New emergency system a big hit with parents

Thursday October 09, 2008, 4:00 AM

Bishop's Academy at St. Charles in Geddes has a new automated emergency alert system that notifies parents and school employees of school closings, emergencies and events.

"We can communicate meeting dates, fundraisers, open houses and other activities," Principal Sister Donna Driscoll said.

The emergency-alert system, SchoolReach, calls parents at home or on their cell phones up to three times. It also tells school officials who couldn't be reached, Driscoll said.

"We have 99 percent participation," she said. "The parents who are using it told us they really liked the reminder and that we can reach them in an emergency."

Parents must give the school permission to participate in the program.

At 7 a.m. Sept. 24, parents received their first message letting them know of an open house the following day. The message had been pre-recorded.

"It's tremendous," Driscoll said. "It's a wonderful way to communicate immediately. You can reach everyone immediately. Within an hour, you have a report of anyone you didn't reach."