Direct Messages allow private, one-to-one or group communication with teachers, staff, parents, and others. You can message a single user or multiple users using individual threads or one shared group thread. This overview covers key features, how to get started, role-based access, and how Direct Messages differ from Posts. Automatic translation supports communication in each user’s preferred language.
Who can use this?
All signed-in users can use Direct Messages. Who you can send to is determined by your role and school settings.
Before getting started
- Direct Messages must be enabled for your school.
- Admins can contact ParentSquare support to enable Direct Messages.
What are Direct Messages?
Direct Messages let you send private communications to one person or a small group of people. Direct messages create private conversations that only the participants can see.
When sending a message, you can choose between:
- Direct Message: Send a message to one or more recipients in separate, private threads (similar to BCC in email). Each recipient sees only their conversation with you. This option works best when you want to keep communication private between individuals. To learn more, see Send a Direct Message.
- Group Conversation: Create a single shared thread for everyone included (similar to CC in email). All participants can see and reply to the full conversation. This option is ideal for collaborative discussions. To learn more, see Send a Direct Message.
Watch the following Overview video to learn more.
Click Play or Watch on Vimeo.
Key Features
- Quick Selects: Easily add groups or classes as recipients using Quick Select. To learn more, see Send a Direct Message.
- Voice Clips and File Attachments: Add a personal voice clip up to two minutes long—Great for pronunciation, sharing songs or poems, or adding a personal touch. You can also attach photos, videos, and files up to 500MB. To learn more, see Send a Direct Message.
- Automatic Translation: Write in your preferred language. ParentSquare automatically translates your message into each recipient's preferred language and translates their responses back to you. To learn more, see Direct Messages: FAQ.
- Emoji Reactions: Recipients can react to messages with thumbs up, heart, or smile emojis without writing a reply. To learn more, see Reply to Direct Messages.
- Read Receipts (Staff only): Staff can see when messages have been delivered and read by recipients. To learn more, see Direct Messages: FAQ.
- Multiple Reply Methods: Recipients can reply through the ParentSquare app, web browser, email, and SMS text (if enabled). To learn more, see Reply to Direct Messages.
Customize Your Direct Message Settings
- Customize message settings for your district or school:
- Reply via Email: By default Reply via Email is enabled to allow users to respond to messages by replying to their email notification. Admin can disable Reply via Email from Add-ons > Direct Messaging > Allow staff, parents and students to reply via email. To learn more, see Direct Message Reply via Email.
- Reply via SMS (Text): Schools can enable Reply via SMS to allow users to respond to messages by replying to their text notification. Admin can contact Support to enable Reply via SMS. To learn more, see Direct Message Reply via SMS.
- Parent to parent messaging: By default, Parents cannot message other Parents at the school. Admin can enable Parent to Parent messaging in Admin > Role Management > Parent > Direct Messages > Can send messages to other parents at the school.
- Staff can set up Office Hours to silence message notifications outside of working hours. To learn more, see Manage Your Account Settings.
Who You Can Message
All signed-in users can use Direct Messages; who you can send to is determined by role and school settings.
| Role | Can Direct Message |
| School Admin | Anybody at school |
| District Admin | Anybody in district |
| Teacher | Anybody at school |
| School Staff | Anybody at school |
| District Staff | Any staff in district, district admins |
| Principal | Anybody at school |
| Parent/Guardian | Any staff at school (except principal), teacher and class assistant/room parent. When part of a group, any Group Owner, Group Manager (except for Guest Group Managers) |
| Parent/Guardian (if parent-to-parent enabled) | Any staff at school (except principal), teacher, class assistant/room parent and other parents at school |
| Student (if SSQ enabled) | Any staff at school (except principal), teacher and class assistant/room parent |
| Group Owner* | Own group members at their own site (or at multiple sites if a district-level owner) |
| Group Manager* | Own group members at their own site (or at multiple sites if a district-level manager) |
| Group Member** | Owners of their group if owner is school staff (cannot initiate message if owner is district staff) |
* Direct Messages for district-level groups must be initiated by the district Group Owner or Manager.
** Guest users cannot send a Direct Message unless they are the group owner or manager.
Direct Messages vs Posts
Best Practices for Teachers and Group Owners/Managers
Direct Messages and Posts serve different communication needs.
- Direct Messages are best for short, conversational, private, or time-sensitive communication.
- Posts are best for informational messages shared with an entire class or group and support rich formatting and add-ons.
Quick rule of thumb:
- If the message is informational, use a Post.
- If the message is conversational, private, or time-sensitive, use a Direct Message.
Not sure which to use? Review the questions below and the suggested use cases.
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Is this an informational message for the entire class or group?
If yes, Posts work best. Posts can be short or long and and support formatting options such as bold, underline, colors, bullets, tables, and more.
Use Posts for informational messages:- Our class had a wonderful first day of kindergarten. Your student learned about “Bob” the scholar who teaches us about whole-body listening on the learning carpet.
