Jordan Shifts from TalkingPoints to Rooms

The transition to “Rooms” has not been smooth for all teachers and parents. This year, Durham Public Schools required all schools to switch from their current communication system to Rooms since it came bundled with the new district website service. Before its introduction, many DPS schools lacked a centralized communication platform, forcing parents and teachers to rely on multiple apps, emails, and phone calls. Before Rooms, “Talking Points” was Jordan’s main communication system.

Some teachers say Rooms has more features and is better overall, even though it was harder to learn at first. “Rooms was more complex to learn, but I prefer using it over TalkingPoints,” says Ms. Fontham, English teacher and yearbook advisor. She also mentioned that the app sometimes glitches, but overall it works well once you get used to it.

Not everyone is able to adapt, though. Some parents say Rooms is harder to set up than TalkingPoints, so they miss messages from teachers. Ms. Fontham also helped students set up their accounts in class, which seemed to make communication go a lot smoother. Some parents also said not enough teachers are using Rooms yet. Teachers think that might change as everyone gets used to it. “It’s kind of a chicken-and-egg situation,” Ms. Fontham said, feeling hopeful. “The more teachers use Rooms, the more parents will too.”

Even with the change, teachers agree that the goal is still the same: keeping everyone connected. “Setting up your account is the hardest part,” Ms. Fontham concluded. “After that, it’s easy. What really matters is that we’re communicating, no matter the platform.”

As this school year continues, the system will continue growing in the use of it from parents, students, and teachers.