Customizing Your App Experience

Step 1: Open the app and click on the “News” icon at the bottom.

Step 2: Once you’re on the “News” page, click the “Filter” link at the top right corner.

Step 3: On the “Filter Posts” page, toggle the switch on or off for the news/announcements you want to follow. 

This will adjust your news settings so you see only the news from the schools/departments you would like to follow. (Please note the opening page for the app will always show what appears in District News & Announcements.)

Go to the “More” section. Tap “Notifications” and select “Turn on Notifications”. The App will ask you for permission to send notifications, tap “allow.” Tap on the gear icon in the top right, and then on the Notifications Settings page, toggle the switch for any of the schools or departments you would like to receive push notifications from. Click here to watch a video tutorial.

If you miss a message, you will find all your push notifications in the Notifications section for review at a later time. Your app icon will also indicate when you have waiting messages by displaying a red dot indicating how many messages are unread.

You might see “School Closure Notification List” as an option. If you are not a parent/guardian or employee of Colonial School District, but you want to receive notifications, toggle the switch to green to receive push notifications. Please note joining this list does not mean you will receive an email/text/phone call when there is a school closure announcement - only a push notification. Calls/texts/emails are sent only to parents/guardians and employees (click here for more information).

Customize your calendars

While a week’s worth of calendar events for the district and all schools appear on the home page, you can customize your calendar view by clicking on “More” and then going to “School Calendars.”

Once on the School Calendars page, tap on “Filter” at the top. Select the calendars you would like to see in your calendar feed. 

Need a quick way to reach your school or a teacher? Try out the staff directory! Tap on the directory from the bar at the bottom of the home screen, and either type in the last name of the person you are looking for, or scroll through the list. Tap on the arrow to get the phone extension and email address. You can tap on the email address to compose an email, or use the extension to call.

Don’t know the school phone number? That’s easy, too! Go to “More” and select “Our Schools.” Click on the building name to get the main number.

It’s easier than ever to share the great news and important information coming out of our school district. Want to remind your spouse about an upcoming event, like parent/guardian conferences? Want to show your neighbors their kids made the news? It’s now super simple. 

Click into any article (you can tap the picture in the slider at the top of the home page, or you can go to your news feed and tap into an item). Look for the share icon in the top right corner. Tap it, and now you have the option to send it any way you want (text, email, AirDrop, etc.). 

You can also easily subscribe to receive a push notification when something is updated in the news. Simply tap on the “Subscribe” button, and you’ll be notified when something new is posted. 

Plymouth Whitemarsh High School students who want to access information quickly have a section on the app designed specifically for their needs. To get there, click on "More" and then tap "PW Student App" from the list. From here, students can look at menus, pre-order lunch, access the bell schedule, and find links to the calendar, athletics, Canvas, Naviance, PowerSchool, and Safe2Say Something.