Parent notifications help schools communicate behavior and consequence events quickly and consistently. You’ll learn how to make parent contact information available through rostering, how to enable email and SMS notifications on a specific behavior or consequence, and how to edit message content using variables. This feature is especially useful for administrators who want standardized messaging and an auditable record of notifications.

Permission Level Required: Owner | Manager

How to Import Parent Contact Information: You can pull parent email and phone data into Minga so notifications can be delivered.
How to Enable Parent Email and SMS Notifications: You can turn on notifications for a specific behavior or consequence.
How to Edit Message Content: You can customize email and SMS messages and insert variables.
Further Reading
Troubleshooting
FAQs

How to Import Parent Contact Information

You can send parent email and SMS alerts by making sure parent contact info is present, then enabling notifications on each behavior or consequence you want to notify on.

Step-by-step Guide to Importing Parent Information

Navigate to People.
○ People is where rostering settings and person records are managed.
Click the Rostering tab.
○ The Rostering tab contains options for what data is included during automatic rostering syncs.
Toggle on Include Primary Parent Contact Info.
○ This setting pulls primary parent email and phone contact info into Minga during the sync.
Click Save.
○ Saving applies the rostering setting so future syncs include parent contact information.
Run or wait for the next automatic rostering sync.
○ Parent contact details are pulled in during the automatic sync after the setting is enabled.

Tip: You can import parent contact information without waiting for rostering by using Import a List.

How to Enable Parent Notifications on a Behavior

Then, you can enable parent notifications on each behavior or consequence where parent outreach is required.

Step-by-step guide to Enabling and Editing Parent Notifications

Navigate to Behaviors.
○ Behaviors contain both behavior definitions and consequence definitions.
Select the Behaviors tab or the Consequences tab.
○ Choose Behaviors to edit a behavior-triggered notification, or choose Consequences to edit a consequence-triggered notification.
Click the Edit icon (pencil) next to the behavior or consequence
○ The edit screen opens for the selected item.
Toggle on Send Parent Notification Email and/or Send Parent Notification SMS
○ Turn on Send Parent Notification Email to send an email to the primary parent contact.
○ Turn on Send Parent Notification SMS to send a text message to the primary parent contact.
Edit the Email Body or SMS Message
○ Enter the message parents should receive when the behavior or consequence is assigned.
○ Insert variables if your template supports them so messages include student-specific details.
Click Save
○ Saving applies the notification settings to that specific behavior or consequence.

Important: Parent notifications will not deliver if the parent record does not include the required contact method (email for email notifications and phone number for SMS notifications).

Message variables

You can customize the message that is sent to parents and include a variety of variables that will include student and event-specific details:

${firstName}- Students first Name
${lastName}- Students last name
${typeName}- Name of behavior assigned to the student
${mingaName}- School name
${note}- Custom note from teacher to student
${assigner}- The person who assigned the behavior
${points}- How many points were awarded

Pro Tip: You can create a consistent communication standard by using the same subject line structure and variable set across all behavior and consequence notifications.

Troubleshooting

Issue: Parent email or SMS is not sent for a behavior or consequence.
Solution: Confirm that parent data is being rostered from your SIS. Ensure that Include Primary Parent Contact Info is enabled in People → Rostering, confirming the parent record has an email/phone number, and confirming Send Parent Notification Email and/or Send Parent Notification SMS is enabled on the specific behavior or consequence.

Issue: The message content is missing student details.
Solution: You can include student details by clicking Insert Variables and adding the appropriate variables into the Email Body or SMS Message.

Issue: Notifications are enabled on one item but not another.
Solution: You can standardize notifications by editing each relevant item and enabling the same notification toggles, since notifications are configured per behavior or per consequence.

FAQs

How do I send parent email notifications for behaviors in Minga?

You can send parent email notifications for behaviors in Minga by editing a behavior in Behaviors, toggling on Send Parent Notification Email, customizing the Email Body, and clicking Save.

How do I send parent SMS notifications for consequences in Minga?

You can send parent SMS notifications for consequences in Minga by editing a consequence in Behaviors → Consequences, toggling on Send Parent Notification SMS, customizing the SMS Message, and clicking Save.

How do I make sure parent contact information is available for notifications?

You can make sure parent contact information is available for notifications by going to People → Rostering, toggling on Include Primary Parent Contact Info, clicking Save, and allowing the next rostering sync to pull parent data into Minga.

Can I enable parent notifications for all behaviors at once?

No, parent notifications need to be enabled for each individual behavior and consequence. You can enable parent notifications for all behaviors by editing each behavior and toggling on Send Parent Notification Email and/or Send Parent Notification SMS.