The first Peoria Public Schools App will launch in the Google Play and App Store on October 15, 2015. Parents attending Parent University at Reservoir Gifted Academy that night had the first look and in-person training from Peoria Public Schools Director of Communications and Community Engagement, Chris Coplan.

"The App streamlines our systems into one easy tool for parents to use on their mobile device and keep connected to their child's education as if they were at the school at any time, day or night," said Coplan. "Parents can view grades, upcoming and missing assignments, bus routes, library and book checkouts, absences, and have contact information at their fingertips to report absences and stay connected to administrators and teachers."

In addition, families can also follow the school(s) their child(ren) attend(s), so that they can see the school's events, news and sports scores in a combined feed. The information comes directly from each school's website.

"This tool will not only allow families to have another tool to stay informed, but also allow families that don't have internet access at home to see information on their smartphone at any time and communicate through phone, email and even a new tip line," added Coplan.

The app's launch follows a summer transition from the former Skylert phone and email messaging system to Blackboard Connect. Blackboard Connect is already being used to inform parents of absences, security issues, special announcements and other events. Blackboard Connect uses phone, email, text messaging, RSS feeds, social media and push notifications to communicate to parents and the community.

To sign up to receive text notifications, phone calls and/or emails, parents and family members should make sure their contact information is up-to-date on the District Skyward Student Information System. Community members can provide their contact information by visiting Remarkable Times on the news section. Blackboard, a trusted name in education, recently acquired Schoolwires the District’s current website host company, giving the Peoria Public Schools access to ParentLink and Blackboard Connect.

Below, find frequently asked questions about our App. If you have a question that is not included below, Email us for more information!

Question: How do parents log into the app to see my students grades, attendance, bus, library and more?

Answer: Click on the "student info" icon. Parents should click "forgot password" and enter their Family Access username for a temporary password to be sent to the email address on file with the District. Family Access usernames are usually the first five letters of the last name, first three letters of the first name and three digits. For example, John Smith's username might be smithjoh000. If you do not know your username or do not have an email address on file, contact your child's school to update your Skyward information.

Question: How do students log into the app to see their grades, attendance, bus, library and more?

Answer: Click on the "student info" icon and enter the student's six digit lunch ID number for the username and the six digit birth date for the password.

Question: How do staff members log into the app to see classes they teach and/or their personal information stored in Skyward?

Answer: Click on the "student info" icon and enter your District network username and password. UN: last name + last 4 digits of SSN. PW: District network password.

Question: I am a staff member and a parent in the District. When I login using my District network username and password, I can only see one role. If I see my teacher role, how do I see my child's grades and information, too?

Answer: Unfortunately, the system does not combine accounts to accommodate both roles, therefore you will have two accounts. Your other account will also be your last name + last 4 digits of your SSN + 1 random character. For more information, email info@psd150.org.

Question: I received a call or e-mail but don’t have a student at the school/in the district.
Answer: Contact Email District for more information or (309) 672-6744 to report the error. Please provide your name, phone number and last contact made by the District or school.

Question: Which number does ParentLink call?
Answer: This depends on who the call goes out to:

“Student”: If the sender selected "students", calls will be made using the “primary phone number" listed in Skyward. It will only call one number. We do not keep student email addresses on file, so no emails will be sent.

“Parent”: Regular school and District messages use “parent” to call out. This number will attempt to call each parent listed in Skyward until it gets an answer. It will call each phone number once, starting with the home phone, then calling the cell phone. Once it receives an answer, it will stop calling. An email will be sent to the email address listed for each individual parent within a family.

“Staff” and/or "Teachers": ParentLink uses the number listed in Skyward Finance. The email will be sent to your District email address.

“Community”: District-level calls and emails will utilize the email address and phone number entered into the self-sign-up system.

Question: How do I receive text messages?
Answer: Text messages are sent to any phone number listed in Skyward Student as a "Cell" number. You can also sign up through our self-sign-up system for District-level alerts.

You can also download our free app at Google Play or iTunes. Search for “Peoria 150.” Once you download the app, make sure to choose in the app which schools you would like to receive notifications from.

Question: I used to work for the district and I’m still receiving phone calls. How do I get off the list?
Answer: Contact our Human Resources Department at (309) 672-6770.

Question: I don’t think I’ve been receiving calls, but I should be.
Answer: We can investigate this by looking at what calls have been made to a specific phone number or e-mail. Often times the message was delivered to an answering machine, or the parent hung up before the message finished playing. Other times, this may be an indication that student records need to be updated.
 

Information for our School Principals, Assistant Principals and Secretaries:

Schools: To see what calls may have been made to a specific phone number or e-address, select ‘Contact Report’ from the ‘Reports’ tab in ParentLink. Enter the desired date range, the phone number/e-address in question, your preferred sort order, leaving the default settings in all other fields. Then click the button to ‘Generate Report’ and any results matching your criteria will be displayed. You may “drill down” to see more information about a specific call by clicking on any blue/linked field. You can even listen to the original message by clicking on the speaker icon!)

Schools: If you receive a call about ParentLink, always ask the caller for details! Their name and its spelling, phone number, e-mail, when they got or missed the call, which student, etc. If it is about a lunch call, see if they have recently made a deposit.