Washington -- 20 March 2015 /PRNewswire/ Today Blackboard Inc. announced that it has finalized its acquisition of Schoolwires, one of the leading educational website, hosting and content management providers to K-12 schools and districts. With the close of this acquisition, Blackboard continues to demonstrate its commitment to be the leading K-12 provider of school websites and parent notification solutions.
Today's news marks the conclusion of Blackboard's initial agreement to acquire the Pennsylvania-based company with nearly 200 employees. The addition of Schoolwires' industry leading solutions and services represents a major component of Blackboard's renewed K-12 strategy by enhancing its parent and community engagement solutions and expanding its partner ecosystem.
"One of our main goals has been to pick the best products in the markets to meet the evolving and expanding needs of our community," said Mychal Frost, public information officer at Clover School District and vice president of the South Carolina chapter of the National School Public Relations Association (SC/NSPRA). "All of the products we have chosen are now in the Blackboard solution set, including Blackboard's notification tools, the ParentLink mobile app and now Schoolwires' website solution. It is clear that whether they are developing new technology, acquiring other providers or partnering with industry leaders, Blackboard is trying to add value to their portfolio, and we appreciate that."
"To truly make our mission of reimagining education a reality, we have to focus on the full learning lifecycle, which begins in K-12," said Jay Bhatt, CEO of Blackboard. "Schoolwires has created some of the most innovative products, solutions and services that improve K-12 communications and community engagement. Effective communication is the gateway to delivering new learning models that improve teacher effectiveness and student outcomes. By adding Schoolwires to the Blackboard portfolio, we are uniquely positioned to help district leadership transition K-12 schools to these new models with the participation and support of their communities."
"Today's news marks another great milestone for Schoolwires," said Christiane Crawford, president and CEO of Schoolwires. "We are excited to join the Blackboard team, merging two industry-leading organizations to continue our pursuit of helping students be more successful, improving the educational experience in K-12, and helping to shape the future of this industry."
"We couldn't be more delighted with this outcome," said Edward S. Marflak, chairman and founder of Schoolwires. "It's a great situation for our customers, our employees and the entire K-12 marketplace as Blackboard expands its strong portfolio of solutions for teaching, learning and engagement."
Schoolwires provides a suite of technology products and related services to more than 11 million users and 1,700 districts and educational entities in the U.S. and China. Its solutions include an integrated website and content management system, a social learning and networking system, a family of mobile applications and an enterprise technology platform.
For more information about Blackboard, please visit www.blackboard.com or follow @Blackboard on Twitter.
About Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard is the world's leading education technology company. We challenge conventional thinking and advance new models of learning in order to reimagine education and make it more accessible, engaging and relevant to the modern day learner and the institutions that serve them. In partnership with our customers and partners in higher education and K-12 as well as corporations and government agencies around the world, our mission is to help every learner achieve their full potential by inspiring a passion for lifelong learning. For more information about Blackboard, follow us on Twitter @Blackboard.
Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for Blackboard represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release. Actual results may differ materially as a result of various important factors. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.
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SOURCE Blackboard Inc.