ParentCom vs School Connection

ParentCom provides branded school apps and websites for communication between schools and parents, managed through a shared Communication Cockpit. The CMS lets schools publish to online channels in one step and is included free with every solution. Schools can send news, calendar items, personal messages, and push notifications to parents’ phones. Class Book lets schools share photos and stories from the school day for parents to like or respond to. Parents can submit sickness reports and holiday requests through the app. Other listed features include forms, surveys, PDF support, staff contacts, and volunteer recruitment. The app can link with school websites and social platforms, while the cockpit can post to Facebook and Twitter. ParentCom lists Light App, Business App, and Pro App licenses; the latter two add personal inboxes, requests, Class Book, custom layouts, and other features at their respective tiers. Plans and prices require a request for the full overview. The platform is available in English, Dutch, Spanish, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, and Norwegian; the CMS is available in English and Dutch. Schools can request a free trial app, with no duration stated.

School Connection is a mobile-first communication platform for schools and districts, combining apps, SMS, voice, email, websites, social media, and digital signage. Staff can prepare a message once and distribute it across channels. Branded iOS and Android apps provide push notifications, calendars, schedules, two-way chat, staff messaging, and Appazur Forms; Google Translate and SMS fallback are supported. Mass Notification can send push alerts, email, SMS, and automated calls to family contacts, and post to websites and social media. Student-specific messages can cover absences, lunch balances, and PDF documents such as report cards or schedules. Listed SIS connections include Aeries, Aspen/MyEducationBC, Edsembli, Infinite Campus, MySchoolManager, PowerSchool, Skyward, and Synergy, with automated SFTP and manual uploads. Google and Microsoft integrations include their listed sign-in, calendar, and forms tools. Appazur says customer data is hosted on servers physically located in Canada. A free trial is offered to educational-institution staff, with no duration specified.