Tiered Emails

Introduction

Over the years, we have received requests from some parents to reduce the number of emails we send to parents and requests from others to increase the number of emails we send to parents. So to date, we have settled on a sort of middle ground. With the exception of emails sent from teachers or administration via FACTS SIS (formerly RenWeb), our policy is to not send more than one email per day to families, except in emergencies. For the most part this system has worked fairly well, though we acknowledge that it does not fully satisfy the requests we continue to receive from parents for either more or fewer emails.

It is our desire to communicate well with our parents. You expect us to keep you informed, and there is much we would like to share with you. So in 2019, we introduced a new system in which parents can control how much email they receive from the school: Email Tiers.

Email Tier 1 – this group of parents will receive minimal emails from FRCS’s Communications office, including the weekly FRCS Times (sent every Friday) and any emergency communications (emergency communications concern student safety or critical all-school news).
Email Tier 2 – this group will see little change in the email communications they receive now, as this is the default Tier. This group will receive no more than one email per day unless there is an emergency.
Email Tier 3 – this group will see an increase in the number of emails they receive from the Communications office; they will receive everything sent to Tiers 1 & 2 plus additional information and details about events and programs as appropriate; while this Tier may receive more than one email in a day, this will not be every day.

When parents first join the FRCS Community, they are, by default, added to Email Tier 2, as this level seems to satisfy the needs of most parents. However, all parents will be able to move freely between the lists, if they decide their first choice (or the default) does not quite suit their needs, or if their needs change.

For more details about the Tiers and FRCS email communications, please read on. And if you have any questions, feel free to email .

Download the help sheet

Background

FRCS Email Basics

There are three ways that FRCS staff and faculty may email parents. Each has a specific function and purpose.

Direct email

This is when an FRCS employee emails you directly from his or her @frcs.org email account. These emails are intended to be direct communication between a very small group of people about a specific topic. Employees use an email client such as Gmail in a browser or Outlook on their computer, just as you do for your personal emails. These emails are outside the scope of the Email Tiers, so will not be impacted by these changes.

FACTS SIS email

FACTS SIS is the school’s primary system for educational purposes. It helps us track attendance, grades, homework, student progress, and so much more. Teachers and administration use FACTS SIS to communicate information specific to their classes or with database information pulled from the system. For example, if you receive an attendance or tardy notification, it is sent via FACTS SIS. Notices of report cards, homework, missing assignments, etc. also come from FACTS SIS. The Finance office also uses FACTS SIS to send information about family accounts to each family. And the Admissions office may use FACTS SIS to communicate specific enrollment information. All emails that come from FACTS SIS should be official school business and are therefore not impacted by the Email Tiers.*

*There have been occasions in which FACTS SIS’s email system has been used for things that would normally fall under the category of “mass communication emails” — these rare occurrences have been used as a “workaround” to the limit of one email per day. With the new Email Tier system, those emails will no longer be sent via FACTS SIS, so you can know that your choice of Email Tier will be respected.

Mass communication emails

These emails are currently sent via Constant Contact from the Communications office. These emails are not specific to the school’s educational functions and are therefore the only emails impacted by the new Email Tiers. Here is a small sampling of the type of emails sent through this medium:

Some emergency communications (e.g., health notices, info regarding lockdown or lockout; note some of these may be sent via FACTS SIS, but many go through the Communications office)
Newsletters (e.g., FRCS Times, Falcon News, College Corner)
Event information (e.g., Registration Day, Annual Gala, Father/Daughter Dance, All School Thanksgiving Celebration)
General educational information (e.g., supply lists; grade specific academic activities like Capstone; school closures, though not weather-related closures)
Program information (e.g., Athletics and Fine Arts opportunities, Summer Camps, school happenings or updates, new programs, updates to existing programs)
School news (major praise reports or prayer requests, vision, project updates, etc.)
And much more

As you can tell from these descriptions each email system has a specific purpose. Our move toward an Email Tier system is an attempt to reinforce and take advantage of these specific purposes, so that communication from the school to parents is clear.

An important note about email addresses

We encourage you to use the same email address(es) for all communications from FRCS. We have found many instances when a parent gives the school one email address at the time of enrollment but then uses a different email address when corresponding with coaches or other program leaders. It is your prerogative to do this, but please note that it may impact the emails you receive from the mass communication system. When we put together email lists for specific events, say to send a survey, we import email addresses from whatever source was used to track participants. Constant Contact automatically removes emails for people who have unsubscribed and just updates information for people who are already in the system. If however, you used a different email to register for the event or communicate with coaches, it will add the new email address to the system as a new contact. This means that your preferences as to the Tier for the email we already had on file will not be recognized for this new email address. This has caused issues for some parents in the past, and there’s nothing we can do on our end to change this. If you want to make certain that your Tier requests are honored, it is up to you to ensure that you are using the same email address for everything related to the school.

