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Our school uses two platforms:
Discord - This is used for parent-to-parent engagement such as joining parent committees, events planning, being a part of organizations (e.g. soccer teams, YMCA), room parent communications, and more!
FreshSchools - This is where you'll receive school-wide emails (e.g. newsletters), how you can email teachers, and access the school directory.
See the FAQ below if you have other questions.
Join Discord
Join Discord
Download the Apple app, Android app, or use the desktop app
Verify your email
For computer or Android, select https://discord.gg/aXwjrsuJN6
For iPhone, select https://discord.gg/aXwjrsuJN6 or copy and paste into a browser
If you don't see a place to paste, try just selecting link. Then paste the link after the app opens
If you get an error that says Invite Expired, then restart the app and input the invite code again
Follow the onboarding steps
Fall/Winter/currently attending families: choose your child(ren)'s current grade
Spring/Summer New Families
Incoming Kinder families should choose Incoming Kinder for their grade
Upper grades should choose a grade below the one they're joining
Starting 5th grade in the fall? Register for 4th grade during Spring/Summer - this ensures you're joining the rising grade
Lastly, send a message with your name, your student's name, and grade
This confirms your identity to keep our community safe
If you don't complete this step, you won't have access!
If you get an error that says "Failed to send message. Hold for options" then restart the app and try sending the message again
Join a New Grade on Discord
Join a New Grade on Discord
Already a member of one grade, but have an incoming sibling?
Open Discord via web browser or by selecting your mobile app
Open the New Traditions server
In the sidebar, select Channels & Roles towards the top
Select the new grade that you'd like to join
Go back, and the new class-of-20XX should now show in the sidebar
Join FreshSchools
Join FreshSchools
If you do not have a current student registered in FreshSchools:
Register here.
Incoming Kinder families (aka starting Kinder the next year) choose TK
Incoming families starting in upper grades choose a grade below their fall grade
If your child will start 5th grade in fall, register for 4th grade. The tech team will bump all students' grades at the start of the year.
In a few minutes, you will receive an email invitation: use it to create a new FreshSchools login
Search for your child in the directory and select them
Press the "Edit" button
In the "Classes" field, enter your child's teacher and grade like this. This is crucial to receive emails specifically about your class and/or grade.
If you don't know your child's teacher yet, skip it and set it later
Explore the app and don't forget to sign up for Discord
Add another student to your FreshSchools Account
Add another student to your FreshSchools Account
If you/one student are already registered on FreshSchools:
Login to FreshSchools
Search for yourself in the directory
Open up your profile
Next to your name, you'll see a "+ Add Child" option
Add your new/next enrolled student
Starting Kinder in the fall? Choose TK
New student in an upper grade should choose a grade below their fall grade
If your child will start 5th grade in fall, choose 4th grade. The tech team will bump all students' grades at the start of the year
FAQ
FAQ
Will teachers and staff be on FreshSchools?
Yes, you can use it to reach out to Staff and Teachers.
Will teachers and staff be on Discord?
No, it’s only for parents and managed by parents. This is not a school platform.
What happens to my account when my child graduates?
Your Discord account remains, but we don’t have an “alumni” channel set up yet. We’d love to have a parent step up and lead the Alumni chapter of New Traditions!
Your FreshSchools account is removed from the platform since our FreshSchools account doesn't support alumni features.
Why can’t we use just FreshSchools?
Freshschools lacks the basic technical capabilities needed to serve as a parent-to-parent platform. For example, when you send an email in FreshSchool, a reply only goes back to the original sender. As a result, if the Greening Committee wants to have a discussion amongst themselves, they can’t use FreshSchools. There’s a long list of technical limitations that prevent FreshSchools from being our one and only platform.
Why do we still need FreshSchools?
Because it has a School Directory feature. It can organize students into classrooms, assign parents to each student, assign teachers to those classrooms, etc. FreshSchools is an excellent school directory, along with a few other capabilities that a chat platform can’t support.
Why don't we just use WhatsApp?
WhatsApp biggest benefit was the familiarity with parents. However, Discord provides many more features that we think would be beneficial in the long-term. For example, parents can indicate what grade(s) their child is in during onboarding, join committees, and even set notifications per conversation. Furthermore, it allows for verification, which keeps our community safe. And lastly, anyone can join without having to know someone to provide an invite.
Are we migrating existing WhatsApp groups?
All existing WhatsApp groups are technically parent-owned and were adopted due to FreshSchools' lack of parent-to-parent engagement tools. We're encouraging parents to migrate so that every parent can be part of the community.
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