Creating & Managing Public and Private Groups

Creating & Managing Public and Private Groups

Overview of Groups

This article details how District and School/Org admins create groups in ReachWell, and provides insight into the two types of groups in ReachWell (public and private). Groups are created on the organizational level and are managed by Group Admins or School Admins. 
Please note: Organizations utilizing our First Class plan can create either private or public groups for Group Admins to manage. Organizations utilizing our Economy plan can create public groups only. 

Video Instructions to Add a New Group

Please begin by viewing this brief video on how to create a group.


Steps to Add a New Group

  1. Log in to the ReachWell Dashboard 
  2. Navigate to App Setup > Groups. 
  3. Select Add New Group in the upper right-hand corner
  4. Enter the Group Name (required) and a Group Description (optional).
  5. Under Visibility, select either Public - Opt-In, Public - Opt Out, or Private. (required, see below for a description of group types)
  6. Select your school from the drop-down menu (required).
  7. Add a group banner (optional).
  8. Associate an Outlook or Google calendar with this group if applicable (optional).
  9. Select Submit

Assigning Contacts to Groups (First Class Plan Only)

Organizations that are using our First Class plan can assign contacts to groups. If you are a school that syncs with Clever, you will add the contacts via the Students page. If you are an organization that uploads contacts via a CSV file you will add contacts to private groups via the Contacts page.
Add Contacts to a Private Group for Clever Schools
  1. Log in to the ReachWell Dashboard 
  2. Navigate to People> Students
  3. Search for students and check the box next to their name.
  4. Scroll to the bottom where it says Add Students to Groups and click Go.
  5. Select the group and add the student(s). This will add that students' associated contacts to that group.

Add Contacts to a Private Group for CSV Schools

  1. Log in to the ReachWell Dashboard 
  2. Navigate to People> Contacts
  3. Search for contacts and check the box next to their name.
  4. Scroll to the bottom where it says Add Contacts to Groups and click Go.
  5. Select the group and add the contact(s). This will add the contact(s) to that group.

Overview of Types of Groups

​      
  1. Public - Opt-In: Requires people to manually join the group from their ReachWell app. This is great for classes, grade-level groups, athletic or club group, and so on!
  2. Public - Opt-Out: Automatically adds any user who has the ReachWell t app for your organization to this group. Contacts can remove themselves from these groups if desired. This is great for counselors, Social and emotional learning (SEL) groups, PTA/O, special groups (e.g. Physical Education, Drama). 
  3. Private: Contacts are assigned to the group so you can send targeted announcements to contacts (i.e. families). For example, you can send messages to contacts associated with students that belong to a grade level, after school care program, or athletic team.

Private Groups (First Class Plan Only)

​Private groups provide the ability to send targeted announcements to contacts (i.e. families) that belong to specific groups. For example, you can send announcements to contacts associated with students that belong to a specific grade, class or athletic team. Org and School Admins determine which contacts are added to private groups in ReachWell, and who the Group Admins will be that manage those groups.

What are some use cases for private groups?
  1. Private groups are great for communicating updates and providing information for staff, PTA groups, volunteer groups, 4th grade English classes, athletic teams, and so on. This way, only the associated contacts will receive the relevant, related announcements!
  2. Contacts (i.e. families) associated with the group can be messaged any updates pertinent to that particular group.
  3. Staff groups can be created so admins can send staff timely, private notifications instead of using various other methods of communication like walkie-talkies, texting, phone calls, and so on.
Verification Codes
  1. If your organization uses our First Class plan, verification codes are crated for with contacts (i.e. families). Once contacts put in their verification code it will automatically add them to the groups they are assigned.
  2. If they have not yet verified with the ReachWell app, they will be instructed to enter their verification code or request that a code be texted to them. 
You can encourage contacts to verify by sending them a text message or email through the dashboard. 

Managing Private Groups
Private groups can be personalized to meet the needs of your community. Multiple group admins can be added to manage a single group. Groups can also have a banner and calendar for contacts to see.
  1. Add a Group Admin to manage the group
    1. Navigate to App Setup>Groups
    2. Search for the group
    3. Click Update under the About column for the group
    4. Scroll to the bottom and add the Group Admin(s) who will be managing the group.
    5. Select Submit.
  2. Personalize Your Group
    1. Click Update under Banner/Icon to change the picture associated with the group
    2. Click Update under Calendar to add a Google or Outlook calendar to the group 
    3. Click the trash can under the Action column to delete the group 

Public Groups: Opt-In and Opt-Out


For organizations utilizing our Economy plan, you are only able to create public groups. First Class organizations can create both private or public groups for families. Public groups allow multiple options for joining contacts (i.e. families) to groups:
  1. Opt-In Groups: Contacts (i.e. families) can join public groups by navigating to the Groups tab in the ReachWell app.
  2. Steps for Families to add groups in the app. 
    1. Clicking the groups icon
    2. Clicking Update Groups 
    3. Selecting to join a public group. 
  3. Opt-Out Groups: automatically assigned to all contacts who have downloaded ReachWell and joined your school or organization.
For instructions on creating multiple public or private groups (if applicable) simultaneously via a CSV upload, please visit THIS article!

Students (Clever Sync Only)

Students do not have user profiles in the ReachWell app. The purpose of the student user type is to help you assign your contacts by the student to their appropriate groups rather than needing to know the names of student contacts. Since you can easily sort students by grade level, it's much easier to assign them to grade-level groups, rather than the contacts associated with them. Any time a student is assigned to a group, the contact relations in their profile will automatically be assigned to the same groups.
Please visit THIS article for more about students in ReachWell!

For additional questions, please reach out to support@reachwellapp.com. We are happy to help!
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