North Fond du Lac, Lomira create school apps

For a couple of tech-savvy school districts in the area, there's now an app for that.

Mass weather alerts, student grades, lunch menus, school calendars and more are available through apps offered by the North Fond du Lac and Lomira School Districts.

"The great thing is the app can be customized and your experience can be whatever you want," said North Fond du Lac School Superintendent Aaron Sadoff. "Parents can set it up to follow everything or just their own student."

North Fond du Lac rolled out its app right after Thanksgiving break. The Lomira School District launched its app in February 2013, said Jeff Reindl, the district's technology coach.

At the time, Lomira was just the second school district in the state offering an app, Reindl said. He created the design and coding himself with help from other staff and a program offered through Jostens, the 117-year-old company known for class rings and yearbooks.

"We have a staff willing to try new things in the classroom and the app is a unique way to serve our students," said Reindl, who has also developed apps for use in his U.S. history classes.

For North Fond du Lac parent Robin Maramonte, keeping up with three children in school can be a challenge and the app has simplified her life.

"The big thing for me is the calendar because all of the school things like meetings, sports events — if the games are home or away — now it's available at my fingertips, so it's helped a ton," she said.

The app links into social media, which allows immediate access to photos and events posted on the school district's Facebook and Twitter accounts, Sadoff said. All staff members have access to a directory and can send instant messages as well as use it to set up classroom work.

"Student information is automatically updated through a link to our databases and parents can sign up for text alerts," Sadoff said. "People carry phones everywhere and they use them to get information. We wanted to get information to as many people as possible."

North Fond du Lac's app was developed through Parent Link at a cost of around $10,000. An annual maintenance fee will run between $3,000 and $4,000, Sadoff said.

Reindl said the Lomira app is a valuable resource for students who are always on their smart phones.

"For a student, it's easy to get a quick snapshot of their entire student life and we are happy to provide it," he said.

Sadoff noted that — by far — the app trumps trying to use a school district website while on a smart phone, which doesn't always interface well.

"It lets people see the great things that are going on in schools, check their child's progress in reading and math, interact with people, view athletics and arts — essentially makes it all easier," he said.

Contact Sharon Roznik at sroznik@fdlreporter.com or (920) 907-7936; on Twitter: @sharonroznik.

GET THE APP

The Lomira app "Schoolway" and the North Fond du Lac app are available in app stores for iphones and the Android store at Google Play.

A video about North Fond du Lac's app is available at nfdl.k12.wi.us.