Local schools adopt mobile apps to keep students, parents connected

GIBSON COUNTY, Tenn. — Paper notifications are no longer the only way schools can communicate with students and their parents. After transitioning to a new website, the Gibson County Special School District also launched their mobile app.

“The website had all the information. People would go there to look at it, but now everybody uses their phones,” Gibson County Special School District Superintendent Eddie Pruett said. “So we wanted to figure out a way to keep our parents and students informed about what was going on in our schools.”

Users can customize the app’s settings to receive principal notifications, game times and even search the staff directory.

In Jackson, Liberty Technology Magnet High School has had a similar app for nearly two years. The principal says it keeps them current.

“But we really want to be in today’s world where a parent can pick their phone up check their grades, see what’s going on, check attendance, get messages from teachers, get messages from our office,” Liberty Technology Magnet High School Principal Tim Gilmer said.

With information just a click away, administrators say the app is just another way to keep parents and students in the loop.

“I know as a parent myself, I like to know what’s going on so that I can have conversations with my kids and be involved, be involved with their schooling,” Pruett said.

The Liberty Tech app has been downloaded more than 400 times, and administrators hope the momentum continues and more people download the app.

“[It’s] really vital to what we are doing here,” Gilmer said. “In today’s world, that’s how everyone communicates, so we’re very pleased to have it and think it’s going to grow and grow.”

The Jackson-Madison County School System is in the process of revamping its website, so there may be some features on the Liberty Tech app that are temporarily unavailable.

Both apps are available to download for free for Apple and Android devices.