Messages & Group Chats
Messages is Premeena’s built-in chat. Staff, students, and parents talk in 1:1 direct messages or in groups — with @mentions, emoji, editing, unread badges, and in-app notifications. The school stays in control: who can message whom is a school-level setting, and administrators can review any conversation that involves a student.
How it works in one minute
Section titled “How it works in one minute”-
Open Sidebar → Communication → Messages. Everyone with messaging access — staff, students, parents — finds it in the same place.
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Hit New. Search anyone in your school under People and click Message to open a DM, or pick Create a group.
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Type away. @mention someone to ping them, add emoji, and press Enter to send. Recipients get an in-app notification and an unread badge on the sidebar.
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Made a typo? You can edit your own message for up to 15 minutes after sending, or delete it anytime.
Who can message whom
Section titled “Who can message whom”School-side staff can always message anyone. For students and parents, the rules are fixed by design — with two switches your school controls:
| From ↓ To → | Staff | Student | Parent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | Always | Always | Always |
| Student | Always | Only if “Students can message each other” is on (default: on) | Never |
| Parent | Always | Never | Only if “Parents can message each other” is on (default: off) |
Group chats
Section titled “Group chats”From New → Create a group, name the group, pick an accent color, and choose Who can join?
| Option | What it means |
|---|---|
| Private | Only invited members can find and join |
| Open | Anyone in your school can find and join instantly with the Join button |
| By request | Anyone can find it, but a group admin approves each Request to join |
A few ground rules:
- Groups hold up to 50 members, and you’re included automatically when you create one.
- Staff can always create groups. Students can create them only if student-to-student messaging is on. Parents can’t create groups.
- Students and parents can never be in the same group.
- Group admins manage everything from the gear icon in the thread header: add or remove members, approve join requests, rename the group, promote other admins, or leave. Joins, leaves, and renames appear in the thread as small system notices.
- A group must always keep at least one admin — promote someone else before stepping down.
The composer
Section titled “The composer”- @mentions — type
@and pick a member; they get a “mentioned you” notification that jumps straight to the message. - Emoji picker, live character counter, and a 5,000-character limit per message.
- Edit your own messages within 15 minutes of sending; delete your own messages anytime.
- Attachments aren’t available yet — the paperclip in the composer is a preview of a planned premium feature.
Video calls from a DM
Section titled “Video calls from a DM”In any 1:1 direct message, staff who can manage video calls see a video icon in the thread header — one click starts a call and drops an “Incoming video call” card into the thread with a Join button for the other person. See 1:1 Video Calls for the full picture.
Safety & moderation
Section titled “Safety & moderation”Messaging is school-supervised by design:
- Any conversation that involves a student shows the banner “Messages are visible to school administrators” — students and parents always know supervision exists.
- Owners and managers get a Moderation tab next to Chats in the inbox. From there they can open any student-involving conversation read-only (a “Moderation view” badge makes it unmistakable). Every open is recorded in the audit log.
- The two policy switches — “Students can message each other” and “Parents can message each other” — live in the same Moderation panel.
- Moderators can remove an inappropriate message from any conversation; that removal is audit-logged too.
Roles & permissions
Section titled “Roles & permissions”| Permission | Who has it | Grants |
|---|---|---|
messaging:use | Nearly everyone — staff, students, parents | The Messages page: DMs, groups, notifications |
messaging:moderate | Owner, manager, partner, platform admin | The Moderation tab, policy switches, read-only conversation review, message removal |
Common questions
Section titled “Common questions”Why can’t I find a student when starting a chat?
Section titled “Why can’t I find a student when starting a chat?”Most likely your school has turned “Students can message each other” off (if you’re a student), or you’re a parent — parents can only reach staff, and other parents when the school allows it.
Do messages disappear when someone is removed from a group?
Section titled “Do messages disappear when someone is removed from a group?”No. The history stays; the removed member just loses access from that point on.
Does the other person know I read their message?
Section titled “Does the other person know I read their message?”There are no read receipts — only your own unread counts are tracked.
I sent something by mistake — can I remove it?
Section titled “I sent something by mistake — can I remove it?”Yes, delete your own message anytime from its actions menu. If you’re quick (within 15 minutes) you can edit instead.