The secret behind every successful youth activity center is happy parents. As a business owner, you are striving to build the best gym, dance, or swim program that you can while also creating meaningful relationships with parents and students that will have them singing your praises to everyone they know. After all, that is the goal, right?
Having class management software, like Jackrabbit Class, is a great way to achieve the goals above simultaneously. From offering registration online and processing tuition payments to communicating with families through a Parent Portal built just for them, achieving rock star status suddenly feels more attainable.
Ready to start building those magical relationships? Perfect – we’re here to help you learn more about how a Parent Portal can help you do just that with ease!
Communicate Through The Parent Portal
Communication is a two-way street and making it easy for families to communicate with you and vice versa is vital to keeping smiles on your parent’s faces. With Jackrabbit’s Parent Portal, there are a few different ways to achieve this goal.
Schedule future absences and makeups
Swim schools, dance studios, and gyms have experienced busy days that make keeping up with the ringing phone and slammed inbox feel nearly impossible. That’s why Jackrabbit made it easy for parents to let you know when their child will be absent from class via the Parent Portal whether it’s due to illness or a planned family vacation. They even have the option to add a note visible to office staff and instructors, keeping all lines of communication open and simplified.
On the flip side of that, parents want to make up any lost time from class when they can. Scheduling makeups through the Parent Portal based on parameters you’ve set (expiration date, type of class, etc) creates a win-win experience for everyone involved!
(–>Learn more about settings for scheduling absences and makeups in the Parent Portal)
Customized portal login messages
Whether you want to create a Parent Portal login message that informs all parents of an upcoming event or you want to personalize a login message for a specific family, having another communication channel outside of the norm (emails and text messages) is key. It’s another way to build the bond between you and your parents so they feel an in-depth connection with your program and staff.
Central location for all emails
Chances are you’ve heard the phrase ‘I didn’t get that email’.
While it’s entirely possible for email communication to get lost in cyberspace, sometimes the honest truth is, an email was missed entirely or skimmed during work hours. That’s where a Parent Portal can really help bridge the gap so no communication is lost.
Jackrabbit’s Parent Portal keeps a digital copy of every email sent to parents for an entire year – yep, 365 whole days. Encouraging parents to check their messaging center any time they log in is a great way to make sure parents stay in the know without missing a beat!
Provide a Hub of Information
Think of the Parent Portal as a hub of information for all families that have children enrolled in your program. Not only can they go back and pull up previous emails sent to them throughout the past year, but they can also find copies of previous registrations, signed policies, and news and announcements added by you or your staff.
Looking to share fun photos from class? Need to share music for an upcoming routine? Or maybe you want to share some helpful exercises? All of the above and more can be added to a class in Jackrabbit and shared to the Parent Portal so parents and students can access files between classes, week to week.
With everything they need packed into one location, the Parent Portal is truly an all-in-one tool for families.
Improve Your Tuition Process
The key to a smooth billing process is transparency, especially when it comes to monthly tuition. Payments are a lot easier to collect when parents understand what they are paying for and can reference their account history at any time.
In addition, parents have the ability to update their billing information at their convenience without having to call during business hours. There’s no better way to ensure you get paid and get paid on time at that!
Increase Parental Involvement
At the end of the day, parents just want to be involved in the activities their children love and enjoy – that’s where you and the Parent Portal come in!
It’s not unusual for one parent or guardian to work a long day while the other parent takes the child to swim, dance, or gymnastics. But, that doesn’t mean anyone has to miss out. With the exclusive integration with Spot TV, Jackrabbit’s Parent Portal offers secure streaming in real-time so parents can watch their child achieve their next skill from anywhere with an internet connection. Talk about building an amazing relationship with families!
If you’re not ready for lights, cameras, and action – there are still ways to involve parents in those exciting milestone moments with skill tracking. As students achieve one skill and start working on the next, parents can see that plus any notes from the teacher right in the portal.
Hopefully, you’re feeling all the warm and fuzzies when thinking about how a Parent Portal can help you connect with families on another level, creating the best customer experience possible. To get a better view of the portal’s power, check out our training webinar that takes a deep dive into all things Jackrabbit Parent Portal!
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