Our school district is using ParentSquare! ParentSquare is a simple and safe way to connect and communicate.
If you have an email address registered with the school district, then you have a ParentSquare account ready for you. South St. Paul Schools will initiate the setup process for you. You will receive an email invitation with a link to activate your ParentSquare account. This link will expire 10 days after it is sent. You will still receive communication without activating, but activating your account will allow you to interact.
The best way to receive school alerts and communication is to download the app to your smartphone.
ParentSquare works with your school to keep contact information accurate. You can view, confirm or suggest corrections to your contact information. If you are both a staff member and parent, you can combine accounts.
What You Need to Do
Update Apps: Update your iOS or Android ParentSquare mobile app to the latest version. Some features may not work on older versions. Click here for help with updating.
Sign In: Sign in to ParentSquare.
Confirm: You may be asked to confirm your contact information. Follow the instructions, and to confirm, a verification code will be sent that is valid for 10 minutes.
Click on the dropdown below to view instructions on the following steps pertaining to your account and contact information.
Your child(ren)'s school has your email and/or phone number in their records and they will initiate the setup process with you. The district will send you an invitation email and/or text with a link to activate your ParentSquare account. If you did not receive an invitation you can manually register or email sspdirect@sspps.org for help. You will still receive communication without activating, but activating your account will allow you to interact.
If you have unverified contact information, you will see one or more contact cards under, "Action Required: Confirm Your Account Information".
Confirm Email and/or Phone. Click:
Confirm Email or Phone: A verification code will be sent to the email or phone number. Enter verification code to confirm.
Edit Email or Phone: Correct your email and/or phone number. A verification code will be sent to your corrected email or phone number. Enter verification code to confirm.
Skip For Now: You will be able to verify or correct your contact information the next time you sign in. (You'll continue to receive notifications.)
Confirm Child(ren). Click Confirm or Not My Child for each child.
Confirm your name and school affiliations. Click Yes, this is me or This is Not Me.
If you clicked Skip For Now on any information on a contact card, you will not see the choice, "Yes, This is Me", and must select Skip For Now or This is Not Me.
If you have unverified contact information, you will see one or more contact cards under, "Action Required" and "Confirm Your Account Info"
Tap arrow to right of Email and Phone to confirm or edit.
Select Confirm, Edit or Skip For Now. Repeat for phone number.
Verify Email or Phone: Tap Confirm. A verification code will be sent to the email or phone number. Enter verification code to confirm.
Correction to Email or Phone: Tap Edit and enter correct email and/or phone number. A verification code will be sent to your corrected email or phone number. Enter verification code to confirm.
Skip For Now: You will be able to verify or correct your contact information the next time you sign in. (You'll continue to receive notifications.)
Confirm Child(ren): Select Confirm or Not My Child for each child.
Tap Yes, this is me or This is Not Me.
If you select Skip For Now on any information on a contact card, you will not see the choice, "Yes, This is Me", and must select Skip For Now or This is Not Me.
ParentSquare le permite cambiar su configuración de idioma si los usuarios desean obtener publicaciones en un idioma diferente.
Uso de un navegador de sitios web
En la página de inicio, seleccione la flecha hacia abajo junto a su nombre. Esto estará en la esquina superior derecha de la página.
Haz clic en Mi cuenta (en inglés: My Account).
Seleccione Configuraciòn de idioma en la configuración de idioma (en inglés: Language Settings.)
Seleccione su idioma preferido del menú desplegable y haga clic en Guardar (Save).
Cambiar menús a español
Para cambiar los menús de la aplicación a español, haga clic en Español en la barra de menú superior. (Para volver a cambiar, haga clic en Englas). Nota: el español y el inglés son los únicos idiomas disponibles para los menús de la aplicación.
Configuración de idioma a través de la aplicación iOS
Siga los pasos a continuación para cambiar el idioma de las Publicaciones y los Mensajes que se le envían.
En la página de inicio, seleccione las tres barras en la esquina superior derecha de la página.
Haga clic en Cuenta (Account)> Preferencias (Preferences).
En la pantalla de Preferencias, seleccione Language.
Una vez que seleccione su idioma preferido, se actualizará / guardará.
