Miley PTA - Fujimi City Suwa Elementary School PTA

Greetings

I am Goda, representative of Miley's Inc. In this interview, we will proceed with the following objectives: 1. To organize case studies of Miley PTA implementation for those considering adoption. 2. To provide an opportunity to reflect on the implementation at your school and make it easier to convey achievements, reflections, and challenges to future generations. 3. To confirm the popular aspects of Miley PTA and areas requiring improvement (feel free to share anything) and use them for future improvements.

Thank you very much for taking the time despite your busy schedule. I may not be very smooth as I'm not used to this, but let's get started. I would like to proceed according to the questions I sent you in advance.

Nice to meet you, looking forward to it.

School Information

About the school characteristics

First, regarding the school, Suwa Elementary School in Fujimi City, Saitama Prefecture, could you briefly tell us what kind of school it is?

Suwa Elementary School has the largest number of enrolled students among the 11 elementary schools in the city. We have about 120 students per grade, and around 560 households. The schoolyard is wide enough to easily accommodate 100 meters, making it quite a large school. The school's educational goals are "children who learn by themselves," "kind children," and "healthy children" - these three points.

Are There Many Foreign Parents?

I see. I'd like to ask all schools I interview about this, but I think foreign parents are increasing nationwide. How is it at Suwa Elementary School?

I honestly don't know the exact number, but there are a few households. Not many, but there are some.

Are there any communication issues with those few households so far?

Not so far, no.

PTA Organization and Activities

Apart from school information, I'd like to ask about the PTA, only what you're comfortable sharing. For example, how many officers are there?

The PTA headquarters has about 10 people. There are also public relations committees and community committees, with about 200 people involved in total.

That's quite a large organization.

Managing it all is tough (laughs)

Relationship Between Teachers and PTA

Regarding the relationship between the PTA and school, some schools have teachers deeply involved, while others are completely separated. It seems to vary greatly by school. How is it at Suwa Elementary School?

At Suwa Elementary School, I think we've built a basically friendly relationship. We don't push things onto each other or make unreasonable demands. When something comes up, we consult in the form of "we'd like to change this, what do you think?"

That's a good balance. At my child's school, the vice principal manages everything including PTA officer selection, so... I sometimes wondered about that (laughs)

That might be easier though (laughs)

Background of Implementation

What were the organizational challenges?

About the background of implementation. I assume there were some challenges you wanted to improve. What kind of issues did you have?

In the previous year and before that, I heard that distributing and printing PTA letters was quite labor-intensive due to the large number of households. Socially, there's been talk about paperless and eco-friendly approaches, so considering those points, someone suggested "let's use an app!" and I took the lead in making it happen.

Printing costs alone were about 150,000 yen per year, so we considered the app to reduce that.

Paper inevitably increases costs and effort. In my child's case, papers would be crumpled up sleeping in the bag (laughs) Often shown to me after the deadline (laughs)

That happened too (laughs) Same here. (laughs)

So the main challenge was transitioning from paper to an app.

How Did You Learn About Miley PTA?

How did you learn about Miley?

It started with an internet search. Several companies came up, and we decided to consider them.

Process Leading to Free Trial Application

Since our company is relatively new, some customers say "suspicious" or "is it okay?" (laughs) It's difficult, like proving a negative. Even if we say it's okay, some don't believe us... Did you feel any suspicion? (laughs)

I didn't feel any suspicion (laughs) Besides, I sent questions via email several times persistently, and the response was good, so there was no doubt. The price was about a third or quarter compared to other companies, so I just wondered why it was so cheap.

Thank you. I also worked as a PTA officer as a parent, and felt the inconvenience of handling a lot of paper and having to communicate via LINE, which is why I created Miley. When I created a LINE group, almost no one used their real names - everyone had nicknames like Papa or Mama, so I couldn't tell who was who (laughs) LINE has become a private tool, so people don't really want to use it for other purposes.

Many households here are also critical of using LINE (laughs)

I wanted to solve those inconveniences, so I created Miley as a digitalization tool for PTAs. We're working hard to provide it at the lowest possible price so many people can use it.

Implementation Status

How did you proceed with implementation?

Regarding the implementation situation, you first applied in May 2021, and after a free trial period, started regular use in September. What happened during that time?

During the free trial period, we distributed letters to each parent's household. It was like "please use it during the trial period." Some were in favor of the app and some were against it, so at that time we kind of left it up to them, telling them "if you want to use the app, please use it."

After that, we created a survey about implementation and distributed it to each household. The survey responses showed a majority in favor, so we decided to implement it based on majority rule.

We were paying attention to Suwa Elementary School's fast implementation speed. Usually, schools try it with a few officers first and gradually increase the number, but in Suwa Elementary School's case, you went all in from the start, so I was a bit worried if it would be okay (laughs)

Implementation Troubles

Were there any troubles during implementation?

There were no troubles at all. The biggest strength was the low price. Other companies charge over 100,000 yen, so there were opinions like "Can we really reduce costs by implementing such an expensive tool?" We received opinions like "Miley's price seems reasonable."

At first, there was an opinion to try it only with the PTA board and teachers, but I'm lazy, so I proceeded with "If we're going to do it, let's involve everyone" (laughs)

I was also watching nervously (laughs) I'm glad it seems to be going well.

About Pricing

Our pricing is set with email services in mind. Email delivery has issues like emails not being delivered, and lacks features like surveys, making it one-way communication. We expect more people will look for services different from email services. It's great that this is being appreciated.

