Families today are juggling a seemingly endless range of responsibilities—childcare, careers, multiple jobs, caring for aging relatives, and so much more—in an increasingly complex and challenging world. Your program is an important ingredient in the recipe for balancing their life, and having them involved is important.
Family engagement in programs can lead to improved academic performance and social skills, reduced behavior issues, increased self-esteem and attendance, as well as support family health and well-being. Engaged families report higher program satisfaction and are more likely to return to your enrichment program. When you engage families, you engage the larger community, potentially attracting the interest of donors.
What are you doing to improve family engagement? Or are you, like the families you serve, trying to balance so many roles that boosting involvement feels like just one more thing to check off of an endless to-do list? Leveraging the family portal and app integrated with the BellXcel software platform can help. Here’s how we support these important efforts without increasing your workload.
An App for Family Engagement
BellXcel’s app widens the reach of your program and fosters engagement from more families. Families can choose communication settings in Spanish or English, easily message staff, manage communications for multiple children, and reach out for one-on-one support.
The app also helps you reach out to families in meaningful ways. Program staff can make posts, send newsletters and updates, and help families feel like active participants—even if they never set foot inside the program doors.
A One-Stop Shop
The family portal is a one-stop shop for everything families need in an easy, user-friendly format. They can enroll in programs, complete forms, upload documents, check enrollment status, and update their information, all with one login.
When a form needs to be completed, parents will see that document flagged in their portal. The portal also separates enrollment and paperwork by child, so parents always know exactly what they need to complete and for whom. Whether they’re adding someone to their authorized list of pickups, signing field trip permission slips, or updating allergy information, it’s all there.
This reduces your email volume since parents can clearly see paperwork they need to view or fill out and get answers to commonly answered questions. And that frees your time to focus on more meaningful interactions rather than just endlessly answering the same three enrollment questions until your keyboard breaks.
An Increased Sense of Connection to Your Program
When parents can connect on their own timeline, in the way that feels most effective to them, and feel like a valued part of their child’s learning and growth, they become more involved. Further engage your program families by allowing teachers to share newsletters and photos, supporting one-on-one communication, and offering reminders about important upcoming events, and by giving caregivers a straightforward way to manage enrollment and child information. This supports greater inclusion, widens the reach of your program, and helps your program become a valued asset in your community.
To learn more about how BellXcel can help strengthen family engagement with your program, request a demo.
