Subscribing as a School

Subscribing to BPN as a K-12 School

Policies for Different Types of Schools

 

Questions from Parents about their child's school

How-To for School Subscribers

See Also

Who can subscribe as a K-12 school?

  1. Public, charter and private K-12 schools in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  2. Out-of-town residential programs such as boarding schools that enroll students from the San Francisco Bay Area. 

How do I subscribe?

Click 'subscribe' in the upper right corner of this website. If you are already a BPN subscriber, go directly to the Subscribe page to create a new subscription under your existing email address.  

How much does it cost?

Free to subscribe:

  • Public school districts, public charter schools, schools that do not charge tuition for any students

$250 per year:

  • Boarding schools and other residential programs
  • Online schools that do not publish a maximum enrollment

All Others:

What are the benefits of subscribing? 

  1. Post announcements to the BPN website, including openings at your school, admissions events such as tours and open houses, parent education events such as lectures, and kid-friendly events such as carnivals. Your posts will be included in BPN's listings such as "Schools with Current Openings" and "Tours & Info Sessions." New posts are included in the weekly Announcements newsletter, which is emailed to all subscribers, and if relevant, the Teens newsletter. 

  2. A profile page on our website that you can edit to include your contact information, updated descriptions of your programs, and a link to your own website.  Parents who subscribe to BPN can post reviews of your school directly to your profile page, and your current posts appear here too

  3. Inclusion in BPN's school database, and highlighted with our 'B' icon to show you are a subscriber.

BPN has more than 43,000 parent subscribers as of Spring 2023. Our weekly newsletter contains announcements about local schools and family-friendly businesses, and our website is widely used by local parents to read trusted reviews of schools. Subscribing to BPN is an inexpensive and effective way for Bay Area parents to hear about your school.

Boarding schools & residential programs

Residential programs for K-12 students may purchase the $250 school subscription and publicize their programs on BPN, including schools that are not located in the San Francisco Bay Area. We accept subscriptions for academic boarding schools as well as residential treatment centers, inpatient programs, and other therapeutic programs.

Schools that also operate classes or summer programs

If your school operates a summer program that enrolls kids who aren't enrolled in your school, then your capacity for subscription fee purposes is the combined capacity of all your programs.  You'll have two profile pages on BPN, one for your school, which will be included in the K-12 Schools Database, and one for your classes and/or camps, which will be included in the Classes & Camps Database.  

Schools that also operate a preschool or have more than one site

If your school also operates a preschool, or you have more than one site, your subscription fee will be based on either the combined capacity of all your programs, or on each program separately. For details, see If you have more than one site and If you offer one than one type of program.

Nonprofit subscription vs. School subscription

Many private schools are nonprofit tax-exempt organizations.  BPN does offer nonprofit subscriptions, but not if their main activity is operating a school, camp, or classes for kids. Your nonprofit school must subscribe in the 'Schools' category rather than the Nonprofit category.  Your subscription amount is based on your enrollment capacity. Public school districts may subscribe for free. If you are a nonprofit organization and your school does not charge tuition or fees for any students,  please contact us to arrange a reduced or free subscription. 

How to update your School's Profile Page

Note: Some of the fields on your page, such as the school's name, can only be edited by BPN administrators. If this field needs to be corrected, please contact us.

  • About the Program: Type in a short description of your school, which will appear in a shaded box at the top of your profile page.
  • Phone:  This field accepts any format for phone numbers. You can enter more than one phone number, or add text such as "email preferred" or "leave a message."
  • Email: Enter a full, valid email address. Parents will be able to click on this to send you an email.
  • Website:  Enter your school's website and it will be clickable.
  • Address: Enter your school's street address and city
  • Capacity: Enter the maximum number of students that can be enrolled in your school.
  • Languages: Check any languages that are spoken at your school.  Parents can search for this.
  • Type of School: Check all grade levels at your school.  Parents can search programs for this.
  • Grade Range: The grades at your school, such as "K-8"
  • Affiliation: This lets parents search for specific type of programs, such as religious affiliations, co-ops, or educational philosophies such as Waldorf or Montessori.
  • Program Type: Check any that apply.  This lets parents search for different types of schools.

How to post about openings at your school

Click 'Post a Message' on the BPN website and choose Announcements if you have immediate openings, or Events if you have an open house or scheduled tours. Your announcement remains live for 30 days unless you unpublish it sooner. Your event will expire after the date of the event.  Both announcements and events will be linked to your profile page.  View Schools & Preschools with Openings and Schools: Info Sessions/Tours/Open Houses.

I am a parent. How can I post an event at my child's school?

Announcements and events at private schools can only be posted by community subscribers, not parent subscribers. (Here's why.) If your child attends a public school or a charter school, it is free for the school to subscribe.  Parents can subscribe on behalf of their child's public school.  See the next section.

How can I subscribe for my child's public school?

If you are a parent who's in charge of publicizing events for your child's public school, you can create an account on BPN for the school and then post events and announcements on their behalf. You will also be able to edit the school's profile page on the BPN website. The subscription is free for public schools.  There are two ways to subscribe the school:

  • Create a separate account for the school

This is preferred, because it lets you keep your parent account separate from the school's account. This way, you can share the school's login with other parents or staff at the school who need to post announcements, and when you move on, another parent or a staff member can take over the account.  All posts will have the school's username and email on them, not yours. To subscribe the school, you will need an email address for the school's account that is different from your personal email address, such as "PTA [at] myschool.org"   Log out of your parent account first, and then click the subscribe link in the upper right hand corner, and follow the instructions for "Community Subscribers >> Schools, Preschools, Camps, Classes, Daycare." 

  • Add the school's subscription to your own account

This method will also give you access to post announcements for the school, but you will be posting from your parent account.  The disadvantage is that if somebody else at the school wants to post announcements, they will either have to forward them to you to post, or you will have to give them your login and password to access your account.  Your username and email will appear on all posts for the school. To add the school to your own account:  when you are logged in to your parent account on BPN, click here for the Subscribe Page and follow the instructions for "Community Subscribers >> Schools, Preschools, Camps, Classes, Daycare." 

In either case, a moderator will review your subscription and give you access to post, usually within 24 hours.  Once your school's subscription is approved, you will see a link to edit the school's profile on your or the school's account page, and when you click Post a Message, you'll see buttons to post to Events or Announcements.

How can I post a review of my child's school, camp, or class?

Login to your BPN parent account and navigate to the their profile page,  using either the "Search BPN" box or the main navigation menu. If your school or class or camp doesn't yet have a profile page on BPN, please contact us and we'll make one. On their profile page, you will see a button "Post a Review."  Click that, type in your review, and after it is approved by a moderator, it will appear on their profile page.  Reviews of schools, camps, and classes can also be posted in response to a question in BPN's Parent Q&A forum. Please note:  BPN accepts negative reviews, but only in response to a question from another parent in the Q&A forums, per our Negative Review policy.  Negative reviews cannot be posted directly to a profile page.