A New White Paper From ClassDojo Explains How School-Family Connections Benefit Learning

San Francisco, CA, April 30, 2026 – Research shows that family involvement has a positive impact on students’ academic achievement, regardless of family income or background. A new white paper from ClassDojo, How Strong Family Engagement Builds District Trust, Reputation, and Academic Success, explores the different ways school-family engagement benefits learning and enrollment stability. The 12-page report explains how districts can overcome communication barriers to create a culture of honesty, transparency, and trust that increases family engagement.

“When families feel connected to the school community, they stay, which leads to stable enrollment in districts that need it most,” said Jeff Buening, General Manager at ClassDojo. “This white paper shares over two decades of research on ways that involve families that improve academic, behavioral, and social outcomes for students. It also explains how ClassDojo can help teachers build the trust that makes families a part of school communities.”

How Strong Family Engagement Builds District Trust explains that classroom-level messages are the foundation of district trust with families. The report also shares the best practices that schools have adopted to connect families with ClassDojo, including success stories from three districts that needed to address the high risk of families pulling students into schools:

• McDowell County Schools in North Carolina needed to resolve temporary communication methods that were confusing parents and damaging the district’s reputation.
• The Moline-Coal Valley School in Illinois had to overcome language barriers so that teachers could communicate with the expanding community.
• Hamilton Elementary School in San Diego needs to end the rift between parents and teachers in the wake of the pandemic.

According to Hamilton Elementary Principal Brittany Daley, ClassDojo was “a foundation of trust.” Initially, the school used the platform to facilitate relationship building activities and fun learning events such as monthly Family Fridays. Once the foundation of a renewed good relationship was established, Daley involved families more in their children’s educational lives. The result has been a drop in chronic absenteeism of more than 20 percentage points over the years and a nearly five-fold increase in the percentage of students learning in grade.

“Families help schools understand what to expect and know about their students, providing the ‘missing piece’ of support that every student needs,” said Buening. “ClassDojo already has a strong reputation with families for sharing small and large moments in their children’s classroom. Using ClassDojo for Districts allows schools to add new visibility, communication, and insight tools designed to help district leaders without disrupting effective teacher-family relationships.”

The full white paper is available for download here.

About ClassDojo

ClassDojo is on a mission to give every child the education they love. Used in 95% of US schools, ClassDojo helps teachers and families build stronger school communities through daily communication. ClassDojo Yezigodi is a unified and interactive communication platform that brings daily classroom updates and district messages into one seamless place, helping families feel connected, students stay engaged, and school culture thrive. It is built with privacy at its core and is available in the regions at no additional cost.