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Overview:
MSBSD has a mobile app available in the Apple Store and Google Play. Below are some advantages to downloading and using the app:
- Instant notifications in emergencies and school closures: Many email providers will queue mass emails and not deliver immediately. Some carriers require customers to opt in to toll free SMS messaging. This makes it troublesome to get emergency information to your parents. Mobile app delivery is immediate.
- Shortcuts to most often used district application as well as our student and parent quick links.
- Change delivery preferences for district blackboard notifications.
- Easy way to communicate with district staff.
Download and set up the Mobile App
Apple Store and GooglePlay links and instructions
- Download the app on your device from:
- When you open the app it will prompt you to choose your schools from the list. This will subscribe you to the schools calendars, feeds and notifications. You can change the schools you subscribe to as your students move around. When you see a gear at the top right use it to customize what sites' info you want to populate that page.
- Notifications are Blackboard messages sent from the District or Schools. You will see a purple icon with red numbers indicating unread messages. You can adjust your phone notification settings for push notifications.
Using the Mobile App
Take a look at the different elements of the app
- Top Stories on Home screen
- These feed from multiple sources (Facebook, Twitter, School Webpage Headlines) for each school you are subscribed to. They will change as new posts are added to those sources, as it shows the 5 most recent stories.
- Click on the story to see more; you'll then see what school/source the story originated from and see a link to view it in the native app.
- Activity Stream on Home screen
- This is a more comprehensive list of news, also from multiple sources (FB, Twitter, Headlines, Calendars, Blackboard Messages) for each school you are subscribed to. See the source under the title of the article and share the article if it is shareable.
- Notifications bell icon shows a running history of your notifications. Unread messages will be bold.
- Settings
- Follow Schools - choose school(s) of interest. Schools will have various options to choose.
- Configure Alerts - Edit your Blackboard delivery preferences here; you can turn off notifications for your app, SMS/text, phone, email if desired.
MORE SCREEN
- Events Calendar
- If logged in you will see schools your are connected to in 'My Schools'. You can choose to follow any other schools calendars an this will feed events from all calendars you subscribe to. Click on an event to see date/time, description and add the event to your device calendar.
- All schools have a main calendar many High and Middle Schools will also have an Arbiter calendar for their sports & activities. Remember the gear allows you to choose which you want.
- In the Setup Events Calendar screen you can customize the color associated with each calendar. Change the PHS calendar to blue, WHS to red, etc.
- At the bottom you can skip directly to today's events, and choose between List & Month view.
- The globe icon opens "Other Calendars" that may not feed in. They generally link to a website, such as the District School Year calendars or the HS ArbiterLive sites. Use the change button at the top right to see your choices, and use the calendar icon at the bottom right to go back to the calendar feed
- Staff, Parent & Student log in
- Once logged in you may see additional notifications that were not sent to the general public.
- Staff/Students will see an icon or picture with their name and parents will see their name and their students.
- Parents can click on their icon to change their password and edit Delivery Preferences
- Click on a student to see info on classes, attendance and more.
- Directory
- You'll see 'My Schools' at the top.
- Navigate to a school to see their contact, website and staffing information. Phone, website and address are linked shortcuts so you can easily open a call, visit the website or open Google maps to the address.
- Search the employee directory by school.
- Use the search field to find a name directly. Click on the staff name to open an email or Add to Contacts easily.
- Teachers account shows their class schedule as well
- Links - These links simply open the corresponding webpages.
- ParentVUE
- StudentVUE
- Closures
- Employment Opportunities
- STOPit
- School Cafe
- Where's My Bus
- School Supply lists
- PikMyKid
- Parent QL
- Student QL
- Community QL
- Employee QL
- Livestream
- HELP
Recipients will see a number on the Notifications icon. Click to see the list of previous messages. Click on the message to see the complete message.