Columbia School District #400

As the halls of Columbia School District grow a little quieter with the start of summer, our work behind the scenes is already in full swing. While students and staff enjoy a well-deserved break, our incredible maintenance and custodial teams are hard at work tackling deep cleans, repairs, and summer facility projects to ensure every building is fresh, safe, and ready to welcome everyone back this fall.

Even though it’s the off-season, there’s a lot happening at CSD — including an exciting update on how we’ll be improving communication across the district starting this August. We are
excited to announce that Columbia School District will be launching ParentSquare — our new all-in-one communication platform to begin the 2025–2026 school year. Beginning in August, ParentSquare will become the single source of contact for all district, building, classroom, and athletic communication. This transition means we will no longer use other communication platforms such as SchoolMessenger (for emergency and district/building updates), Band (for athletics), or ClassDojo (for teacher and classroom updates). Instead, ParentSquare will unify everything into one convenient place, helping families stay connected without the need to juggle multiple apps and accounts.

ParentSquare is built to support every member of our school community. It offers a modern, secure, and user-friendly experience where families can receive real-time messages from their child’s school, teacher, or coach. Whether it’s an emergency alert, daily classroom update, event RSVP, permission slip, or athletic update—everything will be housed in one place. No more bouncing between apps or wondering if you missed an important update. ParentSquare ensures that everyone receives the information at the right time, and it’s accessible via mobile app, email, text message, and personal computer.

One of the most impactful features of ParentSquare is its ability to translate messages into more than 100 languages, making it easier than ever for non-English-speaking families to stay informed and engaged. Parents can communicate with teachers and staff in their preferred language, and responses are automatically translated. We believe this platform will help parents and streamline school-to-home communication providing a single source of communication for school district information. We will share more details in next month’s newsletter, including how to get signed up and opportunities to learn more beginning in August.

Thank you for making this school year truly remarkable! We’re so proud of everything our students, staff, and families have accomplished together. As summer unfolds, our team is already busy planning new opportunities and experiences for the year ahead. We hope you’re finding time to relax, recharge, and make wonderful memories—we can’t wait to welcome everyone back soon!

Sincerely,
Todd Hilberg,
Superintendent