Messages
Messages lets you have a private conversation with a teacher or admin at your school — separate from Notifications, which is one-way announcements from your school.
Accessing Messages
- Click "Messages" in the sidebar navigation, or
- Click the envelope icon at the top right of any page
Your Inbox
The top of the page shows how many messages you have unread. Below that, Inbox lists every message you've received, newest first. Each row shows:
- Who sent it, with a coloured tag for Teacher, Admin, Parent or Student
- A red High priority tag if the sender marked it important
- The subject and a short preview of the message
- The date it arrived
Unread messages are highlighted with an orange background and a small dot. If you don't have any messages yet, you'll see "No messages yet — Teachers and admins can message you here."
Reading a Message
Click a message to open it. Opening it automatically marks it as read. You'll see the full message along with who sent it, their role, and when it arrived.
Replying
Click "Reply" at the bottom of an open message. The recipient is filled in for you and the subject starts with Re: — just write your reply and click "Send Reply".
Starting a New Conversation
Click "New" at the top of the Inbox to message a teacher directly (not as a reply):
- Pick a teacher from the To dropdown — it lists your homeroom teacher and every teacher who teaches one of your subjects, with their subject shown next to their name
- Add a Subject
- Write your Message
- Click "Send"
The dropdown defaults to your homeroom teacher. If your class doesn't have any teachers assigned yet, you'll see a notice instead of the form — your school needs to add teachers to your class before you can message anyone.
Marking All as Read
Click "Mark all read" at the top of the Inbox. It only appears when you have unread messages.
:::note If Messages isn't enabled for your school yet, you'll see "Messaging isn't enabled — Your school's plan doesn't include teacher messaging yet." Ask your school admin about upgrading. :::
Messages vs. Notifications
| Messages | Notifications | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A private, two-way conversation | One-way alerts from your school's systems |
| Who sends it | A specific teacher or admin, by name | The system (new grades, fees due, announcements, etc.) |
| Can you reply? | Yes | No |
See Notifications for how the automatic alerts work.
Tips
- Check both - Messages and Notifications are separate, so check both if you're expecting a reply
- Be specific - A clear subject line helps your teacher know what you need
- Be patient - Teachers and admins reply when they can, not instantly