At a glance: Bensalem Township School District
On the border of Philadelphia, Bensalem Township’s nine schools—five of which are Title I—serve more than 6,400 students, nearly half of whom are socioeconomically disadvantaged. The district is home to families who speak 40 different languages and dialects and is a vibrant, diverse community. In recent years, non-English-speaking students have increased from 29% to 33% of the student population.
A challenge connecting effectively with families
The district struggled to overcome barriers in engaging its diverse community of families. Existing communication methods did not reach enough families, resulting in low engagement, poor event turnout, and limited survey participation. As a district committed to ensuring every family felt genuinely connected and fully involved in their child’s education, Bensalem knew they needed a new approach.
“We saw how language barriers often left some families feeling disconnected and unable to engage as deeply as they wanted to within the schools and in the district. Traditional communication methods were falling short because they weren’t two-way. We needed a solution that would foster true equity and communication and build trust with all families.”
– Lauren Steflik, Federal Programs Coordinator, Bensalem Township School District (PA)
Learn more: TalkingPoints industry-leading translation solution
Bensalem Township views family engagement as a core strategy for driving students’ academic success. The TalkingPoints Universal Family Engagement platform is designed based on leading family engagement research to help foster family-school partnerships and remove barriers to engagement. With this in mind, the district decided to pilot TalkingPoints in a limited set of schools to gather data and assess its effectiveness in strengthening family-school partnerships and improving student outcomes.
“Our motivation was rooted in the belief that when families feel heard, respected, and included, they are more likely to trust the schools in the district and actively support their child’s learning journey.”
– Lauren Steflik
From successful pilot to district-wide expansion
The district used ESSER funds to run a one-year pilot of TalkingPoints in its five Title I schools, gathering data and analytics to evaluate the results. The outcomes were immediate and positive.
- Schools reported increased family attendance and participation in school activities, higher turnout at back-to-school events and academic nights, and more conference participation.
- Teachers reported gaining a deeper understanding of families’ needs and concerns, which helped inform their classroom approaches.
- Families reported feeling more welcome, informed, and connected to the school community and felt more respected and valued than they did before the adoption of TalkingPoints.
- The Bensalem team also saw improvements in data collected from school events, survey responses, teacher notes, and state standardized test results.
Based on these positive results, the team recommended that the district adopt TalkingPoints district-wide. As Lauren Steflik notes,
“A lot of families wrote on their survey that’s what they felt: empowered and respected, and that they felt loved and were happy to come into our schools. It allowed us to make so many connections to families that had previously felt isolated from the school. TalkingPoints made it possible for families to ask questions, share updates, and stay involved in a way that felt immediate and personal.”
Webinar: Hear more from Lauren about Bensalem’s learnings and successes
Building buy-in and funding a district-wide expansion
The district worked diligently to prioritize community input, gathering qualitative and quantitative data from the pilot to guide the decision to expand district-wide. This process included holding numerous meetings with stakeholders, including teachers, staff, and families. Lauren notes that a particular effort was made to ensure they heard from families at Title I schools, who she knew would provide honest and valuable feedback. Some families were reluctant to come to school, so Lauren met with them at their apartment complex, creating a more comfortable setting for sharing their experiences.
The team shared the pilot program findings in meetings with teachers, principals, staff, and district leadership, including the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, Technology Department, Business Affairs, Instructional Affairs, and others in the cabinet. Findings were then presented to the school board, a process that included parents sharing their own experiences.
With strong community support and data-driven proof of impact, the district used general fund dollars to expand TalkingPoints district-wide.
“It really became an integral part of our vision, allowing us to build bridges, strengthening connections. If you have that trust and respect—oh the places you can go!”
– Lauren Steflik
Lauren notes how amazing it has been to see all the staff using TalkingPoints to have authentic, two-way conversations with families and the trusting relationships that have been built as a result of this engagement:
“I hear from teachers, ‘Please don’t get rid of it, we want it forever!’ For teachers, TalkingPoints has become a daily check-in habit and an integral part of how they support their students’ learning and development.”
Impacting outcomes through innovative new features
The district has also been one of the first to pioneer new TalkingPoints features within its schools with great success.
- Document Translation: Teachers and staff were thrilled to be able to upload a document, such as a flier, newsletter, or form, to a message they were sending to a family and, with one click, send it to all their families, translating both the message and the document into their preferred home language! This made sharing school events and news easier for staff and more meaningful for families.
- Learn more about Document Translation
- Videos with translated captions: Lauren notes that this feature has become one of the preferred tools for teachers and staff, who can add warmth and a human touch to their communication using a video with translated captions so families can follow along.
- Learn more about Translated Video
- Message Mentor: This custom AI feature helps teachers write or edit messages to reflect research-based best practices for collaborating and communicating with families. It’s become a favorite for the district’s teachers, as it makes it easier–and far less stressful–to write best-practice messages to families in ways that will build trust and actively support student needs.
- Learn more about Message Mentor
Partnership as a shared value and priority
Not only does the district value TalkingPoints as a tool for partnering with families, but Lauren also highlights that one key factor in their decision to expand district-wide was the platform’s customer support, responsiveness to feedback, and ability to meet evolving needs. TalkingPoints actively collaborates with district partners to understand pain points and goals, using these insights to shape its feature roadmap. This ongoing collaboration is a priority for both parties.
Lauren notes:
“I’ve never met a company that’s done this so well. This is a true partnership between our school district and TalkingPoints.” She adds, “From a district’s point of view, this commitment to partner success is really significant. Our district and our families appreciate that.”
About TalkingPoints
TalkingPoints is an education technology nonprofit with the mission to drive student success by unlocking the superpower of effective family-school partnerships. The TalkingPoints award-winning Universal Family Engagement platform helps educators improve student and district outcomes through scalable, research-based best practices for family engagement. Across districts nationwide, TalkingPoints has empowered more than five million educators and families, facilitating nearly one billion conversations that drive student success.
Named by Common Sense Education as “the best overall family communication platform for teachers and schools,” TalkingPoints leads to gains in attendance rates and academic performance, as shown by rigorous, externally validated causal research. To learn more, view our TED Talk or visit talkingpts.org.
