Calendar, events and conferences

Putting events in front of the right people, collecting RSVPs, and scheduling conferences without a paper sign-up sheet.

For directors, assistant directors and teachers

Where the calendar lives

Directors, assistant directors and admins have Calendar on the tab bar. Teachers open it from the Calendar tile on the Home screen when they're using a tablet, or from Upcoming event on Home when one appears there.

The screen has four tabs: Calendar, Events, Conferences and Birthdays. The Calendar tab lists what's coming up; switch between List and Month if you'd rather see a grid.

Teachers can read the calendar but can't add to it. If a teacher wants something on it, they message you — Request event, where it appears, opens Messages for exactly that.

Adding an event

1. Open the form On the Calendar or Events tab, tap +.
2. Fill in the basics Title, Date and Time are required. Location (optional) and Notes (optional) are exactly that.
3. Choose the audience Under Who is this for? pick Everyone, Families or Staff only.
4. Repeat it if you need to Under Repeat, choose Weekly or Monthly and set how many — between 2 and 12 in total.
5. Save Tap Save.

A repeating event is saved as separate events, one per date. The later ones get (2 of 6), (3 of 6) and so on added to the title, and editing one doesn't change the others.

To change an event, tap Edit on it. To remove one, swipe it away and confirm — it's removed for staff and families alike.

Who an event is for

• Everyone — families and staff see it and can add it to their own calendar.
• Families — family-facing. Staff still see it on the center calendar.
• Staff only — families never see it and can't add it to their calendar. Use it for in-service days and staff meetings.

Staff only isn't just hidden on screen: a family's app is never sent the event at all. Every event anyone can see has an Add to Calendar button that copies it into the calendar on their own phone.

Who gets notified

When you save a new event, RoundUp sends a notification titled New event: followed by the event's name, with the date, time and location.

• Everyone and Families events notify the families at your center, and directors, assistant directors and admins.
• Staff only events notify directors, assistant directors and admins. No family is told.

Teachers aren't sent a notification for new events, so pass on anything they need to act on another way. Editing an event doesn't send a new notification either — if a date or time changes, tell families yourself.

A repeating series notifies for every date as it's created, so a twelve-week series arrives as twelve notifications at once. For a long run of routine dates, one event with the schedule in Notes is kinder to families' phones.

RSVPs and headcounts

Families RSVP from the event itself and choose which of their children are coming. Staff don't RSVP — they see the responses.

On an event, View RSVPs lists each response: who replied, their answer, the children they listed and the date. Open headcount roll-up takes you to the Events tab, where Headcount shows Going, Not going and Children expected.

Treat the headcount as a guide. A family that changes its answer adds a new response rather than replacing the old one, so read View RSVPs before you order food or book a bus.

Conferences

Any staff member can schedule a parent-teacher conference from the Conferences tab.

1. Start one Tap + beside the Conferences heading.
2. Pick the child Child is required — a conference is always about one child.
3. Set the time Enter the Date, Start and End. Add a Location (a room or a video link) and any Notes, such as what to bring.
4. Post it Tap Post. The child's family gets a notification that a parent-teacher conference has been scheduled, with the time and location, and a copy lands in your own notifications.

The family can add the conference to their phone's calendar. Other families can see that the time is taken, but not which child it's for or your notes.

Cancel booking keeps the conference on the list, marked cancelled — you or the family can do it. Message the family as well, so they hear it from a person. Delete removes the slot entirely and can't be undone, so cancel instead if you want the history.

Birthdays

The Birthdays tab is a celebration board: Today, Coming up over the next 60 days, and Recently celebrated for the past week. Each child shows the age they're turning and their room.

Staff see the children they can see everywhere else in the app. Families see their own children and their children's classmates — so a child's name, photo, room and birthday are visible to the other families in that room.

In other calendar apps

To have your center's events show up in Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar without anyone opening RoundUp, share a subscription link. See Calendar subscription links.

More: All director guides