Puts district ahead of the curve says student developer

Published in the July 19, 2018 edition

By JILLIAN STRING

NORTH READING — North Reading Public Schools (NRPS) is on schedule to roll out a new app this August.

Superintendent Jon Bernard and Assistant Superintendent Patrick Daly have teamed up with Digital Learning Director Dan Downs and Class of 2019 member Michael Tyrrell to develop this technology for NRPS.

“We’re excited about modernizing. We’re excited about just an additional tool. The cell phone is so readily available to everybody that the more we can put on that for people to access content that’s important to them about our school district the better,” Bernard said.

The idea for the app stemmed from a conversation between Bernard and Tyrrell.

CLASS OF 2019 member Michael Tyrrell (left) and Superintendent Jon Bernard combined educational vision and technical skills to create the first NRPS app. (Jillian String Photo)

“I made (the app) one of my goals, that it was something we were going to have as an additional communication means, but it was only because Michael had said to me that he felt it could be done,” Bernard stated.

“The beauty of having Michael so intimately involved in it, is it’s from a student’s perspective, so what’s important to him I think is representative of what’s important to people his age. He understands the thinking around people’s access to information in the year 2018 being very different than it was in 2008.”

Bernard and Tyrrell both noted that NRPS has been increasing its online presence over the past few years with the updated school website, social media accounts, and online Plus Portal.

“I feel like the app was an inevitability in the increased modernization of the school,” Tyrrell commented.

Tyrrell said the app will be easier to navigate than the school website, and it will link to the websites for each school, as well as the district website, should more detailed information be required.

“The app is much sleeker (than the website), with the most necessary features for parents and students,” Tyrrell noted.

Examples of these features include lunch menus, athletic schedules, and links to Family ID and Plus Portal.

“I can’t stress enough how ahead of the curve this is,” Tyrrell stated. “A lot of school districts don’t actually have applications yet. It’s awesome that the district wanted to take the initiative and develop an app, and find the most cost effective and efficient way to do such.”

Since the app was developed by Tyrrell and Downs, Bernard said the only costs incurred will be from Apple, as the company charges a fee to post an app to its App Store.

The NRPS app will be available for both Apple and Android platforms. Although it has been optimized for a mobile device, Tyrrell stated that it should still work fine on a tablet.

Bernard will be sending an email out to families at the beginning of August with instructions on how to download the “Beta version” of the app.

The team will be looking for feedback on this version with the vision of having a completed app available for the start of the 2018–19 school year on Sept. 5.