A news release said the acquisition will combine SchoolNow’s communications tools with SchoolStatus’ digital platform, the goal being an “all-in-one system” to reach families via websites, social media, email, phone calls, texts and apps.
“SchoolNow is an excellent addition to our recently launched student success platform as both companies share the common goal of solving schools’ biggest challenges in communication and making it easier for schools to connect and engage with families,” SchoolStatus CEO Russ Davis said in a public statement. “Integrating SchoolNow’s technology will further allow SchoolStatus to offer our district partners the leading solutions for improving student achievement and attendance — delivering another piece of the puzzle.”
SchoolNow, based in Cincinnati, formerly did business as Campus Suite. Last year, the company launched a unified digital publishing platform that gives school staff the ability to message parents and other members of a school community via phone, text, email, or various web-browsing modes of communication while providing a combined feed for accessing school information on social media, according to the company’s website.
“Personalized and simplified communications help reach families and build connections,” SchoolNow Co-Founder and CEO Steve Williams said. “Our product has streamlined school communications to be the easiest way for families to connect and schools to engage. By teaming up with SchoolStatus, we can continue to help school staff focus on what is being shared in a meaningful and personalized way.”
SchoolStatus, according to its website, streamlines family communications via emails, text and voice calls through a classroom application and web portal, while its dashboard allows educators to produce school newsletters and analyze student attendance data. It’s used by 25,000 schools.
This is SchoolStatus’ sixth acquisition in less than three years, according to Crunchbase. In August, the company purchased Classtag, a messaging and notification system that can translate 100 languages and is used by more than 5 million families. Acquisitions in 2022 included the email newsletter tool Smore, student attendance software company School Innovation & Achievement, and the instructional coaching program TeachBoost. The first acquisition, in October 2021, was the Australian company Operoo, which made a cloud-based school operations management platform.
The most recent acquisition comes at a time when absenteeism is a hot topic in the K-12 space. According to a September 2023 article on the White House.gov website, the number of public school students who are chronically absent — absent on 10 percent of instructional days during the academic year — doubled in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, from 15 percent in the 2018-2019 academic year to around 30 percent in 2021-2022.
