SafeArrival: Guide for School Staff

Transcription

1 SafeArrival: Guide for School Staff West Corporation 100 Enterprise Way, Suite A-300 Scotts Valley, CA

2 Contents Getting Started... 3 Sign In to SafeArrival... 3 The Daily Attendance Process... 4 The HOME Page... 7 The SafeArrival Report The REPORTS Page Report Recipients Customize Reports Reports Absence Reports Manual Reports Scheduled Reports The ATTENDANCE Page The SETTINGS Page Absence Options Notifications Calendar School Term Auto Notification The Languages Tab The Statistics Page Number of Absences Reported through SafeArrival Absence Handling for First Notifications Methods Used to Report Absences Status of First Notifications Average Time to Start First Notifications The Help Page Import Attendance Warnings The SchoolMessenger App and SafeArrival SchoolMessenger App - Mobile Apps SchoolMessenger App Website Supporting Parents/Guardians SchoolMessenger App Accounts Automated Phone System PIN Settings Reporting Absences Absence Confirmations Absence Notifications New Features Questions? West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 2

3 Getting Started Sign In to SafeArrival You must have a SchoolMessenger Communicate account to use SafeArrival. In addition, your account must have the Use SafeArrival permission enabled. If you already have a login and password for SchoolMessenger Communicate, you can use them with SafeArrival IF your District Administrator has added permission the Use SafeArrival permission to your account. If you have not already been provided with the SafeArrival website URL, a login and password, request this information from your SafeArrival District Administrator or your SchoolMessenger Communicate District Administrator. You can sign in to SafeArrival directly using the SafeArrival URL provided to you. The URL will be in this format: (for school districts in the US) (for school districts in Canada) where mydistrictabbrev is specific to your district. If you are already signed in to SchoolMessenger Communicate, you can also access SafeArrival by clicking SafeArrival under the System tab. If you do not see the link to SafeArrival, you need to have the Use SafeArrival permission added to your account West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 3

4 The Daily Attendance Process The daily SafeArrival process is used as soon as possible after attendance is taken to: send notifications to parents/guardians of unexplained absences, confirm parent/guardian awareness of absences AND collect the absence reasons Depending on your configuration, you may do this first thing in the morning and/or after lunch as well. Your Daily Attendance Process depends on whether your district has been set up so that schools transfer their own attendance data (save a file from the student information system then import it into SafeArrival) OR the attendance data is transferred for them. If your district is set up for manual attendance file transfer: How to know if your district is set up for manual attendance file transfer: On the HOME page, the instructions will tell you that you haven t started the SafeArrival process for today and that you will need to import your attendance data. The IMPORT YOUR ATTENDANCE DATA button will be active. Record classroom attendance in your Student Information System. Export the absences to a file in the specified format and save it. Sign in to SafeArrival. Go to the Home page. Click IMPORT ATTENDANCE DATA. You will be asked to browse to the file that you saved above. Select your file. Click SEND NOTIFICATIONS to begin the parent/guardian notifications. (NOTE: If there are zero unexplained absences, click SEND NOTIFICATIONS anyway so that the SafeArrival report will be generated.) Then see the Follow-up Steps described below. If your district is set up for automated attendance file transfer: How to know if your district is set up for automated attendance file transfer: On the HOME page, if you see the text Data last updated at: in the instructions, then your district is set up for automated attendance file transfer. You will also need to know your AUTO NOTIFICATION type. On the SETTINGS page, click the tab labelled AUTO NOTIFICATION. It will tell you if your school is set up for Manual, Trigger or Schedule. You will also need to know if you need to initiate the upload of your attendance file or whether this is done on a schedule. If you have not already been informed, please contact your SafeArrival District Administrator. e.g. For PowerSchool, you may need to click Run Now for an AutoSend as soon as attendance is complete. Record classroom attendance in your Student Information System West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 4

