The Jackrabbit Parent Portal is a wonderful tool that allows your existing customers to manage their account with you online, at any time of day! You control what features are available inside your Portal.
Add a link to your Parent Portal on your website, share it on Facebook, or send the link out to your families in an email for them to bookmark.
Depending on the Parent Portal settings you select, existing customers can:
- Enroll students into classes and events
- Schedule absences and makeups
- Access class resources such as videos and PDFs
- View the fees and payments posted to their account
- Make online account payments
- Update their contact information
- Upload student photos
- See news updates that you post
- See and read past sent emails, registrations, and texts (if your organization uses texting)
Contacts with a valid email address in your main system can access the Parent Portal unless you specifically block them.
To look around inside a "demo" sample portal that we have set up, go to this Parent Portal DEMO login page.
Use Login ID: mbestie@example.com
Use Password: BestTraining1
Remember, the information shown inside your own organization's Portal is controlled by YOU using the settings in your system and may be different than what our Demo portal highlights.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can families trial enroll in the Parent Portal?
A. The Parent Portal does not allow for trial enrollments because existing families are already familiar with your business and are not typically eligible for trial classes.
See the Trial Enrollment Help section for more information.
Q. Can I use HTML tags in Class Name, Class Description, Event Name, etc?
A. No. Because Jackrabbit is web-based, we strongly oppose the use of HTML tags in any data field. It has the potential to cause severe issues within the application.
Q. Is there a security feature to log the family out of the Parent Portal if they forget to log out?
A. After thirty minutes of inactivity the parent will be warned that their session is about to expire. This will count down one minute and give the parent the opportunity to continue their session or to logout. If no response is received within that minute, the portal session will automatically close and the parent will have to log in again.
To start using this great feature, see Get Started with the Parent Portal.
Portal Instructional Video
Jackrabbit provides a free generic Portal instruction video called Use Our Online Portal. This video (2:50) showcases how to log in and highlights the main benefits of using the Parent Portal.
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 Share this link: https://sproutvideo.com/playlists/db9ddfb8141d56
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Watch the videoYou can add a link to the video on your Parent Portal login page. To automatically include this video on your Parent Portal login page go to the Gear (icon) > Settings > Parent Portal > Settings (tab) and select Show link to Portal video on Login Page. Be sure to Save Changes.
You can even place this video on your website to help and encourage your customers to use their Portals. Use the URL https://sproutvideo.com/playlists/db9ddfb8141d56.
Introduce Your New Parent Portal
Let your customers know about the fantastic convenience you are offering! Direct them to the Parent Portal login link on your website (see Link to Your Parent Portal). You can do this via an email blast, hand out flyers, or any way that you communicate with your customers.
To make it easy for you to tell your families about the Parent Portal Jackrabbit provides two email templates that you can customize and send to families either as a group or individually as you process your new registrations.
They are located under the Gear (icon) > Settings > Email Templates (Parent Portal 1 or Parent Portal 2). Our Email Templates section goes over how to edit templates.
Add a link to the video above in the introductory email to your customers.
To ensure that your parents are able to log into their Portals, confirm the following:
- The Activate Portal checkbox is selected located under the Gear (icon) > Settings > Parent Portal
- Allow to login to Parent Portal is selected on the parent's Contact record (Family record > Contacts tab)
- A valid email address is present for the parent on their Contact record (Family record > Contacts tab)
Your families log into their Portals using their email address as their Login ID. They must select a password for their Login ID. There are a few ways a parent can get a Portal password.
During Online Registration
When a parent sets up their Portal account information during their initial online registration, they will be able to go directly to the Portal by clicking the Go To Parent Portal button and can log in immediately using those credentials.
Reset Password Link on Login Page
If they did not set this up during registration, the parent can navigate to your Parent Portal login page and click the Reset Password link. An email with an auto-generated temporary password will immediately be sent to them.
The email also has a link to your Parent Portal login page so the parent can quickly navigate there and log in with their temporary password.
Encourage them to change their password to something meaningful to them as soon as they log in for the first time. This can be done from Billing & Payments (or the side menu) > Account > Settings > Reset Password.
Reset Portal Password Button on the Contact Record
You can also use the Reset Portal Password button on a parent's Contact record to have an auto-generated temporary password emailed to them.
The email also has a link to your Parent Portal login page so the parent can quickly navigate there and log in with their temporary password.
Initially, the parent's email address is their Parent Portal Login ID. After they have logged into the Portal once using the email address on their record, the email address will be automatically entered into the Login ID field on their Contact record (this field will be blank until they login the first time).