Users can fine-tune their notification settings for both school and notification types. For General Announcements, you can select Digest, Instant, or choose to turn off notifications altogether (excluding emergency alerts and notices) for email, text, and app notifications.
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.
Click on the dropdown below to view instructions on the following steps pertaining to Parentsquare Notifications.
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.
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.
Note: you cannot turn off Urgent Smart Alerts & Notices; this includes attendance notices.
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.
From home screen tap the triple bar menu at top left.
Select Account and then Notifications.
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.
Toggle on or off to receive Email, Text and/or App Notifications.
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 see all your notifications across all your schools in one place. To easily locate a recent notification received on your mobile phone, go to the Notifications Screen. You will see all your latest notifications for posts, events, alerts, etc.
From the mobile app, tap the bell icon 🔔 in the upper right.
View all notifications sent to your app for the last 12 weeks.
You can view when the notification was received.
Users with more than one school can view the sender’s school name.
Tap on a notification to view the entire post/event/alert related to that notification.
If you don’t see any recent notifications, check your settings.
ParentSquare notification settings.
Mobile device notifications: App notifications must be turned ON.
If you can't sign into ParentSquare with your email or phone number, please contact your child's school.
If you can sign in, please follow these steps:
Check your email and phone number in ParentSquare. Click on your name in the top right and click My Account. If corrections need to be made, please contact your child's school with the correct information.
Check your Notification Preferences on My Account page. Are your notification preferences on?
Check your spam folder for emails from donotreply@parentsquare.com.
Add the domain ParentSquare.com or the email address donotreply@parentsquare.com to the safe senders list in your email client (Gmail, Yahoo, aol, etc.) You can search online how to do this. If using Gmail:
Go to Settings.
At the bottom of the pane, click Mail.
In the left pane, select Mail > Accounts > Block or allow.
Under Blocked Senders, select the address or domain you want to unblock, and then select.
Text the word START to 66458. This will resume text messaging to your phone.
When a parent logs into ParentSquare, they can view their children easily. Parents will see all children associated with their ParentSquare account even if their child is at another school site or district (if all schools/districts use ParentSquare.)
In the upper left, see a quick view of your children, with grade level and school.
Learn more about viewing, sending, and replying to messages on the "Messaging Tab."
Messages
From Home, select Messages in the left sidebar. Here you can view any messages from teachers or staff.
Parents can send a message to a teacher or staff member if you have a question.
1. Click New Message to start your message.
Note: This feature will not be available until 2023.
2. To enter Recipients, type the first few letters of the staff member's name.
- OR, use Quick Select Recipients to select your child's teacher from a list.
3. Type your message and click Send.
From Home, select Posts in the left sidebar. Here you can view all the posts that pertain to your student(s).
Parents can view all of the posts associated with their children. Parents can switch between schools, then click their children's names to see posts for each child, or narrow down their posts to view posts associated with a specific class or group.
If you have children at more than one school, you can switch to a different school. Click Switch School in the upper left and choose the school that has the class you want to view.
Click the drop-down arrow next to My School, Classes, And Groups in upper right.
Check school name at top left and if you need to switch schools, click Switch School and select the school.
From Home, select Messages in left sidebar.
The middle column displays active conversations. It displays name(s) and the beginning of the message. Click a message to see the entire message. Use the scroll bar to see the full conversation. New and unread message threads are at the top of your feed.
Click the trash can to delete the entire conversation. Note: this deletes it from your account only, and not for the other members of the conversation.
Check school name at top and if you need to switch schools, tap menu icon (3 horizontal bars) at top left, select Schools, then specific school.
Tap Messages icon at the bottom.
The most recent message received in a conversation, and the name(s) of the people in the conversation are displayed. Tap the message to see entire conversation.
If you are messaging a teacher, be sure you are viewing the appropriate school. To switch schools, click Switch School at top left and select the school.
From Home, select Messages in left sidebar.
Click New Message.
Use Quick Select Recipients section to check the box of each recipient. If you don't see your recipient(s) in your Quick Select section, continue to the next step.
If you weren't able to locate all of your recipient(s) in the Quick Select Recipients section, use Recipients section. Enter the first 3 or more letters of the recipient's name (or their child's name) and select the intended recipient. Add additional recipients as needed.
