This spring, Lirvana Labs piloted Parent World, an AI-supported feature within our Yeti Confetti Kids (YCK) platform, with families at two of our NYC DOE partner schools in partnership with Columbia University's Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL). Parent World gives families a personalized window into their child's learning of recent activities, session summaries, progress by skill, and how their child is tracking toward grade-level expectations. The goal is simple: help families stay connected to student progress and support meaningful academic conversations at home and at school.

Working with six parents, Spanish- and Chinese-speaking families that reflect the diversity of these schools, we gathered feedback through surveys and focus groups, we designed the pilot to listen. Here's what we learned.

Families want to see the specifics. Parents told us their top reason for joining was to understand exactly what their child is struggling with and how they're progressing over time. The feature that broke skills down by grade level resonated most - 60% of post-survey respondents named it the most useful part of the experience, followed by the main dashboard at 40%.

Trusted school staff are key to adoption. The most effective recruitment came through direct outreach from Parent Coordinators and teachers - the people families already know and trust. Word of mouth between parents played a meaningful supporting role, pointing to peer-to-peer outreach as a promising way to grow.

There were early signs of impact. 40% of parents reported that Parent World improved the quality of the conversations they have with their child about school - an encouraging early signal for a first pilot.

Clarity and actionability are where we go next. Parents were genuinely interested in the information Parent World surfaces, but they wanted clearer, plain-language explanations of what the visuals mean - progress bars, color bands, and markers - along with concrete suggestions for how to help at home based on what they saw. Many also wanted regular reminders when new information was available.

These findings are directional, but they give us a clear roadmap: clearer data visualizations, actionable at-home guidance, and consistent nudges to keep families engaged.

We're grateful to our partners at Columbia University's Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL), and to the families and staff at our partner schools who shared their time and honest feedback. This is just the beginning for Parent World — follow along as we continue to build tools that bring homes and classrooms closer together.

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