Is your school calendar in right format for families?
This topic goes right along with my recent push for PTOs to make the move toward email (our Parent Express Email solution is a great tool for that), but school calendars is another area where districts and PTOs and PTAs can be a lot more family friendly with a bit of technology help.
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s topic goes right along with my recent push for PTOs to make the move toward email (our Parent Express Email solution is a great tool for that), but school calendars is another area where districts and PTOs and PTAs can be a lot more family friendly with a bit of technology help.
How many of your parents manage their lives these days with some kind of techy calendar, whether it be their Blackberry or Outlook a family online calendar like Cozi.com? A ton, I'd wager. And that number will grow each year.
Trolling the web, I know that most school calendars are simply .pdf files on the school website, basically the same file that is sent home in August with the back-to-school mailing. What i'm just learning, though, is that there is a standard format for calendars called iCal that isn't that hard to utilize and that will result in the school calendar being automatically compatible with moms' and dads' organizers. Even changes to the calendar made after intitla publication will automatically get changed in the parents' calendars.
Our districts talk about parent involvement all the time. This is the kind of step that actually makes a difference in helping busy parents stay connected.
There's a new site up called SchoolCal.org that's helping parents basically petition their schools and districts to use the iCal format. It's not exactly the Declaration If Independence, but it is a nice step toward making parents' lives more integrated with the school. Hope you'll take advantage.
How many of your parents manage their lives these days with some kind of techy calendar, whether it be their Blackberry or Outlook a family online calendar like Cozi.com? A ton, I'd wager. And that number will grow each year.
Trolling the web, I know that most school calendars are simply .pdf files on the school website, basically the same file that is sent home in August with the back-to-school mailing. What i'm just learning, though, is that there is a standard format for calendars called iCal that isn't that hard to utilize and that will result in the school calendar being automatically compatible with moms' and dads' organizers. Even changes to the calendar made after intitla publication will automatically get changed in the parents' calendars.
Our districts talk about parent involvement all the time. This is the kind of step that actually makes a difference in helping busy parents stay connected.
There's a new site up called SchoolCal.org that's helping parents basically petition their schools and districts to use the iCal format. It's not exactly the Declaration If Independence, but it is a nice step toward making parents' lives more integrated with the school. Hope you'll take advantage.
