Among the many communication features we offer within Quickschools, Private Messaging is one we expect to be increasingly utilized as schools transition to a virtual setting. If you have not used this feature before, here’s a quick summary on what it offers.

Before you begin using it, you’ll want to make sure that the feature is properly configured. Teachers and Admins can message each other right away, but it needs to be enabled for Students and Parents. These settings can be found while configuring the Parent Portal and Student Portal in the “Turn Features On/Off” page:

Note: Teachers, Students, and Parents need to be invited to their respective portal before appearing in the Private Messaging listing

The options available within Private Messaging will vary depending on what is enabled. Here’s a break down on what it can allow:

• Teachers and Admins can message one another
• Parents and Students can message teachers
  • Parents and Students can be restricted to only message teachers who teach subjects they are enrolled into
• Parents can message other parents
  • A directory is made available where parents can select what contact information they’d like to share with other parents, or they can opt-out altogether.
• Email notifications are enabled by default, but can be disabled
• Group messaging is also support. Simply select multiple recipients
• File attachments are supported

There are a few advantages to using Private Messaging over the other communication features available:

• As the name implies, the messages sent here are entirely private – only the sender and recipient are able to see the message.
• Communication is compartmentalized within QuickSchools, so messages don’t get lost amongst emails in your general inbox.
• User email addresses can remain hidden and private.

At the end of the day, Private Messaging is just another tool to engage your students and parents online, and a perfect complement to our Mass Messaging module. So if you haven’t sent out a private message yet, please give it a try. It’s a great way to communicate with others, and we think you’ll be using it constantly in no time!