Every year, the Jackrabbit Product Team puts together a list of new features and enhancements that will be completed within the year. We call this our product roadmap. 

The vision for 2020’s roadmap was bright and on target to produce an impressive year of refinements. That was until COVID-19 rolled around and forced thousands of clients to completely pivot their business strategies, which in turn caused us to pivot ours. 

In traditional Jackrabbit form, the product and development teams rose to the occasion to produce a lineup of Jackrabbit Class fast-tracked enhancements for our clients to use during the months of unexpected forced shutdown, all while not letting their foot off the gas to deliver the original 2020 roadmap releases! 

This combination of fast-tracked and originally planned enhancements proved to be vital to the survival of youth activity programs around the world. 

So why are you bringing this up now, you may be asking. That’s because our product team knew each fast-tracked enhancement would not only help our clients survive but thrive once they were allowed to resume in-person classes, also. Talk about a win-win! 

Here are 4 fast-tracked enhancements and how they can be used in the post-lockdown world:

Virtual Classes 

Jackrabbit first debuted the ability to virtually stream classes through the Jackrabbit Parent Portal so programs could continue to hold classes while local governments required facilities to close. 

Now that facilities are beginning to reopen, having the ability to stream classes is still just as important. Whether it be for the segment of your students who don’t feel comfortable returning to in-person classes, or if you need to convert your lobby into a virtual viewing room to allow a way for parents to watch their children in class – streaming classes will not fall by the waist side anytime soon. 

Additional live streaming and virtual class resource: 

• Spot TV
• How to stay Safe Sport compliant after re-opening
• Why you should continue teaching virtual classes 

Resource Management

Jackrabbit’s new resource management feature will help owners like you convert to a fully digital file management system. Buh bye, paper! 

Having the ability to share files, learning tools and anecdotal communication with your students and families from anywhere is truly a game-changer when it comes to class management software. Here are ways to continue to use Jackrabbit’s resource management feature upon reopening your facility for both students and staff:

Share easy-to-find worksheets with students via the Jackrabbit Parent Portal. 

Whether it’s coloring sheets for your preschoolers, a workout routine for more advanced students or a private YouTube link with step-by-step visual instructions on how to master a new skill – the convenience of dropping various resources into one single location will keep parents and students happy well into the future. 

Track staff training certificates via the Jackrabbit Staff Portal.

Do you require faculty and staff to maintain specific certifications to teach at your facility? 

Keeping track of who’s certified in what and when annual certifications need to be renewed can become a huge source of confusion, depending on your staff size. That’s where Jackrabbit’s Resources tab on the staff record comes in handy, for you to upload certificates of completion from various trainings year-round. 

New Email Templates

When was the last time parents were anxiously awaiting detailed communication regarding new safety policies and procedures? Go ahead, we’ll wait. 

Chances are you have cautious customers, who, with good reason, want to have a complete understanding of how you plan to safely resume classes when dance studios, swim schools, and gyms are able to reopen. So to help your program get the word out, Jackrabbit added new email templates to support the COVID-19 response efforts of your facility. 

Aside from COVID-19 communications, are you looking to take your email communication strategy to the next level? 

As one of the top ideas in the Jackrabbit Idea Portal, the Jackrabbit product team is working on an automatic email communications product enhancement that will allow you and your staff to set up automated emails based on a particular action or event. [Insert happy dance here!]

Coming soon: Automated Email Follow-Up

Mass Updates

Whether you need the ability to quickly drop students or families from classes all at once, or if you need to apply account credits that were given during shutdown that weren’t applied – the ability to mass update records in Jackrabbit saved clients some major man-hours. 

Using this fast-tracked enhancement in the future may look like: 

• giving credits to an entire day of classes that were cancelled due to your facility being closed due to inclement weather, or
• Applying the costume deposits your competition team made throughout the fall once the final bill comes through. 

Ready to learn more about how these fast-tracked enhancements, combined with the exciting product updates in 2020, can help grow your business? Start your Jackrabbit Class 30-day Free Trial today and connect with a Product Coach to help get you started. 

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