple children in multiple schools, that can add up to a lot of messages.

Update your Notification Settings (using web browser)

1. From Home, click your name and select My Account.
2. Click Notification Settings.
3. Choose your preferred Notification Settings for General Announcements & Messages (Off, Instant or Digest) and School Alerts (On or Off). Once you've made selections, future messaging will send based on your preferences.
4. If you have multiple emails or phones listed on your account, set the order of your preferred contacts to receive notifications. Notifications will only be sent to one email and one phone on your account.
   
   Note: the “Choose Best Match” setting will select the most relevant email and phone to send the notification to. Notifications related to the student/parent will go to the personal email/phone, while notifications intended for staff only will always go to the staff email/phone. Posts sent to both staff and parents will default to the parent email/phone.

Update your Notification Setting (using mobile app)

1. From home screen tap the triple bar menu at top left.
2. Select Account and then Notifications.
3. Select how you want to be notified at each school.
   - Turn OFF Custom Settings to use the same notification settings for all schools.
   - Turn ON Custom Settings to set different notifications at each school.
4. Toggle on or off to receive Email, Text and/or App Notifications.
5. Select Instant or Digest for each mode. Note: Digest is recommended – you will receive one notification per day, for all posts, in the evening.

You can customize your language settings by going to "My Account" and clicking "Change This" under language settings. From there, you can choose any language that you prefer from the drop-down menu, and you’ll start to receive content in that language. Here is a help article on how to change your language settings.

Please check your spam to see if any ParentSquare messages ended up there and mark them as "Not Spam." Also add donotreply@parentsquare.com to your email contacts so your server recognizes our messages. If you still aren’t receiving emails, please contact us at support@parentsquare.com so that they can assist you. 

You can receive communication from the district and school by email, text, app or the ParentSquare website. You can change your notification preferences including your preferred language of communication on your ParentSquare account page.

You can choose to receive messages via email, text, voice and/or the ParentSquare app. While you can opt out of any of these methods of communication, please note that the district has the discretion to override opt-outs for messages and alerts deemed urgent or important, including health and safety situations and attendance. 

Yes. The first time that you log into the app or web portal, all of your students should automatically be listed in the upper lefthand corner. If you don’t see them, please contact your school office(s) to ensure your phone number and email are correct in our system. 

If you wish to change your contact information, please contact your school or update the information through Home Access Center. The contact information in Home Access Center syncs nightly with ParentSquare to update information.

Please go to parentsquare.com and on the login page, click "Forgot Password." Put in your email or phone number, and you’ll be sent a link to reset your password.