We are a small Pennsylvania district that sits right across the street from Philadelphia. Cross one light, and you’re in the city; cross back, and you’re in Lower Moreland Township. With four schools and just over 2,600 students, we’re compact, but our community is vibrant and diverse. Many of our families speak Russian or Ukrainian at home. Spanish, surprisingly, isn’t the dominant language here. Our families work hard and expect a return on that investment. We deliver. Our students perform among the best in the state, and our English Language Learners out perform EL’s in our county. We graduate nearly every student who walks through our doors. That’s not a motto. It’s how we operate.
Our Culture That Makes It Work
I’ve worked in education for nearly three decades, and I’ve never experienced a culture quite like this one. Collaboration here isn’t a talking point, it’s our default. People ask for help without hesitation and offer help before being asked. We share one mission: to serve students well. That mindset shapes everything, including how we communicate.
We don’t have a traditional communications director. HR manages most district-wide communications, and each principal takes ownership of their school’s story. My tech team handles the coaching and the back end of our communication tools. We developed shared communication protocols to keep the tone, look, and feel consistent across every building. We don’t want families juggling different styles or confusing messages depending on which school their child attends. Consistency builds trust, and trust is the backbone of good communication.
Why We Needed Change
When I joined the district, one of my top priorities was rebranding our website. I had worked with Apptegy in my previous district, and I knew the difference a well-built, easy-to-update unified communications platform could make. Our old site was outdated and cumbersome. Making changes felt like jumping through hoops: too many steps, too many people in the middle. It took far too long to share the information families needed most. Communication tools should make relationships easier, not harder.
So I started by asking the big questions. What’s the real purpose of our website? Who is it for? What information should live there? The answers weren’t complicated, but they were critical. We realized our site needed to serve three audiences: current families, new families, and job candidates. It needed to reflect who we are and what we value: clarity, openness, and pride in our schools.
Choosing Apptegy wasn’t just about upgrading a communications platform; it was about redefining how we connect. I had already seen what these powerful tools could do, so I knew what we were signing up for. But this decision wasn’t easy. We ended our previous vendor contract with three years still on the books! The board didn’t hesitate because they understood the cost of standing still was even higher. I told them, “If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right.”
Building with Purpose
That meant more than building a pretty site. It meant designing an experience where families could get what they needed in a few clicks, or better yet, instantly. It meant making translation effortless for families who might not speak English but still want to read their child’s newsletter. It meant treating communication not as a tech function, but as an act of service.
We started with a clear purpose: to make information accessible to everyone. Every decision flowed from that goal. We trimmed the fat, simplified navigation, and made sure families could reach the most important content in three clicks or less. Principals took charge of their live feed and news feed, the heart of the new sites. That’s where the story of each school comes alive. I told them, “Don’t get lost in the back end. Focus on your story. That’s where parents live.”
Apptegy’s unified platform made it possible to post once and publish everywhere. One update could hit the website, the district-branded mobile app, social media, and email all at once. That single feature changed everything. Our staff didn’t have to do more work. They now reached more people with even less effort. It made communication more cohesive and immediate.
The App That Brought It All Together
If the website is our public face, the Lower Moreland Township School District App is our heartbeat. It’s where families live day to day. Parents use it to check calendars, lunch menus, grades, and school updates all in one place. More importantly, it brings those updates to them instead of making them go looking. Push notifications became a game changer. When a snow delay hits, the message is on their phone before they’ve even checked their email. When a school posts a new story, it’s in their feed instantly.
But the most powerful part of the app is how it breaks language barriers. Families can switch to their preferred language right on the device, and the entire interface updates instantly. I’ve watched parents who speak marginal English navigate effortlessly, smiling as they read updates from their child’s school. That moment alone justifies the investment. It’s technology doing what it’s supposed to do, connecting people.
The app also made us rethink how we tell our story. Before, updates lived in silos: an email here, a Facebook post there. Now, a single post updates everything, including the app. It’s seamless. It’s efficient. And because it’s simple, principals and teachers actually use it. They post photos, announcements, and good news in real time. The community sees our schools the way we do: vibrant, welcoming, and student-centered.
Launching the New Face of Lower Moreland
We launched the Apptegy websites the day after school started, when we knew it was ready. That patience paid off. Families noticed. They saw a site that felt intuitive, modern, and human. “This feels like us,” one parent told me. That was the best compliment we could get.
The few questions we received weren’t about design, they were about navigation. Parents wanted to know where familiar information had moved. Once we showed them, they were fine. That’s how you know the foundation is strong. We weren’t patching holes after launch; we were fine-tuning a solid structure.
Enter AlwaysOn
Our website and app made communication faster, but families still needed answers on the fly. That’s where AlwaysOn came in. I didn’t want a chatbot that apologized for not knowing things. I wanted one that could guide families to what they needed, in any language, any time. AlwaysOn delivers that and gives us something even more powerful: insight.
Google Analytics shows where people go. AlwaysOn shows what they’re asking. That distinction matters. If a flood of questions about registration comes in during January, we know it’s time to move those forms front and center. If parents are asking about conferences, we adjust how and when principals share that information. It’s not guesswork anymore. “Google Analytics tells you where people go. AlwaysOn tells you what they came to find.”
Parents want answers now. They want them in their own language, on their phones, without having to dig through layers of links. That moment marked the start of something different for our district. A new way of serving our families, grounded in speed, simplicity, and belonging.
We review our Apptegy analytics at our admin meetings. I don’t dump charts and walk out. I sit with principals, walk through the insights, and help them act on it. We meet them where they are. Data is only powerful when it’s shared in a way people can use.
The Partnership That Powers It
I’ve worked with many vendors, but few operate like Apptegy. When I call, I get a partner, not a ticket number. Joe and his team listen, adapt, and collaborate. We help them by offering feedback and references, and they help us by staying responsive and innovative. “The easy part is cutting a check,” I always say. “The hard part is building relationships.” We’ve built one that works both ways.
The Why That Drives Me
I came to this work as someone who knows what it feels like to be on the other side. I was an English Language Learner myself, part of a first-generation family that came to the U.S. when schools weren’t prepared for families like ours. Now, decades later, I lead a district with one of the largest English language learner populations in the county. It feels like a full-circle moment. I know the power of being seen and supported. Every tool we implement is about giving families that same feeling of belonging and giving students the confidence to thrive.
The Results
The results speak for themselves. Parent feedback has been overwhelmingly positive: 99.9 percent by our count. Families can find what they need faster. They trust the site. They use the app daily. The staff say it’s the easiest system they’ve ever used. Principals post more often because they’re not bogged down by process. The communication feels alive, current, and consistent. Most importantly, it feels like us.
What I Tell Other Districts
Start with purpose. Define your key communication audiences and what you want to accomplish. Empower principals to own their story, and make sure every building sounds like one voice. Choose tools that reduce friction. Create once, publish everywhere. Respect language. Build inclusion into design, not as an afterthought. Use analytics to act, not to admire. Launch when you’re proud, not when you’re rushed. And above all, treat your vendor like a partner. That mindset changes everything.
Home is Always a Click Away
Websites aren’t projects you finish, they’re living systems. Communication doesn’t stop evolving, and neither do we. We chose Apptegy because we wanted tools that keep up with the pace of our families’ lives. We chose to make information instant, inclusive, and easy to trust.
Home is a click away now, in any language, on any device. That's what our families deserve. That's what our students deserve. And with Apptegy, that's what we're delivering every single day.
