{"id":10686,"date":"2020-10-22T19:14:43","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T02:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=10686"},"modified":"2020-10-22T19:14:43","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T02:14:43","slug":"parentsquare-makes-the-grade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=10686","title":{"rendered":"ParentSquare Makes the Grade"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Anupama<\/a>

Anupama Vaid of ParentSquare, photo by Daniel Dreifuss for Santa Barbara Independent.<\/p><\/div>\n

Entrepreneurs follow all kinds of inspirational\u00a0paths. For Anupama Vaid<\/a>, it was the halls of Santa\u00a0Barbara\u2019s Peabody Charter School that inspired her to\u00a0start ParentSquare<\/a>, a communication platform connecting\u00a0parents to teachers and school administrators that is\u00a0now used by 4,500 K-12 schools across the country.<\/p>\n

A former computer engineer for Citrix, Vaid came up\u00a0with the idea in 2011, when she took a sabbatical to be home\u00a0with her young children and realized how much more school\u00a0information was available to stay-at-home parents.<\/p>\n

The platform\u2019s development by Vaid and her husband,\u00a0Sohit Wadhwa, emphasized a simple format that could be\u00a0accessed via phones, laptops, tablets, and desktops for parents,\u00a0teachers, and office staff. But making a solid product\u00a0was only step one.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if you build a good product, there is hindrance\u00a0in adoption primarily because the education tech industry\u00a0is a government industry and there are regulations and\u00a0lots of things to learn,\u201d explained Vaid, who spent almost\u00a0four years learning the ins and outs of ed tech. \u201cEducation\u00a0really teaches us about technology, but they are not the\u00a0first ones to adopt technology. Whenever they are buying\u00a0something, it has to be a collective decision. Plus, it\u00a0has to be priced correctly because they are buying it with\u00a0state funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon cracking that nut, ParentSquare grew rapidly,\u00a0but COVID-19 is presenting new challenges. The schools\u00a0pay a fixed amount per student, but with online education\u00a0becoming the norm in the spring, their normal usage\u00a0patterns have gone up tremendously. \u201cBut we\u2019re happy to\u00a0be able to serve the schools during this time,\u201d said Vaid.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s very satisfying to be able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to\u00a0consistently delivering helpful tips for better online communication,\u00a0ParentSquare also added Health Screening\u00a0Forms to the platform to help schools prevent the spread\u00a0of COVID.<\/p>\n

A more persistent challenge is hiring developers, as ParentSquare\u00a0uses the same Ruby on Rails web-application\u00a0framework that\u2019s also used by some of the biggest companies\u00a0in town, such as AppFolio and Procore. \u201cObviously, their\u00a0pockets are much deeper,\u201d she said.\u00a0But ParentSquare offers a unique advantage. \u201cThis is such\u00a0a soulful company,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a feel-good experience,\u00a0and every one of the education industry people is so nice to\u00a0work with because you know you\u2019re all in it together for the\u00a0common good. Unlike other industries I\u2019ve been in, this is\u00a0tech for a social cause, and it\u2019s a different feeling being a part\u00a0of such a company.\u201d<\/p>\n

parentsquare.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Tech<\/a>

Tech Talk Special Issue for Santa Barbara Independent, published October 1, 2020.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tech Talk Special Issue<\/a> for the Santa Barbara Independent<\/em><\/a>, originally published on October 1, 2020.<\/p>\n

To read the issue as it appeared in print, please click here, Tech Talk 768_10_01_20<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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