Parent Alert System Capacity Increased!
By: Paul Langhorst | September 22nd, 2011 | No Comments »
Here we grow again!
The parent alert system capacity of SchoolReach is expanding! We are currently in the final stages of increasing capacity of our Dallas co-location facility that will double its broadcast capacity. This move is in response to both total customer growth and increasing phone notification use by existing customers.
Our school administrators are no longer reserving use of their SchoolReach systems for emergencies. Instead they are leveraging the voice, email and text notification features of SchoolReach to both alert and engage parents across a wide spectrum of needs.
The SchoolReach system consists of a proprietary network of voice, email and text messaging systems that are geographically dispersed in 3 cities and 4 centers within those cities. Dallas is our newest co-location facility. Geographic diversity ensures that we can withstand just about anything Mother Nature wants to throw our way and it enables us to spread our call volume across multiple network access points to avoid bottlenecks.
This expansion of use makes SchoolReach even more valuable to our school clients who find tremendous savings in time and money and enjoy greater parent involvement and student achievement.
School Notification Programs Reach Disengaged Parents
By: Paul Langhorst | August 23rd, 2011 | No Comments »
Reaching out to disengaged parents can be made easier by use of a school notification program. A school notification program utilizes broadcast phone, email and text messaging to reach parents with timely information.
From my discussion with our customers, I have learned that parents tend to fall into three categories – engaged, somewhat engaged and seldom engaged.
School principals know who their engaged parents are -they are the ones who consistently show up for meetings, volunteer their time, submit forms when asked and are always about. These folks, you know by name when you see them. The somewhat engaged are those that infrequently attend functions, and respond to requests but typically late. They volunteer and attend meetings occasionally; you probably recognize them as school parents, but may not know their names. The seldom engaged are those that never show up for meetings, never volunteer, and are habitually late with forms and fulfilling information requests.
To be effective your communication strategies for these groups must be different and to segment your communications to each you will need to segment your parent population. To do this you will need to compile or amend your parent directory with an engagement indicator – like Active, Moderate, Inactive. Once you have done this, you are set to use a targeted communication approach. This is how businesses work their customer lists; much can be learned from business marketing because we are all consumers of something.
Engaged/active parents will respond to just about anything you do. They are well organized and motivated and take time to mark their calendars to attend or respond as requested. All they need is the information and they do the rest. So, for them you can send information well in advance via newsletter, website or email and use of your school notification system will work great with this group. Typically, the more contact the better, because they want to know what’s going on.
Seldom or moderately engaged parents will respond best to reminders and information sent the day of or night before the need. This is where the school notification system works its magic. Use a personally recorded phone broadcast to motivate this group to engage and respond. Be friendly and upbeat in your message and point out how their support helps improve their student achievement. Often members of this group have very hectic schedules or poor organizational skills; the last minute reminder will help them focus and respond quickly. Also, try having multiple sessions of meetings to meet varied schedules of this group.
According to John Wherry, President of the Parent Institute, in his article Engagement Ideas for Disengaged Parents, the best way to reach this group is through personal phone calls. Automated phone call and emails will likely go unheeded and you may find that they do not have email service and frequently changing phone numbers. Reaching out to them personally will increase their response and uncover these issues. Try offering free meals or other incentives to bring in this group. This is where segmenting your parent list pays off; use the parent notification system on the first two groups and personal calls on the last. In addition, use volunteers from the Engaged group to help reach out to the Disengaged. They may love the challenge!
School Website Management Solution Now Available from SchoolReach
By: Paul Langhorst | August 4th, 2011 | No Comments »
School website management is a very challenging task for most school administrators, just as it is for our company. The school website is not a static page, it must be continually updated and maintained to reflect the current school environment, programs, events, themes, and must convey a professional, engaging image. OK, who has time, skills and the resources for that?
As we talk with our clients we constantly hear stories of how a parent has volunteered to run the school website, or an already overworked teacher, IT director or staff person has been assigned to the task. Many sites are created as standalone programs that are difficult to update, so they get a dressing at the outset of the school year and then are rarely updated in between – except for calendar events.
