The days of rummaging through your child’s backpack to find a crumpled flier announcing a long-past school event are over.
When school started this week, the Tooele County School District announced the use of a new system that will send electronic fliers directly home to parents’ email.
Called Peachjar, the new software will not only save the school district money in printing expenses, it will improve communications while saving trees and staff time, according to Scott Rogers, Tooele County School District superintendent.
“You can’t imagine the amount of time that fliers take up,” he said. “Most of them don’t even make it home.”
If parents provided an email address when they registered their student, Peachjar will use that address for electronic fliers. The e-fliers replace paper fliers sent home by schools for both school information and non-school organizations.
If parents did not provide an email address at registration time, they can log on to the school district’s Student Information System and provide an email address.
Initially, Peachjar will send an email to parents with a login and password. Parents can log in to Peachjar and select preferences for how they receive e-fliers.
Peachjar is used exclusively for distribution of school-approved fliers. Email addresses will not be shared or used for other purposes, Rogers said.
In addition to sending fliers by email, a link to fliers will be posted on each school’s website.
“For parents without computers, we will print hard copies by request,” Rogers said. “Each and every building has computer stations for parent use. We also have a parent resource center at West Elementary.”
Peachjar is offered at no cost to the school district, Tooele Education Foundation, community councils and PTA/PTOs, Rogers said.
Outside groups may use Peachjar to submit fliers for approval by the district. Peachjar charges a fee for outside groups, but that fee is usually lower than printing costs for paper fliers, according to Rogers.
Outside fliers must still meet all the district’s requirements for fliers including no political, religious, or commercial advertisements. Fliers that imply endorsement of an organization or product are also not allowed by district policy.
“The goal is to simplify and go green. We spend much time and man-hours counting and putting fliers in backpacks,” Rogers said. “There will be a learning curve for us with this change, but it will help us focus more on our critical mission and strategic plan for school improvement and better communications.”