Remind is now part of the ParentSquare family! See the announcement for details
Remind is now part of the ParentSquare family! See the announcement for details
Blog
June 16, 2014
 • By 
Brett Kopf

New name, same mission

News

Today, we’re excited to announce that we're changing our name from Remind101 to Remind! We started this process as a way to simplify ourselves, but it also pushed us to reflect about our evolution as a company and why we exist.We built Remind to make it easy for teachers to connect with students and parents. Our belief is that strengthening these relationships is the most important way we can impact education. Every day, 7000 students drop out of school. This problem is severe, and whether it’s research, our conversations with teachers, or our own experiences, we feel there are three key factors that impact student outcomes:

Time

Teachers often tell us they are busy and overwhelmed. Considering the importance of personally connecting with students and parents to support a child’s learning, it is shocking that the communication tools schools rely on haven’t evolved for 40 years.

Reaching students where they are

Nearly 80% of US teens carry cell phones, and of this group, almost half own smartphones (Pew). In fact, 95% of students and parents on Remind opt to receive text messages vs. email. Internet-capable phones are not only changing how we communicate, they are transforming how and where students learn.

Parental involvement

92% of US educators identified that strengthening family members’ roles in student learning is the highest priority of public education (Ed.gov). However, we know that even if parents want to be involved in their child’s education, many often don’t have the time or resources to do so.We think better education depends on how well teachers, students and parents are able to connect with one another—this is why Remind exists. Thanks to the feedback from teachers like Craig, Michael and Cat, Remind is now used by over 20% of US teachers, along with millions of students and parents. Our teachers tell us that by using Remind every day, we save them time, help keep students engaged, and help involve parents in their child’s education.But all this comes back to how we help those 7,000 kids decide to stay in school today. For me, it was Mrs. Whitefield. Without her, along with my parents’ support, I would have never worked through my learning disabilities to graduate high school. Imagine what the world could look like if all the Mrs. Whitefields out there were empowered to connect with millions of students and parents! This is the vision of Remind, and we’re just getting started :)