Community engagement is one of Eanes ISD’s 2024-28 strategic priorities, and the district has implemented four new initiatives to further this priority.

Chief Communications Officer Claudia McWhorter updated the board of trustees on the initiatives during the regular board meeting Sept. 24.

The details

ParentSquare is a tool for families to receive emails, texts or app notifications from teachers, campus administration and district staff, as well as general and emergency messages. The app auto-translates messages, and multiple languages are available.

ThoughtExchange is an online survey tool where participants can post thoughts and rate others. The district can utilize data from the surveys for campus meetings with staff and parents as well as long-range facility planning, McWhorter said.


A recent survey included questions on how the district can celebrate successes without becoming complacent; enhance its focus on present and future priorities; and achieve better balance between innovation and manageable progress.

According to McWhorter, there were:
  • 954 participants
  • 572 thoughts
  • 28,103 ratings
Behind the scEANES was previously known as Superintendent Jeff Arnett's “cafe series.” The district is hosting nine parent and community campus conversations with Arnett and district staff to share updates and engage in open dialogue.
  • Oct. 4, noon, Forest Trail Elementary library
  • Oct. 8, noon, Westlake High School and Adult Transition Services at the Performing Arts Center, and over Zoom
  • Oct. 16, 8:45 a.m., Hill Country Middle School library
  • Oct. 17, 5:30 p.m., Valley View Elementary cafeteria
  • Oct. 18, 8 a.m., Barton Creek Elementary cafeteria
  • Oct. 25, 9 a.m., West Ridge Middle School library
  • Nov. 8, 8 a.m., Cedar Creek Elementary commons
  • Nov. 22, 8:15 a.m., Bridge Point Elementary library
  • Jan. 24, 9 a.m., Eanes Elementary library
Community members who do not have children in the district or anyone preferring an evening option may attend the Oct. 17 meeting.

AlwaysOn is the district’s AI chatbot. Since the bot was first launched in April, there have been 4,200 questions asked through the bot with 3,052 engagements, McWhorter said. The bot averages 850 questions a month and has had 1,000 so far in September.

August data shows the bot has a 95% success rate, but McWhorter said the district is able to see where the holes are that participants are not finding the answers they need.


The bot is currently only on the district and Westlake High School websites, but will be implemented on all other campus websites.

What else?

The district has also implemented targeted messaging for students such as the “it’s no joke” campaign, which was created in response to student-made threats against Eanes ISD campuses.