DeansList helps schools close the achievement gap by powering communication tools for parents, teachers, students, and school staff. 

And one of the main ways they do that is with a two-way texting platform that gives teachers individualized numbers they can use exclusively for family communication, with messages automatically translated into 100+ languages as needed to communicate in diverse communities.

“The most important resource that the school can provide is direct communication with an educator that cares about every student.” – Matt Robins, CEO of DeansList

There’s clear evidence that having an open line of communication between a teacher and parent makes a huge difference in a child’s educational outcomes. But communication isn’t easy or simple. Teachers carry large class sizes and extra administrative responsibilities. Parents are busy working during the hours teachers might be available, and, in many U.S. school districts, they may not speak English well enough to feel comfortable conversing with teachers. 

Enter, texting. 

SMS improves accessibility

Deanslist CEO Matt Robins loves text as a channel because “we’re able to address a lot of accessibility and internationalization concerns, whether that’s, you know, people who need screen readers to communicate, people who need assistive devices to send messages or, being able to support translation into over a hundred different languages.”

Apps for school systems are now ubiquitous. But Robins notes that there’s often a cohort of students who need extra support, and their parents just haven’t gotten around to utilizing the school’s app, despite multiple invitations. Using basic SMS makes complicated logins and app downloads unnecessary. Simply having a mobile number means you’re accessible via text. 

Over the last 14 years, DeansList has implemented texting across hundreds of US schools and seen clear results. Robins reported, “Students now feel like their parents are better supporting them in their education, and their parents have a relationship with their teacher, and that makes them more motivated to do well in school.” And it’s not just about positive emotional experiences around school. The difference shows up in more objective ways too: “Academic results are improving as well, whether it’s grades, attendance or standardized tests.”

The Bandwidth advantage

Keeping up with messaging industry changes has felt like a roller coaster, with mastering toll-free verification and 10DLC registration, and navigating SHAFT-C restrictions. But as Robins notes, schools don’t have time to worry about any of that. So it’s important they choose a platform that can help. “Our job is to simplify everything as much as possible for schools so that they know we’re handling it. That we’re ensuring that they’re compliant, that they know the bare minimum they need to know to stay compliant.”

And in turn, DeansList needs a provider who provides timely information, industry expertise, and customized support. 

“Bandwidth has done an amazing job of prepping us to create world class tools for educators”
– Matt Robins, CEO, DeansList

Robins shared that, in contrast to other providers, Bandwidth provides a high level of throughput, reliability, and insight. “With Bandwidth, we know that when a teacher sends a message, that message goes out, it hits that family’s phone, and then the person that sent that message has a delivery confirmation, letting them know the parent got that message.” There’s no more questioning whether or not a parent received messages. 

And the DeansList team can focus on building out new functionality and resources for schools, instead of worrying about the nitty gritty of messaging. Robins explained “what was critical for us in selecting a provider, is knowing that our provider had strong relationships with the rest of the messaging ecosystem. Other companies … weren’t able to escalate appropriately, but with Bandwidth, we know they’re, as a phone carrier themselves, really able to ensure that when issues arise, they’re addressed, they’re treated seriously, and that we as a client are taken seriously.

“One area where Bandwidth really shines is helping us navigate the 10DLC process for schools.”
– Matt Robins, CEO, DeansList

Switching, made simple

While other companies have scaled back onboarding support, Bandwidth lends a helping hand to customers moving traffic. “Bandwidth really held our hands as we navigated the migration process.”

And that ease of migration has bigger business benefits, too. Since joining Bandwidth, DeansList has seen both new customers and existing customer revenue. In fact, Robins reported that their two-way texting platform has grown by 87% in just four months, bolstered by schools expanding from single school pilot programs, to full-district engagements. 

Staying ahead of the curve

Robins looks forward to seeing what’s next in A2P messaging, and is excited about the possibilities of teachers having richer communication tools available. After all, he notes that the world is really moving toward more personalized education experiences. 

“It’s exciting working with a partner like Bandwidth, because we know that as new advances come, whether they’re technologies like RCS or other new technologies, we know they’ll be one of the early adopters, that they’ll have the tools in place, and they’ll make it easy for us as a vendor to integrate with them and deploy them quickly, and be ahead of the curve of all of our competition” concluded Robins.