5 If you are required to initiate the upload of your attendance file, do so as soon as attendance-taking is complete. If your school uses the Manual notification option: Sign in to SafeArrival. Go to the Home page. If your attendance file is uploaded at scheduled intervals, wait at least 2 times the interval to ensure the latest file has finished uploading. The Data last updated at time shows when the attendance file was last uploaded. Click IMPORT ATTENDANCE DATA. Click SEND NOTIFICATIONS to begin the parent/guardian notifications. (NOTE: If there are zero unexplained absences, click SEND NOTIFICATIONS anyway so that the SafeArrival report will be generated.) If your school uses the Trigger notification option: As soon as the SafeArrival system receives your attendance file, the attendance file will be imported and notifications will begin automatically. If your school uses the Schedule notification option: At the scheduled time, the most recently-uploaded attendance file will be imported and notifications will begin automatically. Then see the Follow-up Steps described below. Follow-up Steps 1. After the notification process has ended, the SafeArrival Summary on the SafeArrival Home Page shows the results. Click any category to see the list of students. You can also click DOWNLOAD SUMMARY to download a copy of the SafeArrival Report. In addition, the SafeArrival Report will also be ed to everyone on the Report Recipients list for the school. 2. If you have a high number of Unexplained absences after the notifications are complete, you may want to click the RE-SEND NOTIFICATIONS button. This will re-send all notifications for students who are still on the unexplained absences list West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 5

6 ! 3. IMPORTANT: Click the Unexplained absences entry to see the list of students at the bottom of the screen. This is the list of students whose absence is still unexplained. You need to follow-up with parents/guardians/emergency contacts to ensure that this student is safe! 4. Next, see the Explained absences list on the screen or in the ed SafeArrival report. This section lists the absence reasons that have been provided for today s absences. Enter this information into your Student Information System as needed. In general, you should enter the absence reasons for Full Day Absences. For Late Arrivals, monitor the student arrivals and enter the reason provided. See the All Absences list for Early Departures and Leave & Return absences; wait for the student s actual departure, then enter the absence reason. If your school is configured for automatic absence reason write-back, the absence reasons for Full Day and Multi-Day absences will be automatically written to the Student Information System if there is an existing, matching unexplained absence already in the system. e.g. If a parent reported a Full Day absence for today for Johnny due to Illness and Johnny is marked with an unexplained absence in the Student Information System, the reason Illness will be applied to that unexplained absence. If your school allows parents/guardians to continue to report/explain absences after the notification period is over (e.g. your cut-off time is later in the day), another report will be ed at the cutoff time. This report will contain all the absences that were reported/explained for that day, including those after the cutoff time. This report should be used the next morning to complete the transfer of absence reasons to your student information system. Note regarding Discrepancies: When there is an absence reported through SafeArrival that covers the current notification time AND there is no corresponding Marked Absence: IF the absence reported through SafeArrival has already been used to explain an earlier Marked Absence, then the absence reported through SafeArrival is shown in the All Absences section. Otherwise (when the absence reported through SafeArrival has NOT already been used to explain an earlier Marked Absence), then the absence reported through SafeArrival is shown in the Discrepancies section West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 6

7 The HOME Page This is the main dashboard for the notification process for your school. 1. Menu I. SchoolMessenger icon takes you to SchoolMessenger Communicate II. HOME the main dashboard for the daily attendance process III. REPORTS view and schedule attendance reports IV. ATTENDANCE view and edit reported and marked absences V. SETTINGS view the SafeArrival settings and view/edit report recipients 2. School Selection (if your account has access to more than 1 school) 3. Your account name 4. Click SIGN OUT to log out of SafeArrival 5. The SafeArrival Summary shown after Notifications have been sent. Click the name or number for each list to see the individual absences listed in the table below. Marked Absent From Class This is the list of students who were marked with unexplained absences at the Mark Time according to the imported attendance data. Click the column headings to sort the list (where available). Click the column heading again to sort in reverse order. Explained Absences This is the list of students whose marked absence has been explained through SafeArrival. Click 2018 West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 7

