My school uses Skyward Family Access. How do I get alerts and emails from it?

In Family Access, choose email, Message Center or both under My Account, Email Notifications, then set score and low-balance alerts.

In Family Access, under My Account, scroll to Email Notifications to choose whether notifications arrive by email, on the Message Center wall, or both. Below that you can choose email alerts when your children score above or below a percentage you pick, choose how often you get progress report emails, and opt in or out of a Food Service low-balance notification. In the app, tap the menu, select the person icon, and under User Preferences tap Push Notifications, then Save. Skyward says that, because every school district is different, some areas of Skyward may not be visible or available to you.

For a Skyward email, connect Gmail or forward it to your Daywell address. For anything else, take a screenshot and share it to Daywell from your phone, or add it in Daywell on the web.

What to do

Set email notifications. In Family Access, under My Account, scroll to Email Notifications to choose whether notifications arrive by email, on the Message Center wall, or both.
Set the alerts you want. Below that you can choose email alerts when your children score above or below a percentage you pick, choose how often you get progress report emails, and opt in or out of a Food Service low-balance notification.
Set push notifications in the app. In the Skyward Family Access app, tap the menu, select the person icon, and under User Preferences tap Push Notifications; you can choose which devices get them and alerts about grades, missing assignments, new messages and newly registered devices, then Save.
Put events on your own calendar. To set an email reminder about a Family Access calendar event, select the event, then click Export to Personal Calendar. When you book a parent-teacher conference in Family Access, it shows up in your calendar and you receive an email confirming the date and time.
Ask the office what shows. Skyward says that, because every school district is different, some areas of Skyward may not be visible or available to you. Write: "Which Family Access features does our school use?"
Label what arrives. In Gmail, make a filter for your school, daycare and activity senders and have it label them "School". Add the sender of your first Skyward email to it. Choose Skip the Inbox (Archive it) only if you'll open that label every day.

How Daywell helps

Daywell (getdaywell.com) is the family prep assistant. Connect Gmail once, read-only. Daywell looks at email and picks out the messages from school, daycare and activities. Take a screenshot of the message, then share it to Daywell from your phone, or add it in Daywell on the web. One list of what's coming up, which child it's for, and what to bring, sign or pay. On the iPhone and Android apps, one quiet reminder comes each morning, at a time you pick. Invite a partner and you both see the same list.

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Questions parents ask

I don't see Email Notifications in my Family Access.

Ask the office which Skyward your school uses.

Skyward says that, because every school district is different, some areas of Skyward may not be visible or available to you. Skyward's parents page points families on its newer Qmlativ product to separate resources. Ask the office which Skyward your school uses.

Does Skyward email me when my child's lunch balance is low?

You can opt in under Email Notifications.

Below that you can choose email alerts when your children score above or below a percentage you pick, choose how often you get progress report emails, and opt in or out of a Food Service low-balance notification. For what to do about lunch money, see how to remember school lunch money and fee deadlines.

How do I get Skyward updates into Daywell?

Connect Gmail, or forward the email.

For a Skyward email, connect Gmail or forward it to your Daywell address. For anything else, take a screenshot and share it to Daywell from your phone, or add it in Daywell on the web.

I use Outlook or another email, not Gmail. Can I still use Daywell?

Yes, just forward them.

Yes. From any inbox, forward school emails to your own Daywell address, one at a time or automatically. The first time you forward from a new address, Daywell asks you to confirm it's yours; after that, forward again and Daywell reads it.

A form or flyer came home. What do I do?

Share it as a PDF or a picture.

Share a PDF or a picture to Daywell and it reads it, on every device.

Does Daywell read all of my email?

No. It starts with who it's from and the subject.

No. It looks only at who each email is from and its subject, and skips what Gmail files under Promotions, Social and Forums. It opens the ones it judges to be from school, daycare or activities. If it can't tell from the sender and subject, it opens that one too rather than risk missing it. The privacy policy explains what is kept and for how long.

How do I get Daywell?

Start on the web.

Daywell is on the web. Start at getdaywell.com. It reads your school and activity email and tells you what your kids need ready.

Sources

Checked by James Boone, Daywell, 5 Nov 2026