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Oklahoma Schools Recognize Need for Preparedness: Growing Number Implement SchoolReach Parent Notification System
ST. LOUIS, MO., May 20, 2009 - In order to facilitate quick and effective communication among parents and school staff when dealing with rumors or emergencies, hundreds of schools across the state of Oklahoma have implemented the SchoolReach Instant Parent Contact system. The parent notification system delivers personalized phone or text messages to parents, staff or other select groups through home, office or cell phones.
Using state-of-the-art technology, SchoolReach allows a school administrator to record a brief message for delivery to an extensive, or selective, list of parents, teachers or students, simultaneously. Because the SchoolReach system is able to call parents at a preferred phone number or multiple phone numbers, including work, home or cell phone numbers, the system performs extremely well in emergency situations, like lockdowns, when every second is critical.
Deer Creek Public Schools in Edmond and the McAlester School District in McAlester are just two of more than 35 districts, private schools and archdioceses that have added SchoolReach to their communications toolbox during the first quarter of 2009. Additionally, the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration (CCOSA) entered a preferred agreement with SchoolReach in February 2009. CCOSA members, including the Oklahoma Association of Elementary School Principals, the Oklahoma Association of Secondary School Principals and the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators, now receive an exclusive discount for SchoolReach's service.
"These deployments are part of a growing trend in school security and crisis management among Oklahoma schools," said Paul Langhorst, vice president of operations at GroupCast, SchoolReach's parent company. "We've found that the number of educational institutions within the state that are looking for innovative ways to establish and maintain clear communication channels within their communities has been increasing over the last few years."
Enid Public Schools (EPS), for example, implemented the system in February 2007 after having to deal with several bomb threats that turned out to be pranks. The incidents helped educators and PTA members see the importance of schools' being able to immediately contact parents. As a result, not only has the district made SchoolReach a budgetary priority, but the parent groups and business sponsors also helped to fund the initial purchase of the service and continue to make voluntary contributions.
"We have a very comprehensive crisis communications plan, and SchoolReach is an essential part," stated Amber Fitzgerald, the communications director for EPS, citing an occurrence in April 2009. A district school received information about police pursuing a suspect in the general area at a time when parents would be dropping off their children. The principals used SchoolReach to alert parents and let them know that they could delay their arrival but that if they were already en route, an educator would meet them at the door. "It helped people make good, smart decisions for their families," said Fitzgerald.
Before it acquired the parent notification service, EPS relied on phone trees and broadcast media. Although the media were always cooperative, Fitzgerald finds that the calling system eliminates any worries about misinterpretations or inadvertent changes in a message's meaning. "Plus, it's important that parents hear directly from us," she said. "It builds trust between the school district and parents. They can have a better understanding of a situation and how we're handling it."
Besides emergency communications, EPS also uses the system for more routine messages such as providing information on school plays, state testing schedules, PTA meetings, volunteer opportunities and assemblies as well as for supplementing other forms of communication. Schools can send students home with a flyer and then follow up with a telephone message via the notification system asking families to check the children's backpacks. Also, to further EPS' objective of building a connection with parents, school principals regularly authorize messages from teachers or PTA representatives.
"SchoolReach is not just popular among Oklahoma schools. Overall, we are seeing much faster adoption of this technology now than in the past. In earlier periods much of our time was spent educating administrators on the basics of the technology. Now they get it...and want it," said Langhorst. The notification service currently is used by more than 4,200 schools in 49 states.
About SchoolReach
SchoolReach is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based GroupCast, an instant messaging notification service. From weather and schedule changes to attendance tracking and from emergency notification to rumor control, SchoolReach simultaneously delivers the personally recorded message to tens, hundreds or thousands of individuals and takes only minutes to reach all of its recipients. More information about SchoolReach or GroupCast can be found at www.schoolreach.com andwww.groupcast.com.