DENVER, March 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ The Procare Solutions child care mobile app has topped more than 2 million downloads in Apple’s and Google Play’s app stores, a milestone that shows how vital instant communication and online tuition payments have become in today’s child care industry.
With a fully integrated and complete parent engagement solution that also includes classroom management, the child care mobile app allows parents to be immersed in their children’s day-to-day activities – that includes tracking developmental milestones, sharing photos and videos as well as enabling two-way communication.
In just the past two years, centers have shared half a billion activities with parents using the Procare child care mobile app.
It saves child care programs time and money by streamlining core administrative functions while raising the bar for the parent experience with professional communications, easy-to-access portals and the ability for real-time updates from the classroom.
Parents can see their child’s activities that are shared from school and easily message staff. There’s even an option to pay tuition through the app, a capability that became even more essential during the coronavirus pandemic when face-to-face contact was limited, and when exchanging cash and checks risked spreading germs.
And its value is being celebrated by those who use the Procare app – the 38,000 app users who have ranked it in the Apple store gave it an average 4.9 out of 5 stars, a strong show of support for its reliability and functionality.
The app is garnering similar positive reviews on Google Play, with more than 20,000 users giving it an average of 4.8 stars.
“Procare Solutions is dedicated to making sure centers and their families are equipped with state-of-the-art technology to help them manage their busy lives,” said Jon Pollock, Procare’s chief product officer. “Our team of developers is always working to improve the mobile child care app and make sure users have the best possible experience.”
Let’s take a look at what the app can do.
How the Procare Child Care Mobile App Helps a Daycare in Utah
Child care provider Kristy DeGraaf, owner of The Learning Tree in Cedar City, Utah, once relied on paper forms for signing students and teachers in and out.
“It was terrible,” she said. “It was taking so much time.”
Now Kristy uses the Procare mobile app, which took away the hassle of compiling and recording the information on paper forms. Families can check their children in and out of her daycare by scanning a QR code on their phones, and her staff can check in and out of their shifts the same way.
The app helps her calculate her teachers’ paychecks. And she doesn’t have to take time out of her weekend to print out new sign-in and sign-out sheets.
She also uses the Procare app to stay connected to parents. Before her daycare started using the Procare app, some of her teachers used another app to message parents. It wasn’t a standardized system.
Kristy said that now, all messaging goes through the Procare app so that all communication is in one place. Teachers can send pictures to parents showing what their kids are doing, and she shares important information such as newsletters and daycare closures.
“They like being connected to the program and getting pictures throughout the day,” Kristy said.
Contactless Check-Ins and Check-Outs
Contactless check-in gives parents and staff the ability to use QR codes and/or GPS technology for a completely touch-free check-in and check-out process. Parents can check in their children using the Procare app without entering the building or by scanning a code once inside. And parents can add authorized users to pick up and drop off their children.
Each school and child care center uses a unique QR code that can be displayed on a tablet, computer, smartphone or printed on paper. When parents arrive, they simply pull up the Procare app on their phone, select the QR code icon and scan. After scanning the code, the parent will be able to check in their child directly from their phone.
Procare offers two options for this: using a QR code and curbside GPS check-in.
Procare’s technology allows teachers and other staff to sign in and sign out easily and quickly using a tablet. Timecards automatically are updated, which frees up administrators’ time spent on a mundane task.
Record Student and Staff Attendance
The app keeps working well after students and staff are checked in by recording student attendance as well as the transfers of kids to different rooms.
It also records parents’ signatures and captures answers on a drop-off form that give teachers important information.
And the app helps centers stay compliant with licensing regulations on staff-to-student ratios, which are tracked in real time from the app for rooms in a center.
Parent Communication
Using the app, teachers can send photos and videos to parents with one tap.
They also can send reports on daily activities for infants and toddlers, as well as record activities such as diaper changes, bottle feedings and naps.
Centers can record custom student activities and attach development skills like fine motor, social behavior, language and more. And they can share newsletters in addition to upcoming events with parents easily through the calendar function.
Billing
Centers can create and send invoices to parents easily. They also can manage all billing transactions, payments, refunds and credits from the app.
The app allows parents to make online payments — from a checking or savings account, or a debit or credit card — to a center. It also gives parents a viewable list of transactions.
Centers can bill parents based on hourly attendance using information gleaned from the app.
Electronic Documents
The Procare Solutions eDocuments feature gives centers a solution to create, send, review and store digital documents. It’s a way to digitize a significant part of workflows that too often rely on pen and paper by allowing centers to send and manage all sorts of documents, including enrollment contracts, incident reports, permission slips and more.
This feature is available on the Procare app and takes much of the hassle out of reminding parents and staff to complete their paperwork.
The ability to digitally sign a document through the app (or on a computer) eliminates the need to download, print, sign, then return documents.
About Procare Solutions
For more than 30 years, Procare Solutions has been the leading provider of child care management software, parent engagement, integrated payment processing, technology and services. The company supports nearly 37,000 child care centers, preschools, daycares, after school programs, camps and related facilities with comprehensive software that has the power to manage every aspect of their business, enrich classroom and parent interactions, and automate the payment process. Procare offers web-based, on-premises and cloud hosting solutions, and supports customers of all sizes from single-center operations to complex multinational enterprises. For more information, please visit www.procaresoftware.com.
MEDIA CONTACT: Leah Woodbury, head of content at press@procaresoftware.com