8 the column headings to sort the list (where available). Click the column heading again to sort in reverse order. Unexplained Absences This is the list of students whose marked absence has NOT been explained through SafeArrival. Click the column headings to sort the list (where available). Click the column heading again to sort in reverse order. Discrepancies This is the list of students for whom an absence was reported through SafeArrival but for whom there is no corresponding marked absence (unexplained) from class. Click the column headings to sort the list (where available). Click the column heading again to sort in reverse order. All Absences This is the list of all absences for today, including those that occur before or after the current notification period (Late Arrival, Early Departure, Leave & Return). Click the column headings to sort the list (where available). Click the column heading again to sort in reverse order. 6. This is the area where the IMPORT ATTENDANCE DATA and SEND NOTIFICATIONS buttons can be found. If your district uses SIS Integration to upload attendance files and your school uses the Trigger or Schedule auto-notification options, you will not see the IMPORT ATTENDANCE DATA or SEND NOTIFICATIONS buttons. These steps will be automated. 7. The current number of unexplained absences is shown here. This is updated as parents/guardians explain absences. 8. Any warnings related to the content of the absence file are shown here. If your District uses SIS Integration, these warnings will be included in the SafeArrival report. I. If the absences were marked more than an hour ago, you will be given the option to upload a more recent file. II. If there are invalid student IDs in the file, they will be ignored. You can view the list of invalid student IDs and check the Student Information System. III. If there are students for whom notifications have already been sent for this marked absence, you will be given the options to ignore or re-send notifications for these students.) IV. If the file is in the wrong format, you will be shown an error message. Try re-creating the file and if the problem persists, contact your SafeArrival District Administrator. 9. Depending on the category selected on the SafeArrival Summary, the list of student absences is shown here. 10. Click LIST VIEW or TIMELINE VIEW to have the absences displayed in different formats. Here is an example of TIMELINE VIEW. It shows 2 Late Arrivals (students expected to arrive around 12:00 PM) and 3 Full Day absences West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 8

9 ! 11. Enter text in the Search text box then click Search to activate the search. You can enter a Confirmation Number in the Search text box to find the absence for which that Confirmation Number was provided. 12. If you place your mouse over a column heading and an underline appears, you can click the heading to sort the list of absences based on that column. An arrow appears beside the column heading to show which column is currently being used to sort the list. An up arrow indicates the list is sorted in ascending order while a down arrow indicates the list is sorted in descending order. The Mark Time is the time the student was marked absent (if this is provided by the Student Information System) otherwise it is the time the attendance file was uploaded. At the bottom of the SafeArrival School Staff pages, the following information is shown: On the left, you will see: The username with which you are currently logged in The current date, time and timezone Your SafeArrival toll-free number The URL for the SchoolMessenger app On the right, you will see: A District Service & Support link o This link will only appear if your SafeArrival District Administrator has configured a list of addresses that can be contacted for support. When this link is clicked, an can be sent to the configured list of District Administrator Recipients. The SchoolMessenger support address and toll-free phone number Links to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service Copyright information 2018 West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 9

10 The SafeArrival Report Here is a sample of the PDF format of the SafeArrival Report. The summary numbers are shown in the top right of the first page. Unexplained Absences This section lists the absent students for whom an absence reason was not provided through SafeArrival. Explained Absences This section lists the absent students for whom an absence reason was provided through SafeArrival. Discrepancies This section lists students for whom an absence reason was provided through SafeArrival but for whom there was no unexplained absence listed in the attendance file provided to SafeArrival. Other Reported Absences This section lists other absences that were reported through SafeArrival for today that do not affect this notification period. E.g. if the report was generated in the morning, this section may contain Early Departures or Leave & Return absences that will occur later in the day. ID This column shows the student s ID as shown SchoolMessenger. Grade This column shows the student s Grade as shown in SchoolMessenger. Hm Rm This column shows the student s Home Room as shown in SchoolMessenger. It may be blank if this 2018 West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 10

