In the heart of the Bay Area, where private schools dot the landscape like tech startups, The Academy School stands out not just for its intimate learning environment of 110 K-8 students, but for how it's revolutionized its internal communication. Head of School, Cecee Penney, has been leading this educational institution for eight years, and at the beginning of her tenure, she made a decision that would transform how her team collaborates.
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"We've been using Missive now for three years and it's been really, really helpful.", Cecee explains.

The Communication Challenge in Education

Running a school involves constant communication about children and families, with multiple stakeholders involved in every issue or event. Before Missive, these communications were fragmented across emails, texts, and even an underutilized Slack instance.

"When I led the school before using Missive," Cecee recalls, "We'd have these support meetings that would mainly be syncing up on all the communication, and then whatever's left—maybe it's 5 minutes—would be for action planning."

This inefficiency wasn't just frustrating—it was taking valuable time away from what educators are meant to do: focus on students and learning.

The Clear Line in the Sand

One of the most significant benefits Missive brought to The Academy School was creating a clear distinction between internal and external communication.

"If we can say that commenting and chat in Missive is being used for internal communications, and email is being used for external communication, that line in the sand just creates a lot of quick responses," Cecee explains.

This separation eliminated a common source of anxiety in schools: the dreaded email mishap. "The security of the chat feature just looking so different means that there can be a lot of confidence and safety in talking about how to support something without accidentally forwarding or sending it to the wrong person," says Cecee. "That piece alone is huge."

From Meetings to Meaningful Collaboration

One of the most tangible impacts of implementing Missive has been the transformation of meetings. Rather than spending precious face-time catching everyone up on email threads and forwarded messages, The Academy School team now arrives at meetings already in sync.

"Those meetings are now quick check-ins—has anybody missed anything on Missive? No? Great!" Cecee notes. "Now we can actually spend time together and do the human component of all the things that we do."

This shift is particularly meaningful in an educational environment where teacher time is at a premium and burnout is a constant concern.

Implementation: Making the Switch

Implementing new technology in schools can be challenging, especially with faculty who might be tech-cautious. The Academy School partnered with a consultant called The Digital Organizer to smooth the transition.

"We never did a formal onboard with Missive," Cecee explains. "We hired a consultant who put us on and then created a bunch of looms and helped us. They introduced it to us and then they helped us anytime we have a problem."

This approach made adoption smoother, even for the most tech-resistant staff members.

Beyond Email: The Future of School Communication

With Missive now firmly established as their communication platform, The Academy School is expanding its use. They're implementing a weekly internal newsletter within Missive to further streamline information sharing.

"I think it's going to be really clean because there won't be a lot of email signatures to gunk up the text, and the UI just provides a very simple way to communicate," says Cecee.

The school is particularly appreciative of Missive's enterprise-level security features, which help them comply with educational privacy requirements like FERPA. "That's pretty huge for schools because it means that Missive is an ideal technology for making sure that the school is making a pretty decent effort at trying to lock down communication about kids."

The Results: Transformed Communication

While Cecee can't quantify exactly how many unnecessary meetings they've eliminated, the qualitative improvement is clear: "I can see as the leader that you're not on the same page with this person because I'm having all these side conversations. Let's have a 15-20 minute meeting. And I know that that just happens a lot less now. The messiness of forwarding things isn't a thing. And I have the meetings that I want to have."

In an educational environment where communication breakdowns can directly impact student support, these improvements aren't just about efficiency—they're about better serving their community of students and families.

Advice for Other Schools

When asked what she'd tell other educational institutions considering Missive, Cecee doesn't hesitate: Start with a pilot.

"I probably wouldn't have adopted Missive had I just seen it on the internet and thought 'let's switch to this thing.' But having a trusted industry professional say 'no, this is actually perfect for your use case' gave me confidence. I have enough of a growth mindset to be like 'alright, if it doesn't work after a year, we can just pilot something else.'"

For schools looking to improve their communication while maintaining privacy and fostering collaboration, The Academy School's experience with Missive offers a promising blueprint—one that creates more time for what truly matters: educating students.