We know educators are going above and beyond with your TXGU kids every day. It pretty much goes without saying that we have some awesome people going to bat for our scholars (we just like to say it anyway). But even though we’d love to be able to stay with students 24/7 to keep giving them the little pushes they need to succeed, it’s just not possible.

Much as we’d like to assign a live-in tutor for assistance with time management, alerting parents to any rising concerns, or just college FAQ help whenever it was needed, a look at this New York Times article shows us that the after-hours encouragement that students and parents can benefit from can be provided via text message. For instance, texting students links to live counselors and forms they needed to fill out for college resulted in a seven percent increase in college enrollment. Likewise, texts telling parents what assignments their kids hadn’t turned in lead to a pretty impressive 25% rise in completed homework, as well as a rise in test scores. They’re basically just reminders to keep being amazing. And every little bit helps.