The Springfield City School District is introducing a mobile app as part of its new branding effort, One Wildcat. The app includes announcements, event updates, athletic schedules and dining menus for all school buildings from pre-k to 12th grade. The district serves a student population of 7,300.
Amy Stacy, Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives, highlighted its benefits for families with students in multiple schools.
“They can look at what news feeds are happening in the buildings, they can look at the menus, athletic events, they can also look at that information from a district level,” Stacy explained. "It’ll allow us to send quick notifications to families in the event of an emergency or winter weather.”
Jenna Leinasars, the district's spokesperson, emphasized the app's value as a communication tool for district families who speak languages other than English.
“Even if I were to send out a message in English, the app and the messages that are sent are able to be translated into any language,” Leinasars said. “In our school district some of the most prevalent languages are Spanish, Haitian Creole and French. We certainly have a lot of other languages spoken on a smaller scale. So this app opens the doors to all of our families.”
The app allows messages to be sent simultaneously as a push notifications, texts, emails and website posts. The district allocated $18,000 from its general fund to develop the app.
