Communications Portal

No. You are not required to log into ParentSquare, nor download the app, to receive important communications at the phone numbers and email addresses you can review and keep updated via FinalForms.

However, we encourage you to log in via Lakota OneLogin to get the most out of ParentSquare. Take advantage of options to customize your notification preferences, including language and frequency. You will also be required to log in if you wish to reply to a post, send a direct message to a staff member or view and reply to a direct message that exceeds the character limit for text messages. Logging in also allows you to view your custom feed of all posts or filtered by class or group. Other functions like appointment and volunteer sign-ups and permission slip completion, for example, are only available by logging into your ParentSquare account. 

You are invited to download Lakota's ParentSquare app to modify preferences and for on-the-go access to your principal and district-level alerts all in ONE place. Download the free iOS version or Android version or simply search "LLSD ParentSquare" from your app store. 

No action is required to simply receive important communications at the phone numbers and email addresses that you can review and keep updated via FinalForms. However, we invite you to log into ParentSquare via Lakota OneLogin to get the most out of ParentSquare and take advantage of these benefits: 

• Set Your Notification Preferences: Visit your account settings to select the frequency - instant or daily digest - for receiving regular email, text and app alerts from your teachers, school or the district. We will override these settings when sending an urgent, time-sensitive alert. Learn more about managing your account settings, including language preference and notification settings. 
   
• Direct Messaging: Take advantage of the option to send a direct message to any staff member at your child's school. Logging in is also the only way to view a text message that might exceed the character limit for text messages, as set by your mobile provider. Learn more about viewing, sending or replying to a direct message. 
   
• Set Your Language Preference: You will automatically receive most messages in the preferred language Lakota has on file. Manually update your language preference within ParentSquare at any time. Learn more about changing your language preference.
   
• Scheduling, Sign-Ups & Permission Slips: Parents will notice ParentSquare replacing tools like SignUp Genius or Google Forms to sign up for conference slots, donations and volunteer opportunities, for example. Teachers will also begin using ParentSquare for collecting permission slips. These are documented and tracked within each user’s personal ParentSquare sign-in.
   
• Join More Groups: While you are auto-subscribed to receive updates from some groups based on your associations (i.e. school, grade level, etc.) you are welcome to join other public groups. From Home, click “Groups” in the left sidebar under “Participate.” Check this periodically, as new groups get added. Learn more about the option to join more public ParentSquare groups. 
   
• Download the App: Download the free iOS version or Android version of Lakota’s ParentSquare app to modify preferences and for on-the-go access to your principal and district-level alerts all in ONE place. You can also simply search "LLSD ParentSquare" from your app store.

Most parent communications, including direct messages, are delivered in your preferred language, as indicated at the time of enrollment through Lakota's Welcome Center. This preference cannot be altered in Home Access Center. Please contact your child's main office to request a change through the school's data specialist and to ensure ALL communications are translated appropriately. 

ParentSquare updates and alerts are automatically translated into the preferred language Lakota has on file. However, you are able to manually reset your language preference in your ParentSquare account settings.

Use ParentSquare to communicate with a Lakota staff member or respond directly to a post from the district, school, a classroom teacher or any other school group. Please note that you are required to sign into your ParentSquare account (via your desktop or the app) to use these features: 

• Post Comments: When a message is posted, recipients can appreciate the post, ask a follow-up question or make a comment. By default, all post comments are set to private, meaning only the person commenting, the post author, any post collaborators, as well as school and district administrators can view the comment. If public commenting has been enabled, a warning message will display in the window where you are prompted to post your comment. 
   
• Post Add-Ons: At times, a post might invite recipients to complete a form, submit a permission slip, schedule a meeting, view an attachment, sign up to volunteer or make a donation. These functions require a user to sign into their ParentSquare account so that their responses can be recorded and saved in association with their profile. 
   
• Direct Messages: Parents can direct message any staff member at their associated schools (except the principal, unless initiated by the principal). Replies will come directly to your mobile device via a custom phone number attached to each staff user. Group conversations, which are the equivalent of group chats in which all recipients can see one another's replies, cannot be accessed via SMS text and require participants to respond once signed into their ParentSquare account.

General, community-facing communications, like a school's e-newsletter for example, will be shared beyond a building's associated staff and parents. Community members who have subscribed to a specific building's communications will also receive these types of updates.

If you are not a Lakota staff member or the parent/guardian of a current student, or if you would like to receive school communications beyond the buildings with which you are associated, please visit our ParentSquare Community Groups webpage. Subscribe to community-facing updates via phone, text and/or email like weather closures/delays, general district or school announcements and bid opportunity alerts. You are also invited to subscribe to the District's or schools' regular community e-newsletters. Please note: The East Freshman newsletter is sent out using a different platform; to sign up for the EF e-newsletter, click here and select EF News on the form.

As a parent, you will automatically receive parent-specific communications from the school(s) your child(ren) attend, using the contact information updated in FinalForms via your parent Lakota OneLogin account. The information displayed in your parent/guardian Home Access Center account is the current information Lakota has on file for you.

Similarly, you will automatically receive staff-specific emails at your district-issued email address from the District or school(s) at which you are employed. You will also receive text messages and/or phone calls at the phone number Lakota's payroll department has on file for you and that is displayed in the account settings of your staff ParentSquare account. To update this phone number, please contact payroll@lakotaonline.com. Contracted service employees (i.e. BCESC, Butler Tech, etc.) must complete this form to update their staff phone number. Please note that changes to your parent contact information must still be made through FinalForms.

ParentSquare allows Lakota staff members who are also Lakota parents to toggle back and forth like you would with separate Google accounts. This is designed to keep your staff and parent content separate and can be used on both the browser version of ParentSquare as well as the custom LLSD app. Staff are advised to start the process of adding their parent account from their staff account. From your name in the upper right corner, select “Add Another Account.” You’ll be asked to enter your parent Lakota OneLogin credentials to connect that account; for the email address, use the primary email address associated with your parent OneLogin account. From there, you should be able to seamlessly click back and forth without logging back in each time. (The connection might get lost from time to time, as this is a built-in security feature. Simply “remember” your login information to quickly and easily re-authenticate when this happens.) 

ParentSquare help articles on virtually every topic for parents/guardians can be viewed here. We also invite you to complete our ParentSquare feedback form to share your experience with the new platform and help us continually improve its functionality.

If your questions are not addressed via these help articles or on this webpage, please contact Lakota's School & Community Relations Department at lakota@lakotaonline.com.