SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT
Key School
Just half a mile from the Chesapeake Bay, Key School was seeking a way to consolidate their communication efforts into one platform, a system that could handle everything from SMS text messages to emails and more — without the cumbersome process of managing multiple systems.
“As a school, we realized our users, like most people, are always on their phones,” shared Director of Communications Kate Austin. “We’ve also realized that families receive a lot of information, probably more than they actually need,” she laughed.
“There’s an all-school email, division emails, teacher emails, emails from the athletic department, the health office—it’s a lot, but we make a concerted effort to manage all that and not overwhelm people.”
At a Glance
Key School is an independent school, located in the neighborhood along the shores in Annapolis, Maryland. Serving students Pre-K to Grade 12, the school supports children's curiosity and inspires Key students to continuously question, explore, and create.
Austin explained that while the school had sent only a few text messages each year for emergencies using its previous system, Key recognized the importance of having a mass notification system that allowed them to easily reach their audience on multiple channels at a moment's notice.
“It’s crucial to communicate quickly to prevent chaos. The fact that we can do it all in one place without switching between systems is a huge relief.”
KATIE AUSTIN
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
“Our old system was very complicated,” shared Austin. “Especially for emergencies like tornado warnings, power outages, and even during our summer camps, which has a new list of people every week that need to be entered into the system. It didn’t look good, and to send an emergency message, we had to log in to two different systems. We had to manage one list for messages and then manage another list in a different system.”
Whether alerting parents about an unexpected weather warning or sending notifications about a change in schedules, the school needed a tool that could streamline its processes, reduce the time spent managing multiple platforms, and, most importantly, allow Key to reach parents quickly during critical moments.
Austin shared how switching to Finalsite’s mass notifications system, Messages XR, fits better into the school’s overall communication goals because they need a way to streamline data, improve the interface, and match their branding.
“We really liked the new Messages XR platform when it was introduced to us,” she shared. ”We decided that we’d rather be able to send text and email to everyone from one place.”
Messages XR has been especially helpful for Key’s athletic department. Notifications and SMS text messages are sent for game cancellations, field changes, and similar updates for roughly 80 percent of the students participating in the school's 40 interscholastic sports.
“We’ve heard from our athletics families that they like getting text messages for important information because they might not always check their email on the way to a game. We used it a lot for our summer camp program to communicate with camp counselors and families,” explained Austin. “It’s useful during Maryland’s frequent thunderstorms for early closures and tornado warnings. We also use it to communicate with auxiliary staff and send texts for things we want people to act on, like event registrations, important reminders, or reminding families to complete their health forms.”
Avoiding the ‘White Noise’
As Austin mentioned, a lot of communications are sent throughout the school year, but while the average email open rate in the field of education hovers around 34%, Key’s text notifications were seeing open rates more than double that number.
That’s especially helpful when Key sends its weekly newsletter, the “Thursday Reminder,” which is filled with important information from each division, reminders, and top photos from the week.
“We’ve decided that our major weekly emails will also include a text to make sure people see them. Families love it, especially the gallery of photos,” said Austin. “We try to keep all our important information in this email, so if you’re going to open one email from Key School, this is the one.”
“We decided to move important information to a system where we would text it as well as email it because we want it to be front-facing for folks,” she said. “We don’t want it to become a situation where every time you get a text from Key School, you think, ‘Oh, it’s just another email.’"
“We’re very conservative about why we send those types of texts,” she added. “We want them to open and read the emails, and we’re willing to risk a bit of message fatigue if it means they don’t miss important information.”
The 'Key' to Success
Feedback on the system has been generally positive, and while Key sees its text notifications’ open rate percentages in the low 80s, the metrics help them gauge parent preferences and further refine their communication strategy. The click rates vary depending on the content, Austin noted with a laugh, adding that there’s a noticeable difference in engagement between moms and dads.
Internally, Messages XR has proven to be a time-saver for Key.
“It’s very helpful to be able to go to one place and use one mailing list, especially in emergencies,” Austin said. “We had a security training the other day, and one key point was the importance of communicating with families within the first five minutes of an event.”
“If we have to go into lockdown, for example, it’s crucial to communicate quickly to prevent chaos. The fact that we can do it all in one place without switching between systems is a huge relief. It’s a pretty seamless system once it’s set up, which is great for urgent communications.”
Austin also highlighted the benefits of data pulls, which are now much simpler with Messages XR. Previously, they had to work with data siloed in different systems, which was cumbersome and prone to errors. Now, with everything consolidated, they can quickly pull reports on both text messages and emails, helping them troubleshoot issues and ensure that their contact lists are accurate and up-to-date.
“We have 650 kids, most with at least two or three email addresses associated with them,” Austin shared. “Having a clean and well-managed data system helps us see if emails are suppressed, bouncing back, or not delivered. We can see if someone clicked on an email or if a text was undelivered, which helps us resolve any problems quickly.”
Under one system, Key’s mass notifications system is the latest complement to the school’s website, communications platform, and enrollment management system, all powered by Finalsite. As Key approaches its seventh decade in operation, there’s no doubt its digital platforms will continue to evolve.
“We’ve always been cautious about not overwhelming people with too many texts or emails, but I think it’s the way forward,” said Austin. “Text reminders and messages are becoming more common, and I think we need to be part of that flow of information in our families’ lives, whether it’s an emergency or just day-to-day communication.”
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