District 205: New notification system works best if parents update contact information

From press release

Parents of children attending Rockford Public Schools are encouraged to update their contact information so they don’t miss important electronic notifications, including weather-related closings.

An upgrade to the new School Messenger System (SMS) provides the potential to contact the households of more than 32,000 parents and employees with important bulletins. That’s a significant expansion over the 8,200-user reach of the previous Electronic Notification System (ENS).

ENS relied on subscribers to register online to receive automated phone calls, text messages and e-mails. School Messenger draws its contact information from the AS/400, the Rockford School District’s computerized student and employee database. School Messenger sends alerts to as many phone numbers and e-mail addresses as parents provide; however, some parents may not have given e-mail addresses or all relevant phone numbers to their child’s school during registration in August.

Parents who wish to update phone numbers or add e-mail addresses to their child’s files should visit their child’s school after classes resume Jan. 4. Both systems will operate until Jan. 14, when a licensing agreement with ENS expires.

Employees may update their contact information by downloading a form and returning the signed form to the Human Resources Department. The form is available online at: http://tinyurl.com/rps205-1.

A test of the School Messenger system is scheduled to occur Saturday, Jan. 9. Parents and employees who don’t receive the test bulletin, or don’t receive the bulletin in desired formats, should notify their child’s school or the Human Resources Department. Cellular telephone users will receive a one-time, opt-in prompt to continue transmission of text messages in addition to automated voice recordings.

By the end of January, building principals will be able to access School Messenger to transmit reminders about school-based activities and relay other non-emergency information to parents. ENS had been activated during emergencies that caused a disruption to the normal school day.

From the Jan. 6-12, 2010 issue