Parents have the option to change the Login ID from their email address to something they prefer once they have logged in. While in the Portal, they can change their Login ID (Billing & Payments > Account > Settings > Change Login ID) and the change will be added to the Login ID field on their Contact record in your system.
We recommend parents leave the Login ID as their email address because your email address is rarely forgotten.
Found in the Family Reports (from the Families menu), the Parent Portal Log allows you to quickly see all activity in your Parent Portal over a specified date range.
- Troubleshoot for parents who might be attempting to log in to Jackrabbit with the incorrect password.
- Search for a specific activity in a parent's portal, such as updating a student's date of birth.
- Monitor absences and makeups that have been scheduled by parents in their portals.
Search Criteria
Use the Search Criteria to define the results.
- Use the Filter Option criteria to select an activity from the drop-down list and create a log for only that activity.
- Enter a search term in the Filter Text field to look for that text in the Message column of the report, e.g., birthdate. This is not case sensitive.
Report Results
As an example, this Parent Portal Log was generated based on the Search Criteria selected in the screenshot above.
It shows all activity in the Parent Portal for all Locations on November 9, where the word birthdate appears in the Message column.
See View Parent Portal Activity for more options to monitor Portal activity.
At the bottom of the Contact page you can view Parent Portal information including the following:
- Login ID.
- Number of times a parent logged into the portal .
- Last login date.
- You can also reset the contact's portal password using the Reset Portal Password button. This will generate a temporary password and immediately email it to the contact's email.
- Check boxes to allow portal access and manage absences/makeups.
Parents can reset their own passwords with the Reset Password link that is located on the Portal login page. Encourage them to do this so that your staff does not need to reset it.
In order to troubleshoot for a parent who is not able to log into their Parent Portal, the first step is to test whether or not you are able to log into their portal.
You can easily gain access to a parent's portal by temporarily adding yourself as a contact to that family. You can then generate a password and log in for yourself.
- Click Add Contact in the Family record. Add your own name and your own email address as a contact for this family account.
- Click Save Changes.
- Select the Reset Portal Password button.
- The temporary password that is generated is displayed in a screen confirmation and emailed. Copy the password.
- Go to the Gear icon > Settings > Parent Portal > use the Go to Parent Portal link to log in using the password you copied. You will then be inside that family's portal. Note: Be sure you do not agree to Policies when you are testing access to the Parent Portal.
When you are finished, remember to delete your testing contact from that family record.
If you are able to log in, but the parent cannot access their portal this way, then there is something on the parent's side that is not working.
If You Can Access Their Portal but They Can't
Ask the customer the following questions:
- Is the contact email address correct?
- Ask them to add app.jackrabbitclass.com to their list of secured sites from within their internet browser. This is typically found in the browser Tools > Internet Options > Security.
- What internet browser are they using? (It should be the most recent version of Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Firefox. If their version is old, please ask them to update it.)
Something Else to Check
Another condition that can cause portal login errors is the manner in which your portal is connected to your website. If it is embedded, it can cause "session timed out" issues as well as many other problems.
Instead, make sure the portal is a link from your web page, not embedded directly into it. See the green box at the bottom of the Link to Your Parent Portal page for complete details.
If a parent advises you that they are not receiving a password reset email, you can verify that it was sent by viewing the email history on the Misc tab of the Family record.
Click the View Sent Emails button and look for emails with the Type=Portal Password. These will confirm that the password resets were sent. You can even view a copy of the sent email.
If a parent attempts to log into their Portal using an incorrect password five times, all subsequent attempts will be blocked, even if the correct password is then used. Access to their Portal will be suspended and they will continue to receive the Invalid user ID /password combination error until they reset their password.
They can use the reset your password link in the login error window to generate a password reset email. Alternatively, you can reset it for them from their Contact record in the Family account. Click the Reset Portal Password link to generate a temporary password which will display briefly and also will be emailed to the parent.
The Parent Portal is a great way for your customers to agree to your legal policies or renew their agreement to your current policies. With customers agreeing to policies online, you have the ability to access the last agreement date for each family, as well as a copy of the agreement with the date and time stamp. This eliminates the need to keep paper-signed agreements!
Jackrabbit captures your customer's agreement and stores it. Note: Registration information is stored in Jackrabbit for up to 5 years. There is a fee to retrieve records older than 5 years.
Having your customers renew their agreements at least annually and more if needed is recommended. This ensures you have current e-signatures on file to fulfill the requirements of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-Sign Act), which recognizes consent in the form of digital approval.
