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SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT
Blessed Trinity Catholic High School
Silver is what someone traditionally gives as a 25th-anniversary gift, but for Blessed Trinity High School's year-long celebration, the school chose to celebrate the milestone with an investment in itself.
After receiving feedback from its annual parent communications survey, the Catholic secondary school in Roswell, Georgia decided it had the support to add a mobile app to its communications platform with Finalsite.
At a Glance
Blessed Trinity is an Archdiocesan Catholic high school in Roswell, Georgia, a northern suburb of Atlanta.
“We chose to go with the mobile app because it’s an extension of our website,” shared Blessed Trinity’s Communications Coordinator Patrick Dever. “Our parents are very active on mobile, so having all our information where they are is something we identified as a need.”
Inspiration struck and in conjunction with the school’s 25th-anniversary celebration, a portion of its annual #GivingTuesday campaign raised enough donations to fund the launch of a mobile app for the school.
No tree plantings, no plaque for a corner of the library — the school would be reinvesting part of its donation dollars back into the school by pragmatically improving its school communications.
Laura Schwartz, communications coordinator at Blessed Trinity, said, “The campaign went really well because parents felt like they actually contributed to something that they could see, they could touch, they could use, and that it could benefit their students.”
“We chose to go with the mobile app because it’s an extension of our website. Our parents are very active on mobile, so having all our information where they are is something we identified as a need.”
PATRICK DEVER
COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR
Meeting Students and Parents Where They Consume Content
As far as the rollout of the app, Blessed Trinity found the implementation was straightforward and user-friendly, so even those who were less tech-savvy were able to use it.
"Once the app was put into action, it was super easy to use,” said Schwartz. "All calendars are available on the app, and users choose which to follow. We have full control over the actual menu of what our students and parents get to see and access.”
Launching just months after the successful campaign, the mobile app offered a streamlined and branded platform where busy parents could easily interact with teachers, receive important updates, and stay informed about school activities. It contained all the information the school needed in one place, conveniently accessed and formatted specifically for mobile devices, including:
- News Stories: Users have access to all news stories published on the school’s website. They can catch up on current news, filter content, and see athletic info including schedules, game results, and more.
- Information Hub: Useful links to sections of the website that students and parents use regularly.
- Directories: Searchable and filterable directories to find contact information and call or email a constituent directly from the device.
- Calendars: Filter and browse calendars for information about upcoming events and see the events most relevant to their interests.
- Parent Portals: Users can gain quick access to community portals, family directory, the student handbook, and more resources.
- Custom Links: Families can now easily access lunch menus, giving links, 25th-anniversary pages, fan photos, links to the school's social media channels, and more.
Schwartz shared that the athletic community has particularly benefited from the app's calendar feature since over 70% of their student body participates in a sport. Schwartz explained how valuable the filter for the calendars has been, especially for families and students with a variety of game and practice schedules to manage.
“If I were a parent of a student who played lacrosse, I could filter it to his games without looking through all the other spring sports—which we have a lot of,” she said. “The information hub is the best for me as a parent,” added Schwartz. If I need to purchase a ticket or look at the kids’ grades, I don’t have to look through the website because it’s all right there.”
With 12 spring sports and only five winter sports, Schwartz explained that the app’s features and user experience serve the parent community just as well as the school’s marketing office when it comes to scheduling game coverage.
“I can turn off all fall and winter sports and only list spring sports, which makes it easier for families. Sometimes, we're in a field where we don't have our computers, but we can still find the information immediately if we need to go take pictures or video the game; all that information is right there."
The app's benefits don’t stop at school and student information, however. Blessed Trinity has taken the school’s mission and values and tied them back to the app. For example, during Lent, students wanted to rally behind a school in Ghana, and with an easily accessible link, the community was able to make a donation directly from the app.
"Far Easier and Faster..."
Within the first five months of the launch, Blessed Trinity collected more than 450 downloads across IOS and Android, averaging about three downloads a day, shared Dever.
The school also received a lot of positive feedback from the community, with one parent commenting, “It’s far easier and faster to navigate than the full website when I’m using my phone to find information.”
As the school continues to grow and evolve beyond its 25 years, its mobile app has strengthened the school's connection with families. With the continued support of the community, Blessed Trinity is prepared to thrive long after #GivingTuesday, ensuring success for years to come.
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