School-supply-lists—made Easier

It is widely known that parent involvement makes schools a better place and technology is a powerful way to open the lines of communication between schools and families to establish those connections. But funding, accessibility and community support for new communication technologies can be challenging obstacles to overcome. TeacherLists is a free solution for both schools and parents, eliminating the initial obstacle of funding. The TeacherLists platform is embedded within the solutions parents already rely on for school communications - such as BlackBoard's Web Community Manager, School Messenger, School Websites and SchoolinfoApp school Apps-making it easier than ever for schools to adopt and use the service without the need of downloading or installing yet another new tool.

Taking it one step further, the TeacherLists platform enables one-click back-to-school supply list shopping by integrating with national retailers such as Target and Walmart, making it easier than ever for parents to find their child's supply list when and where they need it.

Since 1999, School Family Media has served school communities with creative content and service solutions to help parents and families engage effectively with their local schools. Born from their work with corporate partners to develop unique programs for schools, the TeacherLists platform is revolutionizing the way schools, teachers and parents approach the annual school supply list chore.

In Grand Rapids, MN educators and administrators are seeing a decrease on average of the parents being able to respond to requests that the school sends home. Whether they are permissions slips for parents to sign, requests for donations - supplies or monetary - or even updates on student progress. The problem, they've found is that so much information goes home to parents that it literally piles up in a corner of the kitchen, office or floor. Grand Rapids response is 'paperless' messaging. Teachers are using text messages, Facebook, Class Dojo apps or even voice messages to send messages to help keep the lines of communication open. And when it comes to making sure that the students start the year out prepare, they are using TeacherLists.com to communicate their need.

Boasting of over 1.4 million classroom school supply lists for over 56,000 schools across the nation, TeacherLists will continue to expand its reach within the US market. They aim to continue extending their reach through EdTech partnerships, working with leading school website and app providers to deliver the convenience of on-line supply lists to all parents. TeacherLists will also continue to increase their retail reach, partnering with national, regional and on-line providers to deliver parent's choice.