Rapides Parish Public Schools | Central Louisiana
42 schools | Approximately 20,000 students | All schools Title I

At a glance

Challenge

• Family communication varied across 42 schools, with campuses relying on different platforms and channels.
• Districtwide mass notifications were largely one-way, giving leaders little visibility into whether families received, understood or responded to information.
• As a Title I district, Rapides needed a consistent way to support and demonstrate meaningful two-way family engagement.
• Family engagement tended to decline as students moved into middle and high school.

Solution

• Build on a communication platform teachers and families were already using rather than asking them to adopt something unfamiliar.
• Roster ClassDojo for Districts districtwide to create a more consistent Pre-K–12 communication experience.
• Use district-level reporting to measure parent and teacher communication, message readership and family participation.
• Expand translation, districtwide communication and teacher-student messaging to make communication more accessible and useful across schools and grade levels.

Results

• 579,405 messages exchanged during the 2025–26 school year.
• 46% of messages sent by parents, demonstrating two-way participation rather than one-way communication.
• More than 80% of teacher messages read by parents the same day and nearly 92% of parent messages read by teachers the same day.
• 9,253 active parents and 949 active staff during 2025–26.
• Following districtwide rostering, teachers messaging families each week increased from 526 to 926 in September 2026.
• 13,830 family members connected, representing 78.5% of students, with several elementary schools exceeding 97% family connectivity.

When Mary Helen Downey became the communications leader for Rapides Parish Public Schools, family communication across the geographically large district was fragmented. Some schools were enthusiastic ClassDojo users, others relied on GroupMe or other channels, and districtwide mass notifications were largely one-way.

A weather-related early dismissal highlighted the weakness of that approach when the district saw bounced calls and unsuccessful delivery. But Downey saw a larger issue: the district needed to know not simply whether information had been sent, but whether families were receiving it and engaging with their schools.

The turning point came when Downey looked at what teachers and families were already doing. Even as the district explored other communication options, teachers continued using ClassDojo on their own.

“We need to meet people where they are,” Downey said. “What are our teachers working with? And what’s working with our parents?”

That question was especially important in a district where all 42 schools are Title I and Downey also oversees parent and community engagement compliance. Rapides Parish needed more than evidence that messages had been sent. It needed to demonstrate two-way engagement.

During the 2025–26 school year, the district recorded 579,405 messages. Approximately 46% came from parents. More than 80% of teacher messages were read by parents the same day, while nearly 92% of parent messages were read by teachers the same day.

“Not only are we able to prove that parents are seeing the message, but we can also prove that parents are responding,” Downey said.

Turning organic adoption into a districtwide strategy

The strength of the 2025–26 data led Rapides Parish to roster the platform districtwide for fall 2026. By September 3, weekly active communicating teachers had increased from 526 to 926, a gain of 400 teachers. Across the district, 13,830 family members were connected, representing 78.5% of students, with several elementary schools reporting connectivity above 97%.

For Downey, the reporting provides something districts often lack: visibility. Leaders can see how many messages teachers and parents are sending, whether they are being read and where family connectivity is strong or additional support may be needed.

Rapides Parish is also working to maintain that connection as students get older. After piloting teacher-student messaging at its smallest high school, the district expanded the capability across grades 9–12 while continuing to keep families connected. Teachers and coaches can communicate directly with students about everything from tests to unfinished assessments in a safe and secure way.

The goal is consistency. A parent with a fifth grader and an eleventh grader should not have to navigate entirely different communication systems for each child. “That one app would be the house for all the communications,” Downey said.

Removing barriers to family engagement

For Rapides Parish, equitable communication means more than successfully delivering a message. Families need to be able to understand it and respond.

At Cherokee Elementary School, for example, communications are translated into about 18 languages. On an English learner bus route serving Spanish-speaking students, the driver was added to the platform with the principal as a co-teacher so they could communicate with families using translation capabilities.

The platform has become part of everyday engagement as well. Downey uses District Story to communicate directly with the school community, including the district’s Parent Advisory Council. Through the “Walk the Halls” feature, she can also identify and amplify stories from individual schools that might otherwise never reach the broader district community. Teachers can share weekly agendas, assessment reminders and short instructional videos, while families can schedule parent-teacher conferences without relying on paper forms traveling between school and home. Those conveniences may seem small individually, but together they reduce friction and make staying connected easier for families.

Making family engagement part of student success

Rapides Parish does not treat communication as a standalone activity. Its broader “Signal Boost” family and community engagement strategy aligns campus-level work with district priorities, including academically focused family events, community partnerships, parent leadership groups and measurable outcomes.

The district is also beginning to look at communication reach, family participation and academic performance together. Downey is careful not to suggest communication alone produces academic gains, but she sees family involvement as an important part of the district’s student-success strategy.

One district priority is having students read on grade level by the end of third grade. At the end of the 2025–26 school year, 73.6% of Rapides Parish third graders were reading on grade level. ClassDojo helps extend that academic work beyond the classroom by giving teachers a direct way to help families understand assessments, share short instructional videos and show parents how they can reinforce learning at home. In that way, family communication becomes part of the district’s broader academic strategy—bringing the classroom closer to families and giving parents practical ways to support their children’s learning.

For Downey, the larger lesson is that districts need to rethink how they define successful communication. Website traffic, social reach and likes can measure how far a message travels. But meaningful family engagement shows up in what happens next: Are families reading? Are they responding? Are they asking questions? Do they have an easy way to stay connected to their child’s school?

“At the end of the day, I can make beautiful campaigns, and I can drive engagement in areas,” Downey said. “But if the parent doesn’t feel seen, heard and connected to that school, I don’t think I’ve done my job.”

In Rapides Parish, the clearest evidence of that connection may be the simplest: Of more than half a million messages exchanged in one school year, nearly half came from parents. Families weren’t just receiving information from their schools. They were part of the conversation.