Peek Speaks
Peek is simply connected. This blog is simply Peek.

My friend Brendan and his school

So my friend Brendan and I were at the Yankee game back in June with a few other buddies. While watching the Yankees get trounced we started talking about this new thing I’m working on called Peek. I explain to him the concept of the email only device for the everyday person. I show him the early version of the Peek and he loves it. He looks at me and says that the Peek would work great for the parents of his school. At first I didn’t understand; how would Peeks help parents at a school in the Bronx? He explains the mission of the East Bronx Academy , a charter school with technology as its foundation. I wondered still how Peek fits in and he explains how many of the families don’t have email addresses, access to computers or the internet often. Well now it makes sense, the school and the faculty use email all the time but not the parents! Peek is a great way to stay in touch and these are hard working parents. They can email on their time and understand what’s going on with their kids and the school. Checking in is the best thing about email right?

Earlier this month we launched a program with the East Bronx Academy. 100 Peeks were distributed for free to the parents and teachers of the entire 7^th grade class. Brendan, who I failed to mention is the assistant principal at the school, told us he had never seen such a large turnout to a PTA meeting in all the years he’s been working in the New York school system. All the parents were setup with email address and given a Peek. Brendan and the faculty of the school have already told us about parents and teachers communicating over email for the first time. We will see where this takes us over the school year but this an example of how a simple gadget can make a real difference.

And he just forwarded me this email from one of the 7th grade teachers:

——Original Message——

From: Joseph Kutney

To: Brendan Lyons

Sent: Oct 15, 2008 6:59 PM

Subject: peeks

These are amazing! I am communicating so much more easily with more parents.

We need to get more parents on them.

Thanks for getting these going.

———————–

This really is something to keep watching and let us know what you think.

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1 Comment

1. As our partnership with Peek took off, I am amazed at the incremental change that is taking place with our 7th grade students and families. Families who would otherwise not receive feedback on a regular basis are getting daily homework assignments, student updates, grades…you name it!

   I could go on listing the hundreds of ways that having the Peek in the hands of moms and dads is little by little forging closer and stronger relationships between students, families and teachers here at East Bronx Academy but I will just list one that happened to me last week. I was alerted that there was a safety concern with one of our 7th grade students. To make a long story short, I was able to successfully reach out to mom via the Peek when phone calls were not getting through. Through a series of messages I was successfully able to locate mom, talk to her, and resolve the situation in a positive and productive manner!

   I am looking forward to writing more about the many ways in which Peek is helping us reach families. Currently we are seeking grant funding to expand our partnership from the 7th grade to our entire middle school population as well as conducting a research program with our English as a Second Language student population with the idea that writing in any language is easier then speaking. It is hoped that using the Peek with these families will help to make the language barrier a little less difficult to manage! Stay tuned…

   Comment by Brendan Lyons, Asst. Principal — October 29, 2008 @ 6:01 am

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