To create or manage your policies go to the Gear (icon) > Settings > Policies (tab). See our Help article Legal Policies & Policy Groups for more information.
Whenever a NEW customer registers online coming in via the Online Registration Form, your current legal policies are displayed at the bottom of the registration form and they must agree to each one by checking the boxes and typing their full name, which Jackrabbit stores in the Family record > Policies (tab) for easy access.
Agree to Policy Agreements
There are some circumstances where you may need to have EXISTING customers renew their agreement to your policies:
- When you first begin with Jackrabbit and have your existing customers imported, you should have them log in to their Parent Portal to agree to your policies so that it is captured and stored.
- When you use the Quick Registration feature, where your staff completes the registration directly in Jackrabbit, you can require that the customers use the Parent Portal to provide their agreements.
- If you update your policies or add new policies, your families will be required to renew their agreements in the Parent Portal.
- It is recommended to have your customers renew their agreements at least annually and more if needed.
icon > Require Reagreement to create a duplicate updated version that will automatically prompt families to reagree to your policies in the Parent Portal.When a parent logs in to the Parent Portal and has not agreed to your policies they will immediately be presented with the Policy Agreement Required alert letting them know they need to accept the policy agreements.
Policy Agreement Required
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When a parent clicks the link Read & Agree they are taken to the Policies tab (this can also be accessed from the Billing & Payments link in the top menu or from the sidebar menu > Account). |
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Policy Confirmation |
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View Policy Agreements
In the Parent Portal
From the right sidebar menu, the parent is able to view their agreement from the sidebar menu > Messages. It will have a Subject of Agreement and a Type of Registration.
Notification by Email
Email notification of the policy agreements signed by parents in the Parent Portal is sent to the contact email in the Family record. In addition, a message is posted in the Parent Portal and can be accessed from the right-hand menu at the top of the portal under Messages.
A notification of the policy agreements can be emailed to your organization if the Updates to Policies setting has been checked. When selected the email will be sent to the address designated as the "Reply to" and "Send Alert to" Email Address(es) in your Portal Settings (Gear icon > Settings > Parent Portal > Settings tab > Communication).
For organizations with multiple locations, you can choose to have the system use the applicable email based on your Locations (Gear icon > Settings > General > Notifications > Use Location Email Address is set to "Yes").
View In Jackrabbit - Family Record
In the Family record > Policies tab you can see the latest policies (if they were agreed to or need to be agreed to), the agreement date, the classes the policy is related to, and which Policy Group the policy is in.
Use the Policy Agreement History button to see the history of agreements for the family.
Additionally, in the Family record > Misc tab, click View Registrations. Locate the agreement and use the View link to see the details.
Parent Portal Log
The Parent Portal Log (Families menu > Family Reports > Parent Portal Log) will also list information relating to policy agreements.
Send Families an Email Request to Agree to Policies
You can quickly email all families that need to agree to your policies.
- Go to the Families (menu) > All Families.
- Use the Open filters (icon)
> Policies, Agreements, Contracts & Messages.- Set Agreed to all Active Policies? to No.
- Click Apply. The families that have not agreed to your policies will populate in the grid.
- Click the Send a message (icon)
and select Send Email. - Select Primary Contacts and Billing Contacts and deselect all others.
- Click NEXT: ADD'L SETTINGS.
- Click the toggle to include people who have opted out of mass emails.
- Select additional recipients to receive the email when applicable*.
- Choose who to send replies to*.
*Drop-down email addresses are located under the User ID (Gear icon > Settings > General > User IDs > Manage Users).
- Click NEXT: COMPOSER to create the email. Include a link to your Parent Portal in the email to make it easy for the parents to log into their portals and agree.
- Click Preview List, choose to Send Now or Send Later.
> Policies, Agreements, Contracts & Messages.
and select Send Email.Refer to Email Families for additional details.
Jackrabbit abides by the Electronic Signatures Act signed in 2000 which considers online submissions binding. Read more about the ESIGN Act in Wikipedia. We recommend that you confirm procedures with your insurance agent and attorney. The email notification with time and date stamp falls under the criteria of this Electronic Signatures Act and allows you to consider Online Registrations and Portal agreements binding.
When you have worked through all of the articles outlined in the lesson, select the Take the Quiz button to be taken to the Lesson #9 Quiz where you can test your understanding of the concepts in this lesson. You will be asked to enter an email address for quiz results to be sent.
Quiz #9 - The Parent (Customer) Portal - The Basics
| Number of Questions | Total Possible Points | Points Needed for an "A" | Points Needed for a "B" | Points Needed for a "C" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