The timing of implementation was really good. The email delivery company the school was using cost about 17,000 yen per year, but they suddenly raised it to about 300,000 yen from next year. Things like that gave us a tailwind.

300,000 yen is outrageous...

When calculated at 50 yen per person per month, it becomes about 300,000 yen. Email itself isn't used that much, and although we're getting a lot now due to COVID, there's hardly any email when nothing is happening.

School Also Started Using Miley

We were thinking of using Miley for PTA, but the school also decided to stop the email delivery service and use Miley's contact network for messages that were sent by email, and also use Miley for absence notifications. From there, the number of registrations exploded.

Checking the current number of registered users, it's 531 people.

I created and distributed registration application forms, but I think about 20 or 30 households still haven't joined. Some households have both fathers and mothers registered separately.

Real Name or Nickname?

About the implementation method, are profile names registered with real names? Or do you allow nicknames other than real names?

We tell them "please register with any name you like." We ask them to register their children's names (real names) in the tag settings.

So parents can use nicknames, but children should use real names. Are there people who don't like using real names?

Yes, there are.

Moving to Entry System Using Miley

When assigning existing PTA organizations and activities to use Miley, were there any difficulties?

It's partly because implementation is still recent... We're currently considering reorganizing the PTA organization. We're thinking of dissolving the committees and changing to a team system, recruiting people who want to participate, starting in April.

When the team system starts, we plan to assign teams to Miley groups, and people who become team members will join and use those groups. Due to COVID, we haven't been able to go to school at all, so we don't know if it will work well, but we're trying various changes.

The difference between the "team system" and "traditional committees" is whether people are appointed or volunteers raise their hands to participate - the so-called entry system.

That's right.

That's innovative! At times like that, were there opinions like "We've always done it this way..."?

There are opinions from people who have been officers or committee members in the past, like "If we switch to a team system, won't there be no one to do PTA board positions?" We'll see how it goes, but if we don't have enough people, we might need to do lottery draws. We won't know until we try, so we're thinking of trying it first.

I thought you were really pushing ahead with innovative things.

I think we're changing things too rapidly... but the term is only two years anyway. I plan to stay involved after next year too.

Good luck. We will support you in any way we can.

After Implementation

Were the issues before implementation resolved?

It seems the paper-related issues before implementation were resolved by implementing Miley and reducing paper.

What Else Has Improved?

Are there any other improvements?

The survey feature. I feel that parents' opinions can be reflected much more now. Until now, decisions were made only at board or school meetings.

Also, many households didn't know where to throw away aluminum cans, but we were able to take photos and upload them to Miley's contact network, which was good.

So you're feeling the benefits of digitalization through surveys and announcement distribution. As for things that were distributed on paper, newsletters are probably a big one. How have they changed after implementing Miley?

We publish newsletters twice a year, but we're discussing with the principal to reduce it to once a year from next year, mainly for introducing teachers.

When I was a PTA officer at elementary school, I was in charge of newsletters, but with paper, you can only publish periodically, so you couldn't release information in a timely manner and ended up cramming everything in for printing. It's better to release information in a timely manner. And when you release things in a timely manner, you run out of material to compile for paper (laughs) So paper costs and the burden of creating newsletters have decreased.

That's right (laughs)

Qualitatively speaking, are there any changes that can't be measured in numbers? Like everyone finding things easier, feeling less pressure than before. Or more people actively sharing opinions, any changes you can sense?

To be honest, I'm the only one who can fully use the app, so I'm doing almost everything myself. Board members occasionally post to the contact network. On the school side, I contacted the vice principal to learn how to use Miley and have them post to the contact network.

Are there others registered as Miley administrators?

There's the PTA board, and on the school side, the principal, vice principal, head teacher, and a few others. Homeroom teachers are not registered as administrators.

What about other officers? Are there things that have become easier than before?

I wonder... It's the same as when distributing paper, but basically posts need approval from the president, so when it comes to me, I check and post. I end up doing it myself.

Isn't the burden on you, Mr. Iwata, quite large?

Not really.

Handover to Next Year?

I am concerned about what will happen when I'm gone. But I think I'll still be involved with the elementary school for about another 10 years, so it's not that urgent.

Requests and Improvements

What do you expect from Miley in the future?

We're moving too quickly and have quite a bit of time left (laughs) About Miley, you've sent us questions and requests from time to time, but is there anything at this point?

I've asked others and several points came up, so there are about 10, but should I send them by email later?

First, please briefly tell me, and if you could also send them by email later, that would be helpful.

Well, for now... I want to be able to attach multiple PDF files when posting to the contact network. Also, I want to increase the upper limit of PDF file size that can be attached.

If the file size gets too large, it also becomes difficult for the recipients... but we will consider it.

From the school side, they want to be able to select more than 20 groups, which is the current limit. They want to select all groups at once and then deselect just one. With 4 classes per grade across 6 grades, that makes 24 groups.

So you want to contact almost everyone but exclude just a few. We will consider it.

I'll send the other details by email.

I was nervous for my first interview, but I was helped by your kindness (laughs) I don't know if it's because of Suwa Elementary School's implementation, but we've received many applications from schools in Fujimi City.

If there's a need for something like a federation meeting for schools in Fujimi City in the future, we could register a virtual school with a name like Fujimi City Federation in Miley, have presidents, vice presidents, principals, and vice principals from each school join, and communicate using Miley's contact network and chat. If it becomes necessary, we'll handle it, so please feel free to reach out anytime.

Thank you very much for participating in this interview.

Fujimi City Suwa Elementary School PTA

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