Your First Week

Adding your first families

Quick answer: Go to Contacts, click + Add Contact, fill in the parent's name, email, and phone. Add their children using custom student fields. Save. This creates one contact per parent.

The basics

In Growth Suite, every parent is a contact. Students aren't separate contact records — they live as custom fields on the parent's record. A family of four (two parents, two children) typically has one parent contact with both children's information attached.

For your first few families, you'll add them manually. For larger lists, use the import workflow (next article).

Step-by-step

1. Open Contacts

1. Click Contacts in the main menu.
2. Click + Add Contact in the top right.

2. Fill in parent information

• First name and last name
• Email — this is how you'll reach them
• Phone — used for SMS once it's set up
• Address (optional, but useful for emergency contacts and zoning)

3. Add student information

Scroll down to find the student custom fields. For each child, fill in:

• First name and last name
• Date of birth or grade level (whichever your school tracks)
• Any program-specific fields (classroom, program track, etc.)

Growth Suite typically supports up to 4 students per parent record. If you have a family with more than 4 children, contact your account team.

4. Set status and tags

Tag the family with their current status:

• enrolled-2025-26 if they're currently attending
• prospect if they're considering enrollment
• tour-scheduled if you've already arranged a visit

Tags are how you'll segment families later for emails, reports, and automations.

5. Save

Click Save. The family appears in your contact list and is ready to be communicated with.

What happens after you save

• The family is searchable from anywhere — search by parent name, email, or student name
• You can now send them email and SMS from their contact record
• Any forms they fill out will update their existing record (rather than creating a duplicate)
• Automations and workflows can target them based on tags

Tips

• Use a consistent naming convention. "Christopher" vs "Chris" creates duplicates. Pick one and stick with it.
• Capture phone numbers in standard format. Leave out parentheses and dashes if your import process requires it — Growth Suite formats them on display.
• Don't bulk-add prospects this way. Manual entry is for small numbers (3–10 families). For larger lists, use the import workflow.
• Add a note if needed. Free-form notes are useful for things like "parent prefers afternoon contact" or "asked about scholarship options".

Related articles

• Importing your existing family list
• Setting up your admissions pipeline