11 information is not configured for SafeArrival in SchoolMessenger. Student Name This column shows the student s full name as shown in SchoolMessenger. Marked Time The Marked Time is the time the student was marked absent (if this is provided by the Student Information System to SafeArrival) otherwise it is the time the attendance file was uploaded. When parents are explaining a marked absence, they must make sure the explanation covers the Marked Time. E.g. if the student was marked absent at 9:15 a.m., the parent can report a Full Day absence or a Late Arrival at 9:20 a.m., but if the parent tries to report a Late Arrival at 9:10 a.m., they will be asked to cover the marked time. Type This column shows student s absence type. The possible absence types are configured by your SafeArrival District Administrator and may include the following: FD = Full Day LA = Late Arrival ED = Early Departure LR = Leave & Return MD = Multiple Day Start/End The date(s) that the student will be absent. Leave This column is used for Early Departures and Leave & Return absences to indicate the student s estimated time of departure from school. Arrival This column is used for Late Arrivals and Leave & Return absences to indicate the student s estimated time of arrival/return to school. Reason This column shows the reason for the student s absence that was provided through SafeArrival. The absence reasons are configured by your SafeArrival District Administrator. Reported By This column shows one of the following depending on how the absence was reported. If the absence was reported using the SchoolMessenger app, this column shows the address of the person who logged into the SchoolMessenger app. If the absence was reported using the toll-free phone line or during an absence notification phone call to the parent, this column shows the phone number that called the toll-free number or the phone number that SafeArrival called. If a staff member reported the absence using the SafeArrival School Staff > ATTENDANCE page, this column shows the username of that staff member. Reported Time This column shows the date and the time that the absence was reported. Report Via This column shows the method that was used to report the absence. Possible values are: Android The absence was reported using the SchoolMessenger app on a mobile device. The app was downloaded from the Google Play Store. ios The absence was reported using the SchoolMessenger app on an Apple mobile device. The app downloaded from the Apple App Store West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 11

12 Guardian Web The absence was reported using the SchoolMessenger app website using a browser (e.g. Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer). Call In The absence was reported using the toll-free number. Call Out The absence was explained during the phone call when SafeArrival notified the parent/ guardian of the student s absence. Staff Web The absence was reported by a staff member using the SafeArrival School Staff website > ATTENDANCE page. The final section of the report contains a chart that shows the break-down of the absence reasons provided. The SafeArrival Report is also available as a CSV download. The CSV version of the report only contains information on EXPLAINED absences, including the absence reasons (not unexplained absences) West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 12

13 The REPORTS Page Report Recipients Click the Report Recipients link. This list shows the people and their accounts to whom the SafeArrival reports should be sent by . This includes the reports created when notifications are sent, manual reports (if Send is checked) and scheduled reports. Click Add a recipient + to add another item to the list. You will specify the name and address for each recipient. Click the Actions menu beside a recipient to Delete or Edit the recipient. Customize Reports By default, your SafeArrival reports will: not contain horizontal lines between absences be sorted by Marked Time for unexplained absences be sorted by Reported Time for all other types of absences 2018 West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 13

14 To change the defaults for reports generated for your school, click the Customize Reports link. This will affect ALL reports generated for your school (no matter who generates them). To display horizontal lines between absences in your reports, click the button beside Show Horizontal Lines. To change the sort order for your reports, select the desired options from the drop-down lists. The sort order applies to all reports (after notifications, Manual and Scheduled). Remember to click SAVE to save your changes. Reports 1. Select the type of reports you would like displayed on this page. a. Absence Reports are SafeArrival reports that are created (and ed to Recipients of the SafeArrival Reports) when Notifications are sent. b. Manual Reports are SafeArrival reports that you generate on an as-needed basis for a specific timeframe. When you create a Manual Report, you can click the Send checkbox if you want the report to be ed to Recipients of the SafeArrival Report. c. Scheduled Reports are SafeArrival reports that you set up to be sent via at a specific time every school day to Recipients of the SafeArrival Reports. Absence Reports This list shows the SafeArrival reports that have already been created when notifications were sent to parents. The SafeArrival reports can be downloaded in PDF format OR in CSV format West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 14

