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NCEA Newsletter Article from SchoolReach-Increased Response Preparedness
To read the entire NCEA Newsletter, click here.
Increased Response Preparedness - A Benefit of Organization
By Paul Langhorst, Chief Marketing Officer SchoolReach Instant Parent Contact
"Get organized!" It's a common resolution heading into a new school year and a fitting focus for the August edition of the NCEA newsletter. There are many ways to get organized, and many places to go for help. Consultants, off-the-shelf kits, techniques, and web-based programs all offer assistance with the goal of bringing increased structure and effectiveness to your day and life.
In addition to becoming more productive and more effective in your job as a school administrator, becoming more organized means you are more capable of dealing with the unexpected. In other words, a side benefit to increased organization is increased response preparedness. Why? Because you have so much already under control and planned that you are more readily prepared to take on the unexpected.
A parent notification system, like SchoolReach, is a must in any "Get Organized" resolution for a school. In particular it is a must when facing unexpected or unplanned events that come with the territory of managing a school environment. Additionally, a parent notification system can help with overall organization because of the increased levels of control and communication that they deliver. Here are some examples:
New Principal Welcome Message: Are you a new principal? What better way to build your relationship with parents and to establish your communication process than to send a personally recorded welcome message to the school community. Save time by avoiding the need to type out a long letter, print it, stuff it, and mail it. On top of the time savings, you'll save significant money and a much higher percentage of parents will actually receive your message.
Forms Submission: The new school year is just about to begin. There is a mad rush to collect all last minute enrollments, forms, and payments. Sending a "welcome to the new school year" broadcast to new and existing parents will help expedite the submission of all of that information that you so desperately need before school starts.
Excessive Heat Dismissal: Within the first few days of school starting, the temperature is blazing hot and your school could require early dismissal due to warm room temperatures. With a parent notification system, your mid-day dismissal can go as smoothly as your regular end-of-day dismissal.
The goal of organization is to do more in the time allotted with a smaller staff and shrinking resources. A parent notification system is the embodiment of "do more with less." If your school does not have a parent notification system, I challenge you to implement one this school year. Compare your level of organization, response preparedness and parent involvement to past years and I think you will find that you won't know how you ever got along without it.
Good luck and God bless on the coming school year!