Parents of school-age children know all about class lists. Often found stuck to the refrigerator or hanging on the family bulletin board, they are an essential part of keeping up with school activities. However, in a world where parents are often on-the-go, a printed or digital class list isn’t enough.
Ringya, an Israeli company, has developed technology to instantly turn paper or digital lists into mobile groups on a smartphone. And now, the PTAs at Park East Day School and Manhattan Day School (MDS), both in Manhattan, and the McCarthy School in Framingham, Massachusetts have adopted the free app for school-wide use.
Ringya works with clients to setup the service, instantly creating a shared contact list, called a Ring, on the smartphones of all participating parents. Once a parent has downloaded the app, they can use their smartphones to call, text, email or chat with all other parents on a one-on-one basis, or all at once.
According to Karen Brooks, president of Manhattan Day School’s Parent Council, since adopting the app in September, Ringya has helped streamline communication between parents, teachers and administration at MDS. “It’s easy to help kids make plans with their friends. Ringya has a smart caller ID function that identifies the family structure of each participant, so you not only see the name of the parent, but the name of their child, as well.”
Parents at Park East have responded positively as well. “All of my children’s classmates are there and it’s very easy to find things,” one mother told Emily Gressel, head of that school’s parents’ association. More recently, the McCarthy School, a Massachusetts public school, has decided to use the app for its PTO needs. Susanne Olsen, PTO treasurer, received an email from the company and decided to follow-up. “It’s really a very convenient tool. When I’m out buying uniforms for the spirit squad, for example, and they don’t have the size someone asked for, I can just text a parent and be done. In the old days, we would have had to go home and call people. This really saves time.”
Gal Nachum, CEO and founder of Ringya, believes the app can help many more US schools create clear channels of communications and help parents get more involved in their children’s education. “As a dad myself, it is really important to me that we make a real impact on our users’ lives. Our app has become extremely popular in Israel and it’s wonderful that we are also able to help ease the process of communication for parents of school age children around the world,” said Nachum.
To learn more about Ringya, visit www.Ringya.com