School websites are vitally important to attracting students and engaging parents and your community. They must be continually updated and managed. To help our clients solve this problem SchoolReach has announced a partnership with School Webmasters, LLC. This firm specializes in K12 website design, management, copy writing, image building, school PR and much more. Unlike many school website providers who sell template sites which then must be maintained by school/district personnel, School Webmasters builds a unique site for your organization and then takes on the task of maintaining it. All you need to do is submit information regarding news, events, etc that you want to see added/changed and they take care of the rest. If you can send an email, you can now update your website. Thus, anyone and many individuals at a school/district can be involved in the website management process – all with no training or special skills.
School Webmaster sites are beautiful (see their portfolio here), filled with engaging images, well written content and follow industry leading best practices for page layout and design. To learn more about School Webmasters visit them today at www.schoolwebmasters.com.
Just spend some time on School Webmasters site, and you’ll see why they are the right fit to create and manage your school website.
Reducing Negative School Lunch Balances
By: Paul Langhorst | July 13th, 2011 | No Comments »
Don't let lunch balances stack up!
As the school year rolled to a close many administrators were left holding the bag – the lunch bag that is, faced with eating the cost of hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands in negative lunch balance fees. Did these students go hungry? No, many were allowed to continue to purchase lunch items or were given alternative meals, such as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the school expense.
Some districts have turned to collection agencies to collect negative balances, while others, pardon the pun…just eat them.
The solution to minimizing negative balances is sending a timely notification to the parents/guardians informing them that their student’s lunch account is low or negative. Many districts and schools send letters and emails, but these often go unheeded or get lost in transit. The best solution is to place a phone call to parents in the evening while they are home on a school night. Upon receipt of such notice the parent is in a position to hop on line, write a check or pull out some cash to make a payment.
But with potentially hundreds of offenders, how does one make those calls? The answer is a broadcast parent notification system like SchoolReach. These systems can be interfaced with your lunch balance tracking system to trigger an automated call to a parent as soon as a student’s balance reaches a threshold level.
The process offered by SchoolReach is called EZ Lunch Balance and it can work wonders on reducing lunch balance debt. Many of our clients have all but eliminated their negative lunch balance issues all but for a few hard core repeat offenders. No one wants a child to go hungry, so the balances are often quickly brought current upon receipt of a timely notification.
So if your district is looking to save money or reduce losses, look into improving your negative lunch balance notification process. The results can be mouthwatering!
SchoolReach Underwrites Book’n to Joplin Fuel Costs
By: Paul Langhorst | June 17th, 2011 | No Comments »
SchoolReach is proud to announce our participation in the St. Louis Catholic elementary schools’ school book and school supply drive to benefit Catholic and other schools in Joplin devastated by the recent EF5 tornado. SchoolReach will be underwriting the fuel costs associated with the delivery to Joplin.
SchoolReach representatives, Tim MacNair and Gene Berra, present Principal Ann Davis with symbolic check to cover fuel costs.
This event is very near and dear to SchoolReach because it touches us in many ways. SchoolReach has its founding roots within the St. Louis Archdiocese schools, we are a Missouri based company, and last but not least, I am a graduate of St. Gabriel Class of 1977. I spent a lot of time in the principal’s office explaining my bad behavior to Sisters Gertrude and Dominica (SSND) and it is very rewarding to now be in a position to give back in this way.
The program was conceived and orchestrated by Ann Davis, principal of St. Gabriel the Archangel School. Faced annually with the decision of what to do with books and resource materials being retired, Ann contacted the Diocesan School Office of Springfield, MO and asked if they would be interested in the materials and was greeted with an enthusiastic “YES!” Then taking things one step further Principal Davis alerted all Catholic schools within the St. Louis Archdiocese of the Joplin needs and kicked off the Book’n to Joplin school resource collection drive. The drive has netted over 350 boxes of school supplies from all areas of the St. Louis Archdiocese.
The supplies will be delivered to the Springfield, MO Diocesean School Office on Wednesday June 22. The delivery truck is being provided compliments of Sinclair Ford and SchoolReach will be covering all fuel costs.
Read the full press release HERE.
