What are Announcements?

Announcements is a feature on Kaymbu's Messaging platform that allows administrators, directors, and teachers to share general communications or urgent updates to their school community. Designed to function similarly to a bulletin board, Announcements are a way to temporarily post current and important information for staff and families, and the ability to archive them once the message is no longer relevant.

Table of Contents

1. Accessing Announcements
2. Who Can Send and Receive Announcements
3. How to Send an Announcement
4. Urgent Announcements
   • How to Send an Urgent Announcement
5. Scheduled Announcements
   • How to Create a Scheduled Announcement
6. My Announcements
   • Active Announcements
     • How to Archive an Active Announcement
     • How to Bulk-Archive Active Announcements
   • Archived Announcements
     • How to Restore Archived Announcements
   • Scheduled Announcements
     • How to View Scheduled Announcements
     • How to Edit Scheduled Announcements
     • How to Delete Scheduled Announcements 
7. Announcements Sent To Me
8. Center and Classroom Announcements (High-Level Users)

Accessing Announcements

Kaymbu users can access Announcements by navigating to Menu > Messaging and selecting the Announcements tab at the top of the page. All Announcements sent and received through Kaymbu’s Messaging platform will be stored within the Announcements tab on the Messaging page.   

Who Can Send and Receive Announcements

Announcements can be sent by administrators or directors to all families within their organization or center, while teachers can send Announcements to all families in their classroom. 

When an Announcement is sent to families, family members will receive the message via the Kaymbu for Families app or by email, depending on their Notification Settings.  If an Announcement is marked as Urgent, families will be notified via all stored contact methods (Kaymbu for Families app, email, and text message).

High-level users, such as administrators and directors, can also send Announcements to staff members. Staff will receive Announcements directly through the Kaymbu app or web portal. If an Announcement is marked as Urgent, staff will be notified through all stored contact methods (Kaymbu app, email, and text message).

Note that recipients will not be able to respond to Announcements.

Announcements are designed to post important communications and updates for staff and families for a designated period. Once the Announcement is no longer relevant, it can be archived, which will remove the message from staff and family inboxes.

How to Send an Announcement

1. Navigate to Menu > Messaging
2. Select the green circle with the + icon
3. Select Announcement
4. Choose your recipient(s) by clicking the pencil icon
   • High-level users, such as administrators or directors, can send Announcements to staff members. When selecting recipients, they can choose between staff, families, or both
5. Enter a subject and the content of the message
6. Select the paperclip icon below to add any attachments, if applicable
7. Select Send

When an Announcement is sent, family members can view the message through the Messaging feature on the Kaymbu for Families app or via email, depending on their Notification Settings. 

Families will only receive text messages (SMS) if an Announcement is marked as Urgent. 

To learn more about Messaging for families, you can click here.

Urgent Announcements

Urgent Announcements allow users to send vital notices or emergency updates to their school community. When an Announcement is sent as urgent, families will receive notifications across all stored contact methods. 

For example, if a family member has the Kaymbu for Families app and their email and phone number are saved to their profile, they can receive notifications through all three methods.

Likewise, Urgent Announcements can be sent to staff. High-level users, such as administrators or directors, can send Announcements to staff and/or families. Staff will also receive urgent notifications across all stored contact methods. This includes notifications through the Kaymbu app, email, and text message.

Please note that families and staff will only receive text messages (SMS) if an Announcement is marked as urgent and if a phone number has been saved to their family profile or user profile. SMS notifications for staff must be enabled through their user profile in the Roster.

How To Send An Urgent Announcement

1. Navigate to Menu > Messaging
2. Select the green circle with the + icon
3. Select Announcement
4. Choose your recipient(s) by clicking the pencil icon. 
   • High-level users, such as administrators or directors, can send Announcements to staff members. When selecting recipients, they can choose between staff, families, or both.
5.  Toggle the Urgent option ON
6. Enter a subject and the content of the message below

Upon doing so, a prompt will appear informing you that an urgent message will be sent to recipients via all contact methods. However, you can choose to include an SMS notification.

Scheduled Announcements

Users can create and schedule future Announcements, allowing them to plan ahead and ensure important messages are delivered at the right time, keeping staff and/or families informed.

How to Create a Scheduled Announcement

1. Navigate to Menu > Messaging
2. Select the green circle with the + icon
3. Select Announcement 
4. Choose your recipient(s) by clicking the pencil icon 
   • High-level users, such as administrators or directors, can send Announcements to staff members. When selecting recipients, they can choose between staff, families, or both
5. If applicable, you can mark the message as Urgent by toggling the button ON
6. Enter the subject and the content of the message below
7. Click on the downward arrow next to the Send button and select Schedule Send
8. Select your desired date and time for the message to be sent
   • Any 15-minute increment up to 1 year in the future can be chosen
9. Select Save

My Announcements

On the Announcements page, the first section under My Announcements consists of messages you have personally sent to families (and to staff for high-level users). This includes all Active, Archived, and Scheduled Announcements.

At a glance, each Announcement card includes the Announcement's subject or title, a preview of the message, and its post date. The top of the card will indicate whether the Announcement was sent as Urgent, while the bottom will indicate the recipient(s). 

To view the entire message, simply click on the Announcement card.

Users can scroll through their row of Announcement cards by clicking on the left or right arrows at the top of the page. Alternatively, to view all Active, Archived, or Scheduled Announcements, select See All - this will take you to the My Announcements page.

