Recently we sat down with Corey Morse, first-year Principal at Sycamore Valley Academy in Visalia, CA. Sycamore Valley is a Pre-K through eighth-grade school, and they expect to have over 400 students by the fall of 2023.

"Before the school acquired Bloomz (I think this is year four), we were using notes at home, and we were still using email. Teachers were using their cell phones to text and communicate with families. The communication could have been more straightforward and more consistent, for sure. There wasn't any way that (from the administrative side) we could support the messaging going home and ensure that the messaging sent out was what needed to go home.

Bringing on Bloomz was essential for us. Now with Bloomz, teachers aren't using their personal devices, so there's a conversation record. If the administration has to get involved, we can go back and look before the specific communication and get more context on the situation.

From a teacher's standpoint, it's been nice to blast a message out for activities like field trips. Some of our field trips return well after the school bell rings and the kids are dismissed. So Bloomz has been an excellent central location for parents to go and receive updates about where their student is, what the traffic is like, or what the ETA is for arrival. Parents appreciate that level of communication and transparency, and most have gotten into the habit of checking Bloomz for updated information.

In the past, we sent a lot of newsletters. We still use newsletters, but now we are streamlining those through Bloomz. The app allows for the ability to translate languages, greatly benefiting our families. And we know what's being translated because we can see it. We know precisely what the intent of the messaging is.

The conference sign-up tool has also been great for us. Bloomz has streamlined our ability to roll out links to parents with siblings so that they can schedule group conferences together. Bloomz is like a social media type of app where we can get quick information from pictures; parents can share news, sign up lists, and more. I don't have any complaints; it's been an excellent tool for us."