Our origin
Born from real PTO and PTA workflows where every update had to be duplicated across email, social, and text.
About SchoolRelay
Built because school communication should not feel this hard.
SchoolRelay started from a practical problem: families were missing important updates even though school leaders were spending hours posting the same information in multiple places. We built a simpler model: one reliable hub families can check first.
Our mission
Reduce communication overhead so volunteers can focus on students and community.
Our focus
Practical tools for real school groups: announcements, events, links, and group pages.
Why we built SchoolRelay
We kept seeing the same pattern in schools. Leadership teams were organized and hardworking, but communication was fragmented. A schedule update might begin in a group text, move to social media, then get repeated in email, and still miss part of the audience. Families were not confused because they did not care. They were confused because the system asked them to check too many places.
SchoolRelay was designed to reduce that burden for both sides. School leaders get one place to publish. Families get one place to check. This is intentionally not a bloated "do everything" platform. It is a focused communication utility that supports the way parent groups already operate.
The product direction is guided by volunteers and school admins who need speed, reliability, and low setup friction. If an update takes too long to publish, it usually never gets published. So every decision starts with that constraint.
Our Story
SchoolRelay was founded in 2025 by a team of software engineers and former PTO board members based in Florida. We spent years navigating the front lines of school volunteering, writing the emails, running the signups, and keeping the calendar current. We saw firsthand how much invisible work went into simple tasks like updating a date or recruiting four volunteers for a library shift.
We realized that most school groups were not suffering from a lack of passion; they were suffering from a lack of systems. We were asking parents to be professional webmasters, graphic designers, and database admins just to run a popcorn Friday. SchoolRelay was built to give those hours back to the parents, so they can spend them with their kids instead of their computers.
Today SchoolRelay serves PTOs, PTAs, booster clubs, and school admin teams across the country. Every feature we ship goes through a real world check: would a first year PTO president at a school with no IT support be able to use this in under five minutes? If the answer is no, we simplify or we ship something else.
Company
- Founded
- 2025
- Headquarters
- Florida, USA
- Built for
- PTOs, PTAs, booster clubs, school admin teams
- Support
- support@schoolrelay.com
Our Product Principles
1. Zero app friction
Parents are already at their limit with app notifications. SchoolRelay works perfectly in a mobile browser. One link, no password, no download. If they want the app experience, they can save it to their home screen in two taps.
2. Content, Not Layout
We do not provide a blank canvas. We provide structured blocks for announcements, events, and links. This ensures the site stays clean, professional, and accessible without requiring any design skills from the volunteers.
3. Privacy by Default
School communities are sensitive environments. We do not sell parent data, we do not use ad trackers, and we automatically anonymize volunteer records after 30 days. We build tools we would want for our own children's schools.
4. Sustainable Pricing
The best parent group tools should be accessible to every school. Our free tier is genuinely useful for small groups, and our Pro plan is priced to be a minor budget line item, not a major fundraising burden.
A Note to School Leaders
We know that being a PTO or PTA officer is often a thankless job. You are the heartbeat of the school, but the workload can be crushing. SchoolRelay exists to make your contribution more sustainable. We believe that if we can make your job 20% easier, we can keep the best leaders in place longer, which ultimately benefits every student in the building.
Questions? Email support@schoolrelay.com.
Want to see it in action?
Explore our feature pages or set up a school page and publish your first update in minutes.