According to a news release yesterday, SchoolMessenger connects parents with school personnel via email, voice, text and social media messaging for the purposes of emergency alerts and nonemergency mass communication, as well as for specific absences and submitting paperless permission forms or waivers.
PowerSchool's cloud software is used for a variety of school functions, including grading and assessments, state reporting compliance, registrations, human resources, finance and analytics. SchoolMessenger will be the company's 15th acquisition in seven years, according to Crunchbase, with others ranging the gamut from analytics and classroom management tools to attendance programs, administrative software and learning management systems.
“We understand how critical family communication is to identifying student needs, improving attendance and driving stronger student outcomes, and see tremendous opportunity to add value to our 15,000-plus customers with the integration of SchoolMessenger into our Student Information Cloud,” PowerSchool CEO Hardeep Gulati said in a public statement.
According to the new release, SchoolMessenger also provides automatic translations for more than 100 languages and integrates with more than 130 established systems. PowerSchool supports more than 50 million students globally.
“PowerSchool and SchoolMessenger have a shared mission to support educators, students and their families with industry-leading technology,” Chris Johnson, SchoolMessenger general manager and senior vice president, added in a public statement.
The parties involved agreed to terms but have yet to complete the acquisition. According to the news release, PowerSchool will purchase SchoolMessenger from parent company West Technology Group for $300 million in cash. The deal is expected to close before Sept. 30. The two companies will continue to operate as separate entities until the transaction is complete.
