This article outlines how to configure ParentSquare and Aeries to send District Attendance Letters through ParentSquare.
The Aeries District Attendance Letter configuration should be complete prior to configuring the ParentSquare Attendance Letter template. Please review the District Attendance Letter Documentation for more information.
ParentSquare Configuration
Districts who have Aeries Communications powered by ParentSquare and who are also utilizing District Attendance Letters will use the AutoNotice functionality in ParentSquare. This process uses the default Attendance Letter template that is provided by ParentSquare. The steps seen below can be used to customize this text within the template if desired.
Once an Admin user has logged into Aeries, clicking on the Communications link opens a ParentSquare session
Initially, the ParentSquare session brings them to the ParentSquare Dashboard at the District level.
To customize the District Attendance Letter Template, click on Add-ons. This will open the All Features and Add-ons menu.
Select Auto Notices from either the Left Navigation Menu, or the Main page selection.
The Automated Personalized Notices page displays the default Auto Notice Templates that have been configured, including the Attendance Letter template.
Select Attendance Letter from the list of templates. This opens the default Attendance Letter template and displays the acceptable merge fields.
Click on the Template Messages tab to customize the content of the Text, Voice, and Email message.
The Edit button will allow changes to the verbiage of each modality (Text, Voice, Email)
The Template Title should never be edited.
View Options should be expanded to ensure that Enable file uploads is checked.
The Define Message section of the form is for configuration of the message Parents receive when Letters are generated. There are 3 messages to configure, Text, Voice and Email. Clicking on 'Spanish' allows for a translated message of each to be sent in Spanish, and additional languages may be added. (Contact ParentSquare support for help with additional languages.)
The Insert Merge Field dropdown contains the fields that can be added to your message. Merge fields may also be deleted from the message.
*NOTE - It is recommended to remove the {{filename}} variable from the Voice message as the filename may be alphanumeric and difficult to relay through a Text to Speech message. Instead, the Voice message could direct them to log in to their ParentSquare account and view the letter under Alerts and Notices.
Click Update Template to save the template.
Frequently Asked Questions
* How do you tell if the letters are sending through ParentSquare, or email, or at all?
If the send letters process is successful, there is no log of it in Aeries. However, if the process fails for some reason it will be written to the WRL table.
If letters fail to send through ParentSquare, the process will fall back to sending an email from the District and will be logged in the EML table
* If the letters send through PS, is there a log of that in Aeries or PS?
If Log verbose messages is enabled on the 3rd Party Systems Connections page then all events will be logged to the WRL table. Otherwise, only errors will be logged.
* How do you review the sent items in ParentSquare?
Once the Letters are sent to ParentSquare they are viewable by the recipient under the Alerts and Notices area.
District Staff can review Letters that have been sent from the Auto Notices page;
