SchoolStatus

Parents do not need to “opt-in”.  If you have a student registered in GISD, then the teachers have your contact information and can open those lines of communication. All of your contact information is pulled from Ascender and updated nightly.  With that being said, our contact information is only as good as what you provide. Please ensure that your phone numbers and email addresses are updated as any changes are made.  On this note, the only way for a parent or guardian to be able to receive messages is for that parent or guardian to be listed as a contact in Ascender.

Messages sent from your child’s teacher will come through like a regular text message, phone call, or email to your inbox. For you, the parent, this looks like any other messages.  The difference on the teacher's side is that all communication is sent via the SchoolStatus platform and recorded and a parent communication log is created.

Your student(s) teachers will reach out to you via text message to make the initial contact.   He/she will ask you to respond with a Y and then to save that number, which is unique to each teacher for each student and teacher connection. This is NOT their personal cell phone number. This will be the number that you will be able to text or call to reach that teacher regarding your student. Please see the next question regarding initiating a conversation with your child’s teacher.

Once the teacher sends the initial text or phone call, you can contact the teacher directly as long as you have responded and save the connection.  The teacher has the ability to send messages to individual contacts or the class as a whole. However, when you respond to the message, it will ONLY go directly to the teacher.  We want to ensure that you, the parent, have ample opportunity to engage in two-way communication with your child’s teacher.

The teacher has the ability to set office hours in which phone calls will actively ring.  However, if you make a call when it is not office hours, then you will be directed to either leave a voicemail or be transferred to the front office. 

All campus and district administrators will also continue to use SchoolStatus to send out one-way announcements, newsletters, and important information.  This will also come through to your phone via text message, email inbox, or phone call.  The only difference is this is one-way and you won’t be able to respond.

Please ensure your phone number and email are accurate in parent portal.  All contact information in SchoolStatus is pulled from Ascender Parent Portal nightly.  If all of your information is correct, please reach out to the teacher.  Email addresses for all staff are located in the staff directory.  If you have additional concerns or questions after contacting the teacher, please reach out to the Communications department at communications@gainesvilleisd.com.