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Strong relationships between schools and families

are key to student success. At California’s Fontana

USD, administrators sought to create an always-on

conversation between its schools and the home,

so they turned to Let’s Talk!, from K12 Insight.

Today, parents have an easy way to connect

with administrators at the central office and

each individual school site. The result is stronger

relationships, more trust, and deeper community

support for key programs. Here’s how they did it.

39KNumber of students

C A S E S T U D Y

Source: Fontana USD

THE CHALLENGEFontana USD, in southern California, serves 39,000 students across 45 schools — making it the second largest school district in San Bernardino County. As Dr. Shannon Miller, director of special projects, describes it, the district’s student body is 87 percent unduplicated, and about 83 percent are low socio-economic. Many of the students are English Language Learners, and about 85 percent are of hispanic or Latino background.

Given the number of students and families with different backgrounds and needs, school leaders had a hard time ensuring that everyone felt empowered to speak up. (cont’d)

K12 INSIGHT HELPS FUSD STRENGTHEN BONDS BETWEEN HOME AND SCHOOL

45 Number of schools

~30% Students with internet access at home

Fontana Unified School District

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THE CHALLENGE (CONT’D FROM PG 1)

“There was a lack of communication between our stakeholders and our schools,” explains Miller. “We found that many of our parents didn’t necessarily work during the day, or that there was a language barrier that kept them from being able to fully engage with us. Others didn’t feel comfortable speaking up.”

Those parents who did speak up often did so directly, by going to the superintendent’s office. “The one way we were hearing from parents was when they filed a formal complaint,” Miller says. “They didn’t really realize or understand what other avenues were available for addressing concerns at their school sites, so they’d go straight to the top.”

Another challenge — and one that is often taken for granted: internet access.

“Only about 30 percent of our students have internet access at home, so their internet access is actually mobile devices,” Miller explains. “We needed something parents and families could easily use on their phones to connect with the district and schools.”

THE SOLUTIONThe district turned to Let’s Talk!, from K12 Insight, to open lines of communication between its schools and the home. This cloud-based community listening and customer service platform enables parents and others to reach out to leaders at the district and individual school sites from their device of choice — be it on a desktop, tablet or smartphone — wherever and whenever it is convenient for them.

Let’s Talk! mobile app

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25%OF ALL FONTANA USD DIALOGUES ARE SENT TO SCHOOL SITES

8.4 OUT OF 10 AVERAGE CUSTOMER SERVICE SCOREFOR ALL SCHOOLS

7.1 HOURSAVERAGE FIRST REPLY TIME FOR DISTRICT SCHOOLS

“We’re in a mobile world, and lots of times that means being on the phone or having that access,” Miller explains. “The Let’s Talk! app helps our parents get our immediate attention and helps us address their concerns in a timely manner.”

A real-time data dashboard provides district and school leaders with key insights about the quality of their engagements, such as average response time, customer service rating, and critical issues or themes — information that can be used to drive change across the district, while ensuring exceptional customer service.

ROLLING IT OUT RIGHT

Fontana USD piloted Let’s Talk! at the district level, before rolling the technology out to leaders at its individual school sites. Administrators say the gradual rollout helped engage families, while ensuring that building administrators had time to build familiarity and comfort with the platform.

“It was critical for us to have Let’s Talk! as a means for families to communicate not just with district but with their children’s schools,” says Miller. “And it was important for us to be able to see those interactions so that we can better understand our community, our strengths, and our opportunities for improvement.”

The strategic campus rollout made it easy to garner buy-in from school leaders and provide the necessary support to engage each school’s local community. The district created a calendar for phasing Let’s Talk! into schools based on feeder patterns and for supporting families and staff with trainings and resources.

“We wanted our families to feel comfortable using Let’s Talk! at every level,” Miller explains, adding, “So if parents had questions at the high school level,

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they’d already be familiar with Let’s Talk! because they would have used it at their children’s elementary or middle schools.”

The trainings not only gave new users a chance to practice in the platform and ask questions, they also provided an opportunity for current users to share best practices and tips for getting the most out of the solution. Administrators used free resources from the Let’s Talk! Learning Center, an online training hub offered by K12 Insight, to create an interactive training manual for team members.

“One of the biggest concerns school leaders had was that this was going to be one more thing that would take time away from them,” Miller states. “I wanted to make sure they had the training, resources, and tips they needed to feel comfortable and to use the platform in a way that worked for their community and school culture.”

THE RESULTSSince introducing Let’s Talk! into its schools, the district has seen an increase in engagement from all stakeholders, including parents. A fourth of all the district’s Let’s Talk! dialogues are now sent directly to school sites where families and others typically get a reply within hours.

“Let’s Talk! doesn’t replace our face-to-face communication with families, but it helps us amplify their voices,” Miller says. “Not all of our parents have availability to reach out during the school day, or they feel like they can’t because of a language barrier or other concern. Let’s Talk! gives them a safe and easy way to engage with us on their schedule.”

Let’s Talk! doesn’t replace our face-to-face communication with families, but it helps us amplify their voices.” DR. SHANNON MILLER DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL PROJECTS FONTANA USD, CALIF.

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By training school leaders at every level to deliver timely, polite, and accurate responses, the district fosters a culture of trust that helps its stakeholders feel involved and school leaders feel supported every step of the way — which Miller credits, in part, to their partnership with K12 Insight.

“The support system K12 Insight provides has just been amazing,” she says. “The culture of the organization and respect they have for their customers really shows that they’re not just a business, but we actually matter to them. We try to mirror that spirit with our customers to let them know they matter as well.”

Looking forward, the district would like to get more students using Let’s Talk! “Now that we have more parents using the platform, I want to get more students using Let’s Talk! in a positive way,” says Miller. “Student voices are key in understanding our schools’ strengths and weaknesses, as well as providing every child with a high-quality educational experience.”

Ready to implement Let’s Talk! in your district or schools? Visit www.K12insight.com or call 703-542-9600.

The support system K12 Insight provides has just been amazing. The culture of the organization and respect they have for their customers really shows that they’re not just a business, but we actually matter to them.”

DR. SHANNON MILLER DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL PROJECTS FONTANA USD, CALIF.