How to set up Gmail filters for school email

If school email keeps getting buried, Gmail filters can help it stand out. Here's how to set them up, and an honest look at where they fall short.

Create a filter, step by step

• 1. In Gmail, click the filter icon in the search bar (the sliders on the right).
• 2. In the From field, enter your school's addresses or domains, separated by OR, for example: @parentsquare.com OR @instructure.com OR @yourdistrict.org
• 3. Click Create filter.
• 4. Check Apply the label (make one called “School”), and Star it so it's easy to spot.
• 5. Optionally check Never send to Spam so nothing important gets filtered out.

Where filters fall short

• Schools use many senders. ParentSquare, Canvas, Remind, the district office, and individual teachers all send from different addresses, so one filter is never enough, and the list needs constant upkeep.
• A label isn't a priority. Filters can group your school mail, but they can't tell an early-dismissal notice from a fundraiser, both land in the same “School” label.
• Texts aren't covered. Plenty of urgent school messages come by text, which Gmail filters never see.

What to do instead

Filters organize; they don't decide. AVVI goes a step further, it reads your school email and texts, understands which messages actually need action, and sorts them into Now, Later, and Handled. You get the priority filters can't provide, with zero rules to maintain.

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