Parents will no longer have to call their children to find out about weekend activities. Parent Portal, if testing proves successful, will allow PA parents to access information about campus life as well as personalized information about their children. Jane Fried, Acting Associate Head of School, held a faculty preview on the new program this past Monday May 15. According to Valerie Roman, Director of Technology, the program will give parents accessed to their child’s schedule, members on their sports team, names and contact information of their teachers, coaches, advisors, and house counselors, and all information posted on the Weekender. She said, “The goal [of Parent Portal] is to offer an additional vehicle to communicate with parents.” The Parent Portal will consolidate information already on the school’s website with the new personalized information into one site. Parents will receive usernames and passwords to access the site. The Parents Communication Committee has decided what personal details parents should be able to view as students have displayed no preference. The committee is comprised of Ms. Fried, Marlys Edwards, Dean of Students and Residential Life; Reverend Michael Ebner; Margarita Curtis, Dean of Studies; Sandra Butters, Director of the Parent Fund; Michael Strysick, Director of Communications, and Ms. Roman. Currently, parents of students can access limited information about their students via the school website. Information includes the academic calendar, exam schedule, public events, a sample weekly schedule, information on the cluster system, the daily bulletin, information about standardized testing on campus, and general information about student life and at Phillips Academy. The committee plans to pilot the program to a pool of 100 parents over the next two weeks, and hopes to offer the Portal to parents in the fall.
