ParentSquare

ParentSquare Overview

Boston Public Schools (BPS) partnered with ParentSquare, a school-to-home communications platform, in August 2024 to improve communication and deepen engagement with families.

ParentSquare automatically generates an account for each staff member using the information

The district encourages parents and caregivers to register for an account so that they can begin receiving classroom, school, and district updates.

What parents and caregivers can do with ParentSquare:

Receive all communications from the district, schools, classrooms and activity groups in one centralized place;
Track school and district news, activities and events;
Direct message your child’s teachers, staff and other parents;
Choose your preferred mode of communication (text, email, app);
Choose to receive messages immediately or all at once at 6 p.m.;
Choose your preferred language (with improved translations features)
Participate in group messages;
Sign-up for parent-teacher conferences;
Use a family-friendly app with all of this information;
and much more!

Resources for School Leaders and School Admins

School Administration - ParentSquare Acceptable Use Policy (SY25-26)
- Audience: School Leaders, Assistant School Leaders, School Admin Team Members
School Engagement Staff - ParentSquare Acceptable Use Policy (SY25-26)
- Audience: Family Liaison, Hub School Coordinators, Community Field Coordinators

Key ParentSquare Help Articles

Key BPS Technology Help Documents

BPSTechnology has assembled HelpDocs to assist you in using some of the features of ParentSquare specific to our environment. You can find more information about:

Sending Report Cards;
Sending Progress Reports;
Sending Attendance Nudge Letters; and the
Distribution of Absent and Tardy Notifications.

BPS Staff Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Do I need to let parents/caregivers know about ParentSquare?

Answer: Parents/caregivers will receive an activation email to register for ParentSquare on Thursday, August 21.. Those who do not register will still receive email notifications.

Question: Can I add a parent/caregiver to ParentSquare?

Answer: No. Aspen is our official system of record and it syncs with ParentSquare nightly, you or the parent/caregiver will need to contact the school clerk to update any contact information in Aspen directly.

Question: What is the expectation regarding teachers using ParentSquare?

Answer: ParentSquare will be the universal tool for communication across the district, particularly among classroom teachers. It is replacing Talking Points as well as Aspen as a communications tool.

Question: How are class rosters populated in ParentSquare?

Answer: ParentSquare syncs with Aspen on a nightly basis. Any rosters that you are associated with in Aspen will be in ParentSquare. If you see any errors in your class list please check aspen and/or speak with the clerk or liaison at your school.

Question: Do all students have access to StudentSquare? Does it replace Google Classroom?

Answer: StudentSquare is available for students in grades 9-12. They will also receive an invitation to join via their BPS email.

Question: Can I use other systems to communicate with parents/caregivers?

Answer: In preparation for the 2025-2026 school year, BPS will fully transition to ParentSquare in an effort to continue to streamline communications and deepen engagement with our students and families. Transitioning to a single platform will also allow the Communications Office to gather data on the effectiveness of certain engagement strategies, which will inform the work ahead.

Question: What translation tool does ParentSquare use?

Answer: The advanced Google translation tool uses context-driven translation for higher accuracy and can translate into 100+ languages. A disclaimer about the auto-translation tool is included on messages.

Question: I'm both a staff member and a parent in the district. How can I add my child to my staff account?

Answer: It is likely that you'll have two separate accounts: a parent account with a personal email and a staff account with your school email. You can merge your staff and parent accounts so that you have access to your children and school under one single account. Please email support@parentsquare.com and include the emails and phone numbers that you're using. If you are using the same email account for both, you can toggle between accounts using the drop down menu on the left side of the screen.

Question: How do I contact the parent/caregiver of a student privately?

Answer: If you'd like to contact a few of your parents/caregivers without posting to the entire class, you will need to use the direct messaging feature. Select "Messaging" from the left sidebar on the homepage. Here, you can select either a single parent to message or multiple parents. Just begin typing their names in the recipient field, and they'll appear as an option. If you select more than one recipient, the choice will come up to have a private message or a group message. A private message will create individual threads to each recipient, whereas a group message will create one thread where all recipients can communicate. For more, see Send a Private or Group Message.

Please note: Like any BPS communications, direct messages will be accessible to a limited number of district administrators and the school leader.

Question: Can I communicate with a small group of parents/caregivers of students in my class?

Answer: Yes. Direct Messages (also called "Messages") allow you to reach one user or a few specific users. Direct Messages are two-way translated. Users will receive direct Messages in their preferred language. Private messaging is the default mode so recipients do not see each other’s responses. For instructions on how to send a Direct Message see this help article.

Question: I'm in charge of a club or sport. How do I communicate with this group separately?

Answer: You will need to manually create any groups to communicate with families of students in school clubs, athletics, and other extracurricular activities. Additional information about creating groups can be found in the Help Article linked here.

Question: How do I create conference sign-ups for multiple classes and/or groups?

Answer: Go to Add-Ons > Conference Sign-ups and on the first page of the conference sign-up, select any class to start. Go through and input the information according to your preferences, deleting any time slots that don't work for you. Finally, on the third page, you can delete the original class that you chose and select the classes and groups that you'd like to hold the conferences for. For more, see Create an Appointment Sign-Up.

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