15 In PDF format, these reports show the Unexplained Absences, Explained Absence, Discrepancies (if enabled by the district configuration), Other Reported Absences as well as a pie chart showing the distribution of the Absence Reasons provided. In CSV format, this report shows the absence reasons provided for the Reported and Explained Absences ONLY. Select a time frame to see the reports generated within that time frame. Click the download button in the CSV or PDF column to download the report in the selected format. Click the Date heading to sort in chronological or reverse-chronological order. Manual Reports This list shows the SafeArrival reports that you generate on an as-needed basis for a specific timeframe. Click Create a report + to generate a report for a specific timeframe. Enter the Start and End dates for the period you would like the report to cover. If you would like the report to be ed to the list of SafeArrival report recipients for your school, checkmark the Send setting; otherwise, leave the box unchecked. Click the GENERATE TIME heading to sort in chronological or reverse-chronological order. Select a time frame to see the reports generated within that time frame. Click the download button in the CSV or PDF column to download the report in the selected format. Click X to delete the report. Click X to delete a report. The manual reports can be downloaded in PDF format OR in CSV format West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 15

16 In PDF format, these reports show the Unexplained Absences and Reported Absences as well as a pie chart showing the distribution of the Absence Reasons provided. In CSV format, this report shows the absence reasons provided for the Reported and Explained Absences ONLY. Scheduled Reports The Schedule List This list on the top half of this screen shows the times at which SafeArrival reports are scheduled to be ed to the Recipients of the SafeArrival Reports. If the cut-off schedule for this school is set to later in the day, a report is automatically generated at the specified time and this scheduled time cannot be edited. Click Create a report schedule + to add a new item to the Schedule List. You will specify the time of day that the report will be sent and the Start Date (the date when you would like to start sending the reports daily). Click the edit icon beside an existing item in the Schedule List to edit the item. Click X beside an existing item in the Schedule List to delete the item. A maximum of 10 scheduled report times can be created. The Scheduled Reports can be downloaded in PDF or CSV format. In PDF format, these reports show the Unexplained Absences and Reported Absences as well as a pie chart showing the distribution of the Absence Reasons provided. The CSV format of the report only contains information on EXPLAINED absences, including the absence reasons. Click the download button to download the report in the desired format West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 16

17 The Report List This list on the bottom half of this screen shows the reports that were sent via at a specific time every school day. Click the download button to download the report. The ATTENDANCE Page This page shows the absences that have been reported through SafeArrival. Select a timeframe according to which absences you would like to display: Today, This Week, This Month, This Term, or a Custom timeframe that you specify. The START Column For Early Departures, the START column will include the date and the reported time of departure. For Leave & Return absences, the START column will include the date and the reported time of departure and the END column will include the date and the reported time of arrival For Multiple Day absence, the START column will include the first day of the absence and the END column will include the last day of the absence. The END Column For Late Arrivals, the END column will include the date and the reported time of arrival. For Leave & Return absences, the START column will include the date and the reported time of departure and the END column will include the date and the reported time of arrival. For Multiple Day absence, the START column will include the first day of the absence and the END column will include the last day of the absence West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 17

18 The REPORTED Column This column shows the most recent date and time that the absence was reported or editing. Details regarding who reported the absence are also shown, depending on the method used to report the absence are also shown: Call Out, the phone number that was called Call In, the phone number of the caller Android or ios app, the address of the user Guardian Web, the address of the user Staff web, Staff: and the login name of the staff user The REPORTED VIA Column This column shows the method that was last used to report/edit the absence. Call Out the absence was explained during an outbound SafeArrival notification call Call In the absence was reported during an inbound call to the toll-free number Android the absence was reported using the Android version of the SchoolMessenger app ios the absence was reported using the ios version of the SchoolMessenger app Guardian Web the absence was reported using the web version of the SchoolMessenger app Staff Web the absence was reported by a Staff user who clicked Report an Absence on this page Use the Search functionality to find absences that match certain criteria. Select the criteria from the drop-down list: Student Name Confirmation Number Student ID Grade Absence Type Absence Reason Home Room then enter the text or number you would like to search for. Click Search (or press Enter) to filter the absences in the list. Click the column headings to sort the list (where available). Click the column heading again to sort in reverse order. Absences that have been deleted are shown in light grey text. To report an absence, click Report an Absence +. Type in the first few letters of the student name, then select the student from the list that popups enter. Respond to the remaining prompts then click Save. A confirmation message will be sent to parents/guardians West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 18

