SES WhatsApp Community Guidelines

About Our WhatsApp Groups

Our WhatsApp groups help SES families stay connected beyond the school day. They’re a place to ask quick questions, share helpful information, plan get-togethers, and get to know other families.

Grade-level groups bring families across the grade together, while classroom groups make it easy to connect with families in your child’s class.

Ways to Use the Groups

Our WhatsApp groups are great for:

• Sharing helpful information and reminders from the school, classroom, and PTA.
• Asking quick questions about school, homework, activities, or upcoming events.
• Connecting with other parents and helping one another.
• Coordinating classroom activities and parent gatherings.
• Sharing reminders about volunteer opportunities and ways to get involved.
• Planning playdates and other informal family get-togethers.
• Celebrating our students, teachers, and SES community while having a little fun together.

Community Guidelines

Be respectful and constructive.

SES is a community of families with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. Please communicate with kindness and respect, even when you disagree. Keep feedback constructive, and address concerns or disagreements involving individuals directly rather than debating them in the group.

Respect privacy.

Please respect the privacy of our students, families, teachers, and staff. Don’t share personal information, photos, screenshots, or private group conversations outside the group without permission.

Avoid gossip and speculation.

WhatsApp isn’t the place for rumors, unverified information, or speculation about students, families, teachers, staff, or situations at SES. If you have a concern involving the school, please bring it directly to the appropriate teacher, staff member, or SUSD contact so it can be addressed through the appropriate channel.

Know when to take a conversation offline.

If a conversation is specific to your child, another family, or just a few people, move it to a direct message or conversation rather than continuing in the larger group.

Use polls and surveys for coordination.

Polls can help plan classroom activities, playdates, or parent gatherings. Please don’t use WhatsApp polls or surveys to evaluate individuals, collect complaints, or organize opinions about students, teachers, staff, or SES/SUSD policies.

Keep it connected to our community.

Keep conversations generally related to SES, your classroom or grade, PTA activities, or our parent community. Please don’t use the groups to promote personal businesses, products, or services.

Make room for connection and fun.

Conversation, celebrations, and a little fun are part of what these groups are for. Just be mindful of message volume so questions and helpful information don’t get lost.

Help everyone feel welcome.

When organizing classroom or grade-level gatherings through WhatsApp, be thoughtful about making them welcoming and inclusive of the families being invited.

Group Management

By participating in an SES Parent WhatsApp group, families are asked to follow these community guidelines.

Grade and classroom groups are for current SES families. Grade-level groups are for families of students currently enrolled in that grade, and classroom groups are for families of students currently assigned to that classroom. Families should leave or be removed when their student is no longer enrolled at SES or is no longer part of that grade or classroom.

Classroom groups are created for each school year. Because classroom assignments change each year, new classroom groups should be created for the current class rather than carrying over a previous year’s group and message history.

Group admins serve as stewards of the groups on behalf of the parent community. Room Parents serve as PTA liaisons for classroom groups and should have admin access to their classroom group. Admins help keep the groups welcoming, organized, and consistent with these guidelines. When needed, admins may ask that a conversation be moved offline, close or redirect a discussion, or remove content that is inconsistent with these guidelines.

Please respect moderation decisions. If you have a question or disagree with a moderation decision, contact the admin privately. Concerns that cannot be resolved with the group admin may be directed to the PTA President.

Participation in WhatsApp is always optional.

A Note About WhatsApp

SES Parent WhatsApp Groups are community spaces supported by Saratoga Elementary PTA. They are not official communication channels of Saratoga Elementary School or SUSD. ParentSquare remains the official school communication channel.

Opinions shared by individual members are their own and do not necessarily represent SES, SUSD, SES PTA, or the group admins.

Thank you for helping make our WhatsApp groups welcoming, helpful, and fun places for SES families to connect.