- I hope everyone had a restful week off! We’ll be going on our field trip this Wednesday! If you have not turned in your permission slip, please do so by tomorrow.
- This week we are continuing with working on our middle sounds, CVC words, sentence writing and number bonds.
- Hello, 8th grade families! Tonight at 5:15pm is the Incoming Freshman Parent Night. This is an opportunity to learn more about academics, athletics, programs, clubs, and more.
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Is this an ask for the entire class?
Again, Posts work best. Parents can respond using comments that are only visible to you and you can reply to the comments. You can also add quick form questions or sign up lists to Posts.
Use Posts for asks for the entire class/group:- We will be having a hot chocolate and holiday cookies party on Thursday. Please sign up or comment to let me know if you can donate an item.
- If you can make it to Back-to-School Night tonight please sign up or respond to this message. I want to make sure I have enough snacks and beverages for everyone.
- Please fill out this form below to let me know a little more about your child, what they like to do in their free time and their learning styles as I begin this year with them.
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Is this a conversational message to your class where you’d like to start an individual (bcc) or group conversation with everyone?
If yes, DMs are more suitable.
Use DMs for conversational messages to your class/group:- Hi, I want to get your feedback on how the first week of school went. Please message me back when you have a chance.
- Hi, I would like to know how I can support your child best when it comes to learning math. Any ideas or suggestions or things I should know that work best with your child?
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Is this a message that is not meant for the entire class but for individual delivery to each recipient?
If yes, use DMs. Recipients will not know that the message was sent to others.
Use DMs for messages to a subset of the class that is delivered individually:- If you are receiving this message, your child is receiving an award this Friday.
- Hi, you are receiving this message because the two required forms have not been completed for your child to attend the field trip next month.
- I'm reaching out to you because your child has been having difficulty with the concepts we are learning in Module 5 of our Math curriculum.
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Is this message meant for just one person or a family?
If yes, please use DMs.
Use DMs for individual family messages or conversations:- Charlie is a star of the week! This means that we get to highlight him this week and learn new things about him.
- I wanted to send a quick message to let you know how well Victor is doing in my class! He is respectful, responsible, and works well with others. I really enjoy having him in my class.
- I want to tell you how much we enjoy John. He gives the best compliments, works very hard, follows directions, and shares the most interesting ideas!
- Val has not been feeling well this afternoon. She told me that she has a headache.
- I am reaching out because Sophie has not been responsible about turning in her homework for the past couple of weeks.
- I am writing to inform you that I will be giving Tony a behavior report.
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Does this message need to be delivered immediately?
If yes, use Direct Messages. Posts may not be delivered right away because families can choose to receive Post notifications as a daily digest instead of instantly. Direct Messages are always delivered immediately.
Use DMs for messages that need to be delivered immediately:- Due to a mechanical issue, Bus 12 will arrive approximately 20 minutes late this afternoon.
- Today’s soccer practice has been canceled due to weather. Please do not send students to the field after school.
- The field trip scheduled for today has been delayed by one hour. Please plan for a later return time.
Sending time-sensitive messages: Use a "Direct Message" instead of a "Group Conversation." A Direct Message is delivered as individual, private conversations (similar to BCC in email) and can be sent to up to 150 recipients. A Group Conversation creates a shared thread where all recipients can see and reply to each other and are limited to 50 recipients.
Path: Messages > New Message > Direct Message > add recipients, enter message, and send.Tip: If you have access to Smart Alerts, you can use them to send immediate messages to a larger audience. Urgent Alerts are best reserved for schoolwide emergencies. If you do not have alert access, Direct Messages ensure families receive the information right away.
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Do you think new families and users added to the class or group after you have sent the message would benefit from seeing the message?
If yes, you should use a Post and not a DM. With Posts, new families will have access to their student’s class post feed for the entire school year, even before they joined the class.
Key Differences between Messages and Posts
| Direct Message or Group Conversation | Post |
| Best for conversational messages | Best for informational messages |
| Delivered immediately | Delivered based on each user’s notification preference (instant or digest) |
| Can be sent to individuals, a subset of a class or group, or an entire class or group* | Always sent to the entire class or group |
| Use when you expect a reply or conversation | Parents can comment, but Posts are intended for group communication |
| Typically used for short messages | Can be used for messages of any length |
| Does not support formatting (bold, underline, colors, etc.) | Supports rich text formatting (bold, underline, bullets, colors, and more) |
| Does not support add-ons | Supports add-ons: forms, sign-ups, RSVPs, calendar events, and more |
| Can be used for urgent messages when Alerts are not available | Not recommended for urgent messages |
* Direct Messages support larger audiences (up to 150 recipients), while Group Conversations are designed for smaller groups (up to 50 participants).
To compare all ParentSquare communication features, see ParentSquare Communication Tools.
To learn more, see:
- Send Direct Messages
- Reply to Direct Messages
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