SUCCESS STORY SUMMARY
Challenge:
Providence Public School District (RI) needed a scalable way to provide equitable communication access to families speaking over 75 different languages.
Solution:
The district launched K12 Insight’s Let’s Talk unified service desk and the AI-powered Let’s Talk Assistant chatbot to streamline communication, provide multilingual support, and improve stakeholder engagement.
Results:
PPSD now delivers timely, culturally responsive service to multilingual families—building trust, access, and alignment with its core values of equity and belonging.
Serving more than 21,000 students across 37 schools, Providence Public School District (PPSD) in Rhode Island is home to an incredibly diverse student body—68% Latinx, 15% Black, 5.5% multi-racial, and 55% from homes where English is not the primary language spoken.
“Equity and belonging are leading core values at PPSD. At every single level in our district, we are communicating with our multilingual families,” said Jennifer Efflandt, Executive Director of Multilingual Learners at PPSD. “It is their right to receive pertinent information about their child’s education in the language they prefer.”
Language barriers made it difficult for staff to connect with families and provide consistent support. With over half of Providence Public Schools’ students coming from homes where English is not the primary language, they knew supporting multilingual learners and their families was essential.
of PPSD students are multilingual learners
of PPSD students come from homes where English is not the primary language spoken
of PPSD students receive special education services
In August 2020, PPSD launched Let’s Talk, a unified service desk platform designed for K–12 school districts, to provide families equitable access to information and support. The platform includes powerful translation tools supporting Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Khmer, and Swahili.
“Let’s Talk helps us manage multilingual communications, demonstrate cultural competency, and meet the needs of our diverse community,” Efflandt said. “I appreciate that we were able to work with K12 Insight to incorporate our major languages into the platform. The translation feature helps us support and accommodate our families who are not English speakers so they can get the information they need.”
The district also became the first in New England to launch Let’s Talk Assistant — an AI-powered, bilingual chatbot, in both English and Spanish.
“We’re committed to ensuring that our interactions reflect and express the core values of our district — particularly equity and access — and this bilingual chatbot allows us to serve our families in a culturally responsive way,” said Dr. Javier Montanez, PPSD’s superintendent.
The tools allow families to easily submit questions, concerns, or feedback 24/7 from any device, and in the language of their choice.
“Let’s Talk makes it easy and straightforward for families,” Efflandt said. “Rather than having to search the website to find the email address for the right person, Let’s Talk gives our families an easy access point to get answers to their questions and concerns.”
Let’s Talk and Let’s Talk Assistant now serve as cornerstones of PPSD’s communication and customer service strategy. The platforms help the district meet its customer service standards, which emphasize courtesy, cultural and linguistic responsiveness, and continuous improvement.
“Offering the Let’s Talk Assistant in Providence reflects our commitment to engaging our families and ensuring we have a clear line of communication,” said Angélica Infante-Green, Rhode Island Education Commissioner. “Over half of the students in Providence Public Schools come from homes where English is not the primary language. This innovative tool will help us better reach the diverse communities we serve which is a core priority.”
Let’s Talk also supports districtwide collaboration and transparency through its unified inbox, enabling teams to track, assign, and respond to inquiries more efficiently.
“Let’s Talk offers another avenue for families to be able to get what they need from our district,” Efflandt said. “The unified inbox makes it easy to answer questions directly or to route it to another colleague who is an expert in another interest area.”
By investing in multilingual accessibility, PPSD ensures every family has a voice and access to the information they need to support their child’s education.
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