For parents who have two email addresses listed in FACTS SIS, we typically only include the first email address (considered your primary address) unless we receive a request from you that you would like to receive information to both. If you have questions about the email address(es) we have on file for you in our mass communication system, please feel free to email .

Tier Specifics

A number system was chosen for the tiers to make it easier for parents to remember which tiers are which. The smaller the number, the fewer emails you will receive.

Tier 1

With rare exceptions, those subscribed to Tier 1 will receive one email per week, namely the FRCS Times. For this reason, the weekly newsletter has been redesigned to allow information to be as succinct as possible. The newsletter will also feature copious links to more information to provide the details that may be needed for each announcement.

The FRCS Times is sent every Friday except the last Friday of the calendar year (the Friday between Christmas and New Year’s Day). It will host the most complete list of information since it will be the only communication parents choosing this Tier receive from FRCS.

The rare, but notable, exceptions are emergency communications. If there is a health notice (such as lice or communicable disease) that needs to go to the community, Tier 1 will also receive it. If there has been a lockdown, lockout, or some other emergency situation at the school, parents in Tier 1 will receive the followup email informing parents of the specifics. These rarely happen at our school (and let’s pray they continue to be rare occurrences), but we believe all parents should be sent this information.

A few notable things that will be missing from communication to this Tier (so please keep these in mind if you are considering moving to Tier 1): You will not receive separate invitations to participate in things like Parent/Teacher Conferences, school surveys, big events, etc. You will have to rely on the FRCS Times for information about those events. We commit to including all of that information on our website (with links from the Times), so you will still have access to it, but you will not receive separate invitations for them.

Tier 2

Parents who opt to remain on Tier 2 (this is the default Tier) will receive all of the emails sent to Tier 1 plus specific program and event information as appropriate. It will never be more than one email in a given day (except in emergencies) and emails will include basic information and links as they always have.

We will continue to include links in our emails as appropriate, so that parents in this Tier can visit the website for more details when necessary.

Tier 3

This Tier is not intended to be a free-for-all in which the school will email you about everything and anything. This Tier is meant to acknowledge that some parents would prefer to receive all details via email, giving them the freedom and flexibility to read info on their own terms, without having to seek it out. Links will still be available, so that emails aren’t unnecessarily long, but the parent desiring to be a little more passive in getting details will find themselves well informed on this Tier.

Parents opting for Tier 3 will receive everything sent to Tiers 1 and 2 plus additional information and reminders as appropriate. While the number of emails Tier 3 receives may still only be one per day, there will be days when two or more or sent and it may be with a bit more frequency than those on Tier 2 (meaning, while Tier 2 has a limit of one per day, they may only receive 2-3 emails in a given week, whereas Tier 3 might receive one every day for 5-6 of those days and two emails on one of those days).

As with Tier 2, information will still be targeted when appropriate. Being on Tier 3 does not mean that you will suddenly begin receiving emails for junior high when your child is only in 2nd grade. You will still only be sent the information that applies to you, just with more frequency.

On occasion, there may be times with Tier 3 will receive information not specifically sent to Tier 2 (though that information will still be made available on our website and in the FRCS Times, time permitting). This may be information about a special event in a classroom (such as a visiting scientist making a special presentation) or news about a student or alumnus that will be on the website but not sent to the other Tiers via email.

This Tier is likely to be the parents who are “most informed.” While parents on the other Tiers will still have access to that information, they will have to be more “active” in discovering it.

Additional Information

Preferred email?

On the surface, an Email Tier system might appear to be a ranking of email communication. This could not be further from the truth. The primary goal of the Email Tier system is to present information to parents in a way that is consistent with their preferences for email engagement. All information will still be available to all parents. This is simply an acknowledgment that some parents would prefer to limit their emails and go seek more information on the website for programs or opportunities that impact them, while others would prefer to have everything sent to their inbox so that they don’t have to go looking for the details. This is about honoring your preferences instead of trying to fit everyone into a one-size-fits-all box.

With this choice, however, parents must also take responsibility for their level of engagement. If parents want to feel informed, they need to be sure that their choice of Tier will satisfy that desire. If a parent chooses minimal communication, the school should not be blamed for then not sending that parent a separate email about an event or program; it is up to the parent to read the newsletter and click links as appropriate.

Changing Tiers

All parents start on Tier 2; it is the default, as it seems to satisfy most parents’ preferences regarding frequency of emails and the content of those emails. However, parents are welcome to change tiers whenever they like. When a parent chooses to change their tier, there are two ways they can make the change.

1. Email the Communications Office at requesting the tier change. Be sure to send the email from the email address you’d like the change to impact AND the new tier you’d like to be moved to. Changes will often occur on the same day, but please allow 2 school days for changes to take effect.

2. Go to the bottom of any mass communications email you have received from FRCS, and scroll to the bottom of the email. Click the “Update Profile” link. On the resulting page, click the “Submit” button. You will be sent an email with instructions. Click the link in that email and select or deselect lists according to your preferences. The email lists are labeled as follows:

Parents Tier 1
Parents Tier 2
Parents Tier 3