PowerSchool Introduces New Family-Facing AI Assistant

PowerBuddy for Engagement™ is designed to enhance communication between schools and families

FOLSOM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PowerSchool, a leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education, today announced the launch of PowerBuddy for Engagement, a family-facing AI assistant that simplifies family-school interactions, making it easier for families to access important information and stay connected with their child’s education.

PowerBuddy for Engagement is a conversational AI guide that provides two-way communication, instantly answering natural language questions from families such as, “How many absences has my child had this year?” or “What assignments are due next week?” The tool is integrated into MyPowerHub, leveraging the PowerSchool Student Information System (SIS), the school website, and district/school documentation, including policy manuals, athletic schedules, after-school programs, student handbooks, district calendars, lunch menus, and more.

“Family engagement is an essential cornerstone for student success. Busy schedules and fragmented communication tools make it difficult for parents and guardians to stay connected with their child's education," said Shivani Stumpf, Chief Product and Innovation Officer at PowerSchool. “Our goal with PowerBuddy for Engagement is to forge a collaborative partnership between home and school with AI-powered personalized information, ‘just-in-time’ assistance, and two-way communication using a natural language interface that empowers parents to actively participate in their child's learning process.”

Key features:

• Student Updates: Families can get real-time answers about their child's academic progress. They can simply ask questions like, "What is my child's grade in English?" or "How many days has my child been absent this semester?" and PowerBuddy will instantly retrieve the latest information from PowerSchool SIS.
• Answers about District Information: Families can effortlessly find important details from district and school information, avoiding lengthy document searches or contacting staff for basic information.
• Mobile Accessibility: Designed for flexibility and convenience, PowerBuddy for Engagement is fully accessible from any mobile device, allowing families to access student and school information from anywhere.
• Multi-Student Management: Families can manage and inquire about multiple children without switching profiles, ensuring a seamless and efficient user experience.
• Speech to Text: Families can use an automatic speech recognition tool to convert spoken language into written text, making it easier to engage with PowerBuddy.

Like other PowerSchool PowerBuddy™ products, PowerBuddy for Engagement is designed using PowerSchool’s Responsible AI principles. PowerSchool is committed to being a good custodian of student data, taking reasonable and appropriate countermeasures to ensure data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. To review PowerSchool’s comprehensive commitment to cybersecurity, data privacy & infrastructure, please visit https://www.powerschool.com/security/.

PowerBuddy for Engagement is available now, with additional features and enhancements planned for later this year, including native language support, notifications, and chat logs, as well as student access. For more information about PowerBuddy for Engagement, please visit, https://www.powerschool.com/powerschool-ai/powerbuddy/powerbuddy-for-engagement/.

About PowerSchool

PowerSchool is a leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America. Its mission is to empower educators, administrators, and families to ensure personalized education for every student journey. PowerSchool offers end-to-end product clouds that connect the central office to the classroom to the home with award-winning products including Schoology Learning and Naviance CCLR, so school districts can securely manage student data, enrollment, attendance, grades, instruction, assessments, human resources, talent, professional development, special education, data analytics and insights, communications, and college and career readiness. PowerSchool supports over 60 million students in more than 90 countries and over 18,000 customers, including more than 90 of the top 100 districts by student enrollment in the United States.

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