Pendleton County
Schools is partnering with SchoolMessenger to provide notification
to parents via phone messaging of upcoming events, student
attendance, tardiness, parental outreach, and emergency broadcasts.
"We are pleased to have another avenue to use to inform
parents and guardians of our students", Superintendent
Doug Lambert stated. "Be it a reminder that the child
was absent or tardy from school, an upcoming event at one
of our schools, or an important notification, we feel this
will add to our value of informing parents of information
they might not know otherwise. It is important to point out
that once a notification is needed, all homes can be called
within a matter of approximately 10 minutes."
The system is programmed to call the primary phone number
of parents for a variety of reasons that impact the safety
and academic performance of our students. SchoolMessenger
will be used to complement our emergency preparedness procedures
and to inform parents of upcoming county and school events
such as statewide testing and parent meetings. In the future
we hope to customize messages by school and bus routes.
SchoolMessenger offers real value to the county system and
is proven to measurably impact student safety, parental involvement,
staff communications and student attendance. Financing came
primarily through county safe school funds.
It is important to note that this system will not replace
current modes of school communication; it will simply be another
tool in the information tool box.
Principals will still be accessible, newsletters will still
be sent home, teachers will still be making calls when needed,
and interim reports will continue to be published.
SchoolMessenger, with the recently activated Internet based
EdLine, gives Pendleton County Schools additional ways to
inform our partners in education, the teachers, parents, and
children. It is intended to reinforce the county commitment
to remain personally connected to parents regarding children.
The system will be operational with attendance and tardy
based calls in the next week, with the capability to call
regarding upcoming events and announcements soon to follow.