Waukee Community School District uses a communications platform called ParentSquare to connect parents, students, and staff. ParentSquare will be used for emergency and general notifications, including District and school newsletters, communication with teachers and coaches, bus updates, late starts, and emergency situations.

ParentSquare fully integrates with PowerSchool. Families are automatically opted in to receive notifications. All contact information must be listed correctly in PowerSchool to receive emails, texts, and alerts from ParentSquare. If you would like to update a phone number or email address, please contact your school building’s secretary.

Setting Up Your Account

View our step-by-step guide to set up your ParentSquare account, update your notification settings, and change your language preference.

For additional support, check out the Parent 101 self-paced training module. This short informational video is full of tips and instructions on how to use the platform. Users must be logged into their ParentSquare account to view the training.

Smart Phone App

ParentSquare offers a smartphone app for families as well as students in grades 5-12. Both are available from Google Play and the App Store. Please note: The app is not required; you will receive ParentSquare messages in your email inbox. However, the app offers additional features and the ability to set up notifications.

ParentSquare (for parents/guardians)

StudentSquare (for 5-12 students)

FAQ

Setting up ParentSquare

The purpose of ParentSquare is to provide a one-stop-shop for families where they can receive communication from the classroom, school, and District; send a message to their child’s teacher; RSVP for an upcoming event; sign up to volunteer; complete required forms; and stay engaged in their child’s learning through newsletters, photos, video, and more.

  • Canvas – Buildings and classrooms use Canvas for any academic-related communication, such as assignments, test prep, grades, etc.
  • PowerSchool – Waukee CSD used PowerSchool as our Student Information System where families can complete registration, pay fees, see their student’s grades, etc.

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  • On a browser, click “Sign In.” Then, under the Sign Up section, enter your email or phone number and click “Go.”
  • On the app, enter your email or cell phone number. The email and/or cell phone number should match what is in PowerSchool.

If ParentSquare is not recognizing your email or phone number, follow directions to request access or call your child’s school office.

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You can learn more with the Parent Training Module, a course designed to take 15 minutes that covers topics parents/guardians need to know about using ParentSquare. Additionally, check out another quick guide to find information broken down by topic.

Using ParentSquare

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  • On a browser, click on your name to update your language preferences.
  • On the app, go to Account > Preferences from the menu.

You can call your child’s school office and ask to update your contact information. The new contact details will sync overnight and be in ParentSquare the next day.

  • On a browser, you can access the school directory on the left navigation bar under the “Explore” menu.
  • On the app, you can find the directory under the “More” menu.

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  • On a browser, you can click “Messages” in the sidebar and start a direct conversation by clicking “New Message.”
  • On the app, you can tap on the  “+” sign in the top right corner to start a new message. You will see your child’s teacher in the quick-select recipients’ box at the top of the page. Or, you can type the first three letters of a name in the recipient box to auto-populate. 

Issues with ParentSquare

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You can click on “Forgot Password?” on the sign-in screen and receive a link to reset your password.

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To add a child or school, you should contact your child’s school. You can confirm that the same email and phone number is on file for all children at all schools.

The changes will sync overnight and be viewable in ParentSquare the next day.

  • If you aren’t getting messages, there’s a good chance your email address or phone number is incorrect. Call your child’s school secretary to fix the issue.
  • If you were getting emails and messages and suddenly those stop, try checking your notifications. If any notifications are turned to “off,” you will not get any messages from that school. Set your notifications to “instant” to receive your messages as soon as the school sends them.

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You can set your notification preferences to receive a daily digest email, text, or app notification with all updates at the end of the day.

  • On a browser, click on your name to bring up your accounts page to update notification preferences.
  • On the app, you can go to Account > Preferences from the triple-bar menu. 

Parents can select different settings for each school and the District.

Click the “Unsubscribe”  link on your email from ParentSquare or reply STOP to the SMS from ParentSquare to stop notifications to your email or phone.