Issaquah School District: Meeting Families in Their Language

Issaquah School District serves about 18,000 students across 26 schools just outside downtown Seattle in a region shaped by global employers, including Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft, Costco, Facebook and Google. The presence of talent from all over the world is reflected in its schools.

The district says that families have requested communication in 81 preferred languages, representing about 1,638 students whose families need school communication in a language other than English. For Mayumi Johnson, the district’s Language Access Coordinator, those numbers shape daily operational decisions. Whether a parent is dropping off lunch, registering a student or requesting to speak with a counselor, staff must be able to identify needs and respond clearly in the moment. The district learned of Pocketalk through colleagues at other local school districts like Bellevue, Tukwila, Northshore, Mukilteo, Edmonds and Lake Washington.

Starting With Family Communication

Johnson’s role focuses on communication between schools and families, particularly at the first point of contact. To support that work, she purchased Pocketalk devices for each of the district’s 27 schools, plus Administration buildings, the Service Center, and the Early Learning Center—for a total of 30 locations, placing them primarily at front desks where conversations begin. 

The district had previously used a larger tablet-based system designed for over-the-counter interactions, but Johnson said their needs were more face-to-face. Staff needed something portable and easy to use during immediate conversations that did not involve sitting across a counter. “A lot of people prefer Pocketalk because of the size and the much easier connection and usability,” she recalled.

By placing devices at the front desk, schools can respond immediately when families with limited English proficiency arrive. Staff rely on Pocketalk for quick, accurate exchanges that help determine next steps without waiting for a scheduled interpreter, allowing schools to address questions in real time without delaying service.

Expanding Across Schools

While the original focus was family communication, adoption quickly expanded as educators saw the devices in use. Teachers began requesting devices, particularly when supporting multilingual learners in general education classrooms.

One high school multilingual class purchased additional devices for classroom use, integrating them into instructional settings. Operational departments also saw value: warehouse and meal preparation staff, some of whom speak diverse languages, requested devices after seeing them used in other areas of the schools.

What began as a front office solution evolved into a districtwide communication resource supporting instructional staff and operational employees alike. The devices are now used in multiple settings across schools, reinforcing the district’s broader approach to language access.

Using Data to Guide Access

With roughly 97 devices in circulation, Johnson uses Ventana, Pocketalk’s admin dashboard,  to monitor usage and ensure devices are allocated where they are most needed. She previously generated monthly reports for principals to encourage consistent use and redistribute devices when necessary. The usage data made it easier to identify where additional training or redistribution was needed.

If usage was low in one building but demand was high in another, she adjusted distribution accordingly. After a little over a year, the district recorded about 47,000 translations, providing clear evidence of demand across schools. Johnson can also review which languages are used most frequently and compare that data with live interpreter requests, helping her align resources across the district.

Ventana provides oversight of the district’s device fleet while maintaining privacy controls appropriate for school environments. The data not only supports accountability but also helps ensure devices remain accessible where they are most actively used.

Complementing Professional Interpreters

Issaquah School District continues to use live interpreters and phone-based translation services for longer or more sensitive conversations. Johnson trains staff to treat Pocketalk as a practical first step rather than a replacement for human interpretation. “Pocketalk is super easy, and it’s convenient,” she said. “But if the topic is going deeper or personal, please switch to calling the interpreter.”

From a cost perspective, Johnson noted that each device has a one-time cost of about $350. By comparison, short interpretation calls cost about $1 per minute, even while on hold, and in-person interpreters may range from $70 to more than $100 per hour.

“It was a big purchase at the beginning,” Johnson said. “But once we have it, it doesn’t have any additional cost.” Nearly 50,000 translations in just over a year represent thousands of conversations that might otherwise have required per-minute fees or might not have occurred at all. Johnson has also observed students using the devices to communicate with peers, noting that kids sometimes use them to talk with friends who speak different languages, which would never happen with phone interpretation.

By placing devices at the point of first contact, monitoring usage data and maintaining access to professional interpreters when needed, Issaquah School District has built a strong language access strategy designed to meet families in their language.