The brief

Studies show that children whose parents are actively engaged in Head Start programs are 50% more likely to achieve reading and math proficiency by the third grade, compared to those with less engaged parents.

November is National Parent Engagement Month! Celebrate by bidding farewell to printing letters and licking envelopes. 😉Let's review a few quick ways you can increase your agency's parent engagement with digital tools.

Related Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS): 1302.50 Family engagement

#1: Send and receive texts

Deliver timely updates and reminders directly to families’ phones. Keep communication simple, personal, and effective by engaging with families where they’re most active.

GoEngage Features: Send 1-way texts, integrate with Twilio for 2-way texting and automatic attendance follow-ups

#2: Create automated phone calls

Share announcements efficiently and engagingly. Have an automated phone call go out to all your parents with a voice that reads your customized message.

GoEngage Features: Send voice broadcasts

#3: Send personalized emails

HSPPS 1302.50 Family engagement states: "Conduct family engagement services in the family’s preferred language, or through an interpreter, to the extent possible […]"

For both texting and emailing, GoEngage allows you to automate multilingual templates, ensuring that parents receive messages in their primary language.

GoEngage Features: Send emails in multiple languages, integrate with Google API to show a "Google Translate" button

#4: Build your own forms

"In our national field survey, half of the program leaders and frontline staff surveyed indicated transportation was the most significant barrier to access." - NHSA April 2022

Simplify data collection with build-it yourself digital forms and surveys. Analyze your results in charts or reports, and use them to provide needed resources for families—like transportation assistance.

GoEngage Features: Build custom forms, send to parents, see results in colorful charts or reports

#5: Invite families to the GoEngage Parent Portal

Empower families with 24/7 access to key information, resources, and updates in one convenient location.

GoEngage Features: Our Parent Portal (comes with your Annual Subscription!) includes a Daily Journal, 1:1 Messaging, and At-Home Activities (also known as Homework, Parent-Child Activities, Home-School Connection…) with automatic in-kind.

Endless possibilities

Yes, data is at the core of Head Start operations. But so is parent engagement. That's why it's important to us that we go above and beyond as a data management software, designing and building features so that all your work—including communicating with parents—is in one place.

Some other examples of how GoEngage strives to help you increase your parent engagement:

• Case notes that automatically document all your communications in the child's file

• 1-click invitations and RSVPs for family events, parent committee & policy council meetings, and more

Over our 27 years working with Head Start agencies, we've been passionate about helping agencies save money (our first data management software, HSFIS, was 100% free!). As a result, all parent engagement features are included in your Annual Subscription. This helps eliminate the costs of outside software.

GoEngage is "the Head Start everything platform"

GoEngage is the #1 alternative to traditional data management software like ChildPlus.

Sign up for a free GoEngage demo →

Have questions? Contact us →