Online Registration turn out very low…

At the start of April, we began notifying parents that both online registration and online book payments were available.   Here’s a quick update on the status and next steps…

Q1.  What is the response rate so far? Are most families utilizing the online option to update their family information and confirm they are attending next year?
A1.  Unfortunately, the response rate is very low…   so far, only 12% of students are registered for next year.

Q2.  Is the low response rate related to whether families have computer/internet access?
A2.  No, 12% is the overall district rate and there is no school above 14% return.  We’re not seeing any relationship between different economic status, as the return rate for all schools has an extremely low response rate.

Q3. Why such a low response rate? And what’s being done about?
A3.  There’s likely a variety of reasons for low response rate –  including that parents are used to receiving this information via paper.  For now, we are going to continue to promote the tool and do our best to increase the return rate and then we will let schools send the paper version home via the mail or student backpacks.

Q4. I saw a copy of the very first message that was sent out to parents and I thought it was pretty confusing – can we change the wording to clarify things and get a better response rate?
A4. Yes, we did change the wording and it did increase our response rate to the current rate of 12%.  However, we are looking to change the message again to get a higher return rate.

Q5.  When will the registration be closed?
A5. Our target date for closing the registration was May 1^st –  however, we’ll review that after we make some additional attempts to increase the return rate.

Q6.  What happens after the registration is closed?
A6.  After registration is closed, we will provide each school with a list of those who still need to have registration information mailed home at the start of May.

 

 

 

REMINDER: Pay For Lunch in a New Way!

This is a reminder to families that the West Des Moines Community School District has launched a new way for families to pay for and manage student lunch accounts and purchases.  See what’s new…

Paying for My Child’s Lunch
You now have one location to make school-related payments. You will be able to add money to your child’s lunch account through the same online application used to pay for bus and other school fees.

Powered by RevTrak, the online payment system offers faster updates.

Here’s how to get started…

1. Visit the RevTrak payment site:  https://wdmcs.revtrak.net/tek9.asp?pg=products&grp=4
2. You will need your Infinite Campus Portal e-mail address and child?s student ID number to make a payment.  If you do not know your Infinite Campus Portal e-mail or your child’s student ID number, please contact: Lynnae Gilmore in the Nutrition Office at gilmorel@wdmcs.org or 515-633-5085.

More information is available here: http://ow.ly/vHC60

 

See What My Child Is Eating
The district is also providing a new online tool to check your child’s lunch account and see details of their purchases.

The new online application – called ParentOnline – allow you to set limits on the number of à la carte items your child purchases. For example, you may want your child to have one à la carte item a day or maybe only two on Fridays – you choose!  Restrictions based on a dollar amount will no longer be offered.

 Here’s  how to get started…

You will need to know your student’s ID number to set up an account. If you do not know this number, you can contact your school or Nutrition Services at (515) 633-5088.

1. Go to https://www.parentonline.net/Public/Login.aspx?
2. Once in the portal, follow these directions: http://ow.ly/vHCe8