Sarasota County Schools launches new mobile app

Device available for free from Apple and Google Play

Image courtesy Sarasota County Schools

In conjunction with the start of the 2017-18 school year, the Sarasota County School District has introduced a new mobile app to help keep parents and community members informed about district news, events and other information, the district announced this week.

The app has been designed for smartphones and tablets, the release adds.

Created by the district and the education technology firm Blackboard, the free app is available for download at the Apple App Store and Google Play for Android devices, the release notes. On the app, parents may choose specific schools to follow, “access district calendars and lunch menus, keep up with their favorite school sports teams and see news and social media posts from the district, all in one place,” the release says. Users also may access the district’s Student and Parent Portal to track grades and attendance, the release points out.

“It’s a one-stop shop for parents,” says Joe Binswanger, director of information technology for Sarasota County Schools, in the release. “The app gives us the ability to aggregate the various pieces of information that a parent would need or want to successfully be able to support their student in their educational career,” he adds in the release.

The app, which took about three months to create, “underwent a soft launch among district staff members at the end of the 2016-17 school year,” the release explains.

Each school in the district will help distribute information about the new app to its parent population as students return to school, the release says.