On the My Announcements page, all Active Announcements are populated by default. 

You can also choose to view all Scheduled Announcements or Archived Announcements by clicking on their respective tabs at the top of the page, and also have the option to view messages in Grid View or List View.

Active Announcements

All messages under Active Announcements are messages that you have personally sent. Active Announcements are live messages that can currently be accessed and viewed by all recipients.  These messages are indicated with purple tabs.

From the Active tab, users can view all active messages or archive/bulk-archive Announcements as needed. 

How to Archive an Active Announcement

Archiving Announcements will remove the message from your active inbox and from the inboxes of all recipients.

To archive Announcements, follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to Menu > Messaging
2. Click on the Announcements tab at the top of the page
3. Select See All located on the right-hand side of the page
4. From the Active tab, you will have a couple of options in which you can archive Announcements:

OPTION A: With Grid View selected, click on the archive icon in the top right corner of the message card to individually archive an Announcement

OPTION B: With List View selected, mark the applicable check box or select Select All, then click on the archive icon that appears at the top of the page to archive multiple Announcements

How to Bulk-Archive All Active Announcements

To bulk-archive all of your Active Announcements, follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to Menu > Messaging
2. Click on the Announcements tab at the top of the page
3. Select See All  located on the right-hand side of the page
4. From the Active tab, select List View.
5. Click on the three dots at the top of the page
6. Select Archive All Announcements 

Archived Announcements

Once an Announcement has been archived, it will be moved to the Archived tab. These messages are no longer active, meaning recipients no longer have access to view them. The Archived message cards are indicated with a gray tab.

Please note that archiving an Announcement does not mean the message has been deleted. If you need to delete an Announcement, please reach out to our support team at help@kaymbu.com for additional assistance.

Archived Announcements can always be restored if needed, thereby making the message active again.

How to Restore an Archived Announcement

Restoring Announcements will remove the message from your Archive inbox, making it active once again. Please note that when an Announcement is restored, the message will also be restored to all applicable recipients.

To restore an archived Announcement, follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to Menu > Messaging
2. Click on the Announcements tab at the top of the page
3. Select See All located on the right-hand side of the page
4. From the Archived tab, you will have a couple of options in which you can restore Announcements

OPTION A: With Grid View selected, click on the restore icon in the top left corner of the message card to individually archive an Announcement

OPTION B: With List View selected, mark the applicable check box or select Select All, then click on the restore icon that appears at the top of the page to restore multiple Announcements

Scheduled Announcements

All Scheduled Announcements can be reviewed, edited, or deleted at any time before their scheduled send date and can be accessed from the My Announcements page by selecting the Scheduled tab. These message cards are indicated with a blue tab.

How to View Scheduled Announcements

To view a Scheduled Announcement you have created, follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to Menu > Messaging
2. Click on the Announcements tab at the top of the page
3. Select See All located on the right-hand side of the page
4. Select the Scheduled tab to view all of your Scheduled Announcements
5. Click on a message card to review the Announcement in its entirety

How to Edit Scheduled Announcements

Changes and updates to a Scheduled Announcement can be made before the scheduled send date. 

To edit a Scheduled Announcement,  follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to Menu > Messaging
2. Click on the Announcements tab at the top of the page
3. Select See All located on the right-hand side of the page
4. Select the Scheduled tab 
5. Click on the message card you would like to edit
6. Once you’ve implemented all of your changes, select Save Edits at the bottom of the message

.

Scheduled Announcements will be automatically sent at the selected date and time for that message. However, users will always have the option to send any scheduled Announcements immediately if desired. If you wish to send a scheduled Announcement in real-time, simply select Send Now at the bottom of the page to send the Announcement to recipients.

Please note that high-level users, such as administrators or directors, can access scheduled Center and Classroom Announcements and can view, edit, or delete these existing messages.

How to Delete Scheduled Announcements

A Scheduled Announcement can be deleted if needed. This will prevent the message from being automatically sent to families and/or staff. 

To delete a scheduled Announcement, follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to Menu > Messaging
2. Click on the Announcements tab at the top of the page
3. Select See All located on the right-hand side of the page
4. From the Scheduled tab, select List View
5. Mark the applicable check box or select Select All
6. Click on the delete icon that appears at the top of the page to delete the Scheduled Announcement

Announcements Sent to Me

The row of Announcements that appears under the Sent To Me section of the Announcements homepage is a list of messages you have received. These Announcements are indicated with red tabs. 

At a glance, each Announcement card that appears under Sent To Me includes the subject or title of the Announcement, a preview of the message, and its post date. The top of the card will indicate whether the Announcement is a new message or was sent as Urgent, while the bottom will indicate the sender. 

You can scroll through your row of Announcement cards by clicking on the navigation arrows, or you can choose to view all of the Announcements you have received by selecting See All, which will take you to the Sent To Me page.

Center and Classroom Announcements (High-Level Users)

High-level users, such as directors or administrators, can access all Announcements for all centers or classrooms within their account by navigating to the list of entities located at the bottom of the Announcements homepage. 

Both Active and Archived Announcements can be viewed by clicking into each center or classroom. When viewing classroom Announcements as a high-level user, the Announcement cards are indicated with pink tabs. High-level users can archive or restore these Announcements as needed.