19 Click the ACTIONS menu to see further options for this absence. Edit this Absence A confirmation message will be sent to parents/guardians. Delete A confirmation message will be sent to parents/guardians if a reason has already been provided for the absence. Show History This allows you to see if the absence was edited at any time after it was first created. Notification History If notifications have been sent for this absence, this option will allow you to see the phone number(s), address(es), text message phone number(s) and the results. Note: If you Edit an absence, an and/or text message will be sent to the guardians associated with this student. If you delete a MARKED absence for which a reason has not been provided by parents/ guardians, an /text message will NOT be sent. The SETTINGS Page Settings are configured by your SafeArrival District Administrator. You can use these pages to review what has been set up for your school. Please contact your SafeArrival District Administrator to discuss these settings if needed. The only setting that you can edit is the Recipients of the SafeArrival Report section. Absence Options This page shows the Absence Types and Absence Reasons that will be presented to parents/guardians when reporting/explaining absences. These settings have been configured by your SafeArrival District Administrator. Absence Types SafeArrival allows 5 types of absences to be reported: Full Day, Late Arrival, Early Departure, Leave & Return and Multiple Days West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 19

20 The District decides which of these absence types are offered to parents. Yes indicates that guardians will be offered this absence type. Absence Reasons Your SafeArrival District Administrator decides which absence reasons will be presented for each absence type. The text and reason code are shown in this list. Maximum Consecutive Days Absence The maximum number of consecutive days for which guardians can report absences through the system is also entered by your SafeArrival District Administrator. If guardians try to report a single absence that exceed this limit, or they try to report multiple absences that are consecutive and that exceed this limit, they will be asked to contact the school to report the absence. This allows you to discuss the extended absence with the parent. Note: This includes Full Day absences AND Late Arrivals. This maximum only applies to parents/ guardians; there is no limit to the number of consecutive days of absence when school staff report an absence from the Attendance page. If Multi-Language support has been configured for your District, the SEE ALL TRANSLATIONS button will be shown. Clicking this button allows you to review the translations for the Absence Types and Absence Reasons West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 20

21 Notifications How does the notification process work? Note: This is a general description of the notification process; your district s implementation may vary. Notifications are sent for students with unexplained absences: To all SafeArrival-enabled contacts Using all SafeArrival-enabled contact points (may include all or some of: SchoolMessenger app, , SMS phone numbers, phone numbers) Using all methods configured for your district (may include all or some of: , push notifications, SMS text message, phone calls) 1. s and push notifications (to the mobile apps) are sent. o If sent, wait the number of minutes specified by the /push window. The default is 5 minutes. (This delay is configurable. Contact SchoolMessenger solutions support.) 2. SMS text messages are sent. o If sent, wait the number of minutes specified by the SMS window. The default is 5 minutes. (This delay is configurable. Contact SchoolMessenger solutions support.) 3. Phone calls are made, one after another. o o If a phone call goes to an answering machine/voice mail, no further calls are made to this number. If a phone call is answered but the absence is not explained, no further calls are made to this number West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 21

22 o o o After calling a phone number, the system waits at least 4 minute(s) before calling the same phone number again. (This delay is configurable. Contact SchoolMessenger solutions support.) The system will not try the same phone number more than 5 time(s). (This number is configurable. Contact SchoolMessenger solutions support.) A separate process is set up for each student with an unexplained absence. Phone calls are not combined for students in the same family. If a parent does not have any contact points for a given method, the system immediately proceeds to the next step for that parent. Once the absence is explained, No further phone calls are made to any of the guardians for that student An /sms text message is sent to the student s SafeArrival-enabled parents/guardians to let them know the absence has been explained Phone calls will stop when: The absence is explained OR school staff stop the notifications OR the notification time expires: <notification length> minute(s) Absence Notifications These settings are configured by your SafeArrival District Administrator. Strict means that if you send notifications after the time that a parent/guardian reported that the student would be arriving/returning, the student s absence will be considered unexplained and the parent/guardian will receive notifications. Loose means that if you send notifications after the time that a parent/guardian reported that the student would be arriving/returning, the student s absence will always be considered EXPLAINED and the parent/guardian will NOT receive notifications. Grace Period means that if you send notifications after the time that a parent/guardian reported that the student would be arriving/returning PLUS the number of minutes specified, the student s absence will be considered unexplained and the parent/guardian will receive notifications. In the period of time before the parent indicated the student would be arriving/returning and including the grace period after that, the student s absence is considered to be explained. After the reported time plus the grace period, the absence is considered to be unexplained West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 22

