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School Reach program offers quick contact with parents
By TESA CULLI
MT. VERNON -- At least two area schools have signed on to a new service which is designed to send out notifications to parents electronically.
SchoolReach is an instant parent contact program which has been purchased by District 80 and by the Mt. Vernon Township High School. Emergency announcements and general information calls can be made within minutes to large groups of people, according to Christine Skillian of School Reach.
Some of the emergency situations which can be addressed are weather-related closings, utility failures, on-campus violence, rumor abatement, bomb threats, lockdowns, early dismissal, bus incidents and missing children, according to School Reach.
General information announcements include attendance calls, activity reminders, early dismissal reminders, tardy notices, bus schedule changes, staff development days, parent/teacher conferences, lunch account reminders, school board meetings, report card notices, open houses, picture days, testing dates, athletic information and homework notices, among others.
"Schools can contact parents quickly with this," Skillian told members of the MVTHS Board earlier this week. "It's done with one phone call. You record a message and have it sent to all parent phone numbers."
In addition, messages can be recorded and sent to groups of students -- such as those who are absent or who have received five or more tardies. Teachers can also use the system to send out notices to parents, Skillian said.
"This is one way to increase parent participation," Skillian explained. "You can also use it to conduct surveys among parents."
Administrators were first introduced to the service about three months ago during a Regional Office of Education meeting. The service costs between $2.25 to $2.50 per student. The high school board approved a three year contract with the company at $2.25 per student the first year and $2.50 per student for two years thereafter.
According to Superintendent Terry Milt, the cost of the service can be paid with grant money which is earmarked for services to address attendance and truancy. Board member Ron Copenhaver remarked the service would free up staff time now spent making numerous calls on absentee students.
District 80 Superintendent Kevin Settle said although the program is primarily designed for emergency contact with parents and the community, the district will be using it for other notifications.
"Each teacher can have their class in the system. For example, if there's a field trip the next day, they can send a message to all the parents as a reminder hearing the friendly voice of their own teacher. I can even see using it for things like early dismissals where the building principal sends out the message to job parent's memories."
In addition, at a young age, notices from school don't always make it to the parents, and when parents get busy, they may miss a notice.
"I think it has a lot of positives to connect teachers in schools to the parents," Settle said. "I can see using it on snow days when I can just get on the phone and send out a message to all of the parents and the staff so we don't have to go through the phone tree that takes a half hour to go through."
District 80, in signing up for the service through the ROE meeting, was able to get a price of $2.25 per student the first year and $2.19 per student for year three and four of the service.