If two or more recipients are selected, choose Private Message or Group Message:
Private Message - One-to-one (similar to Bcc on an email) conversation. Each recipient will only see their name and sender's name. A separate conversation will be created for each participant, and will only include messages between sender and receiver.
Group Message- One conversation for all participants. All recipients will see who received the message (similar to cc on an email) and all recipients will be notified every time someone replies (similar to Reply All on an email).
Type your Message.
(Optional) Click camera icon to attach a photo, or click paper clip icon to attach a file.
Click Send.
Message will be sent immediately via the recipient's preferred notification method.
Check school name at top and if you need to switch schools, tap menu icon (3 horizontal bars) at top left, select Schools, then specific school.
Tap plus "+" at top right.
Tap Message.
Type name of your recipient(s) in the To field. Enter the first 3 or more letters of the recipient's name (or their child's name) and select the intended recipient. Add additional recipients as needed.
Select Conversation Type if two or more recipients are selected:
Private Message - One-to-one (similar to Bcc on an email) conversation. Each recipient will only see their name and sender's name. A separate conversation will be created for each participant, and will only include messages between sender and receiver.
Group Message - One conversation for all participants. All recipients will see who received the message (similar to cc on an email) and all recipients will be notified every time someone replies (similar to Reply All on an email).
Type your message in New Message field.
Tap the paper clip to attach photos or files.
Tap Send.
Message will be sent immediately via the recipient's preferred notification method.
In the email you received, click View or Reply button to respond. Note: Do not click "Reply" in your email client software; it will be sent to donotreply@parentsqare.com (and not seen by anyone).
Reply to a Message Received via Text
Tap on link in the text message to respond. Note: Do not reply directly to the text; it will be sent to 66458 (and not seen by anyone.)
Reply to a Message Received via App Notification
Tap the app notification to open the ParentSquare app. Follow the instructions above, View Messages Using Mobile App, to locate the conversation and respond.
ParentSquare asks users to verify their identity when logging in from a new device. This will be the same when logging in on the web or through our mobile apps, and users will receive a code via text message or email to confirm that they own the device they are using.
When logging in from a new device, users will first be asked to enter their username (an email or phone number.) Before entering their password, they must verify their email or phone number once every six months per device. This extra step ensures that even if someone gains access to their username, they cannot proceed without also having access to their email or phone.
Device Verification
From www.parentsquare.com/login sign in or register using your email or phone number. Note: your phone must be able to receive texts.
Enter the verification code sent to your email or phone number and click Confirm.
- Codes are valid for 10 minutes.
- If needed, click Resend code. Only one code is valid at a time. Use the most recent code.
Example email:
Enter Verification Code:
Login or Register Using the Login Option(s) for your District(s)
Returning Users:
Most users will see the standard login options as follows. If your district/school uses SSO or another sign-in method, the windows may look different.
Enter Password and click Sign In. Or, sign in with SSO (sign in with Google or Microsoft.) User with access to one district:
Each contact (staff or parent record) has only one email and phone associated with it. A parent account can have multiple contacts, with multiple emails and phone numbers if they have different emails/phones for each child in the school database or across districts. Staff who are also parents can have multiple emails/phones.
After verifying your contacts, you can set your preferred order of contacts in which to receive notifications.
HOW CAN I CONFIRM MY CONTACT INFORMATION IF I SKIPPED IT WHEN I SIGNED IN?
The next time you sign out and then sign in again, you'll be asked to verify your contact information.
OR, when you are signed in to ParentSquare, click on your name in the upper right and select My Account. Go to the yellow box, Missing kids, schools or contact info, and select Confirm Contact Info.
ParentSquare syncs your contact information directly from Infinite Campus-Parent Portal. If you need to update your contact information, you can log into Parent Portal or contact your child's school.
If your contact information has been updated in Parent Portal, ParentSquare will reflect the updated contact information the following day, after the overnight sync.
You must contact your school(s) directly to update your contact information. Ensure you have the same email and phone number on file for all children and all schools.
Contact data is managed, updated and controlled by the school district, ParentSquare syncs with this information but cannot edit or change it.
ParentSquare syncs with the Campus Parent Portal nightly. The day after the change is made at your school, you should be able to log out and log back in to ParentSquare to see your updated information.