23 Absence Reporting These settings are configured by your SafeArrival District Administrator. Calendar Each school s calendar is set up by your SafeArrival District Administrator. It should show all Holidays and may show Exam Days. Absences are not allowed to be reported through SafeArrival on Holidays. Guardians are told that school is not in session that day. Absences are not allowed to be reported through SafeArrival on Exam Days. Guardians are told that they need to contact the school directly to report absences on exam days. This gives you the opportunity to discuss why the child will be absent and how the exam will be dealt with. Select the School Term from the drop-down list for which you would like to view the calendar. Contact your SafeArrival District Administrator if any changes are needed. School Term The school terms are set up by your SafeArrival District Administrator. Absences are not allowed to be reported for days outside the current school term. Guardians are told that school is not in session. Your SafeArrival District Administrator will set the SafeArrival First Day for the school term to include extra days before school starts, then may define those extra days as Holidays. This is so that parents can begin reporting absences before school starts for the first day of school and beyond West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 23

24 Example: If the first day that school is in session is Tuesday, September 4, 2018 and the last day of school is Friday, June 28, o Set the SafeArrivalFirst Day of school term to Monday, August 27, 2018 o Set the Last Day of the school term to Friday, June 28, 2019 o Set up August 27 - September 3 as Holidays On Sunday, August 27 or before, parents will not be able to report absences for this school term. On Monday, August 28 through Friday June 28, 2019, parents will be able to report absences occurring on September 5 through Friday, June 28, Auto Notification The Auto Notification tab will only be shown if your district has been configured to use SIS Integration. SIS Integration currently refers to the ability to upload Attendance files to the SafeArrival system directly. This eliminates the need to export the Attendance file from the SIS, save the file on your computer, then browse to it and select the file to Import Attendance in SafeArrival. If your District uses SIS Integration: Your SafeArrival District Administrator will let you know whether you need to initiate the transfer of the attendance file when attendance-taking is complete or whether the file is uploaded based on a schedule. Your school will be set up for one of three types of Auto Notifications: 1. Manual (Notifications are started by school staff.) 2. Trigger (Notifications are triggered by attendance file uploads.) 3. Schedule (Notifications are automatically started at scheduled times.) o Schedule times can be throughout the school hours but must be at least 45 minutes apart. Your AUTO NOTIFICATION type will be displayed on the AUTO NOTIFICATION tab. With Manual auto notification type, you will need to go to the HOME page and click IMPORT YOUR ATTENDANCE 2018 West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 24

25 DATA and then SEND NOTIFICATIONS. With Trigger auto notification type, notifications will start as soon as the attendance file is received and processed by SafeArrival. With Schedule auto notification type, notifications will start based on the schedule times shown on the above screen. If there are any problems with the attendance file, an will be sent to the Recipients of the SafeArrival Report. If there is already a notification process in progress when a scheduled time is reached, the scheduled notification will be started but the system will set it to conflict status and stop it. The process that was in progress will continue to run. The scheduled notification will NOT be run when the first process ends. The Languages Tab The Languages tab will only be displayed if your district has been configured for Multi-Language Support. This tab shows the languages that have been enabled by your district. The Statistics Page The Statistics page is the place to find valuable insights regarding your school s use of SafeArrival West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 25

26 1. There are five different reports that can be accessed by clicking the appropriate tab. The details of each report are described in the sections below. 2. Select the time frame for the day(s) in which you are interested: Yesterday, Today, This Week, This Month, This Term, or Custom (select the start and end dates from the calendar). 3. Review the summary chart. Some charts have clickable items in the legend