From a parent app to 2-way SMS and more: Arux launches suite of new features at the MCEA Annual Conference

Arux was born from building technology solutions for Minnesota Community Education. Our 26 employees are products of the state's great programming. A quick story:

In 1996, my mom signed me up for my first community education class, Rocket Building, through South Washington County Community Education. Through various community education courses and as members of the Rainbow Kids Klub, my co-founder Stephen and I became familiar with the world of after school programming.

And we haven't stopped since.

Today, alongside the Minnesota Community Education Association's (MCEA) Annual Fall Conference, we're excited to share a suite of new features designed to fulfill our mission:  to build software that eliminates barriers for after school, community education, and preschool programs, enabling programming to reach families and community members.

If you're running an after school program, here's what you can expect to see from us at Arux.

Parent app

The Arux team has been hard at work on a parent app designed to provide parents with everything they need to stay connected with their child's care. The app enhances flexibility during sign-in and out, including Bluetooth beacon technology that activates when the parent or authorized pickup is within close proximity of the classroom. 

The app also increases parent engagement with quick access to view schedules, emergency contacts, and authorized pickups, while improving communication through in-app access to a child's activity feed (with photos).

The new Arux parent app provides your parents with everything they need to stay connected to their child's care.

Earlier this year, we talked about one of our guiding pillars: making it easier for programs to engage with families. So, we built an app for them. Arux is launching the parent app on iOS first, followed by Android shortly after.

2-way SMS and RCS messaging

Earlier this year, we launched integrated email communications, empowering teams to design, segment, and send targeted emails to families through Arux. 

Now, we're introducing two-way SMS and RCS messaging, allowing admins with the proper permission levels to receive and view responses to program-generated SMS messages directly. Similar to SMS, RCS messaging provides a more program-branded messaging experience with families.

Admin can view all email, SMS, and RCS messages sent to families in our redesigned communications tab, which offers a fresh, intuitive approach to communication management. You can now easily audit and track what's being sent, delivered, and engaged with across all channels, giving you a better way to view everything.

Similar to SMS, RCS messaging provides a more program-branded messaging experience with families.

Family dashboard

Our Community Portal offers a place for community members to find and register for programming in minutes. But beyond enrolling in programming, it's important for families to easily complete essential tasks and manage their account information.

We're developing and redesigning how families can view and access everything related to their accounts. Our new dashboard interface helps families navigate a growing list of information more intuitively, including:

• Account overviews, with balances due for child care and courses, family contacts, and various quick actions they can take without leaving the dashboard. 

• Calendar view including all programming (before and after school and enrichment) that children are scheduled for during the month, including pending schedule changes. 

• Quick access to invoices, enrollments, family members, recent payment activity, and tax statements.

  
  

Our new calendar view in the family dashboard shows all before and after school and enrichment programming children are scheduled for during the month, including pending schedule changes.

Community Portal color themes

We're always on a mission to create a more branded and engaging consumer experience for families, so we are introducing color themes.

Colors help your community recognize your program at a glance. With the new Theme Color feature, Arux makes it easy to align your Community Portal with your program's branding or school colors, with no custom design required. Instantly update the primary and accent colors across your Community Portal, giving your family-facing pages a cohesive, branded look.

Theme Colors let you instantly update the primary and accent colors across your Community Portal, giving your family-facing pages a consistent, polished look.

Each color palette was professionally designed by our in-house design team and named after Minnesota wildlife. They reflect our roots and our belief in building software that's made and supported with love in Minnesota. Districts can choose the palette that best complements their existing brand without getting bogged down in the minutia of making 100s of individual accessible color choices.

We prioritize accessibility in everything we design, which benefits our districts by providing a highly functional experience for a wide range of users. These new color themes allow our users a wide range of exciting color choices without sacrificing legibility and functionality. The Arux team put in the work up front so our users can pick a palette and be up and running quickly!

Arux users can now preview and select from a rainbow of these eight distinctive color palettes: Bluebird, Starling, Robin, Dragonfly, Ladybug, Moose, Monarch, and Lynx. Each palette updates the key visual elements of your Community Portal — such as buttons, highlights, section headers, and the footer of your page — bringing your program's brand to life.

Each palette updates the key visual elements of your Community Portal, such as buttons, highlights, and section headers, bringing your program's brand to life.

New features, the same commitment to community education

Each new feature we build is shaped by the purpose: making programs more connected, efficient, and family-centered.

We're proud to keep evolving alongside the districts and families who make these programs possible, turning feedback into real, lasting improvements. As we look ahead, our roots in after school programming and community education continue to guide us toward a future where every community-run program can bring people together. 

Stay tuned over the coming weeks for more details on each new piece of functionality and stories on how they are being used by programs just like yours.

And, if you're curious what these new features could look like for your district, book 15 minutes with Macy — she'll walk you through Arux and answer any questions.

Thank you for being part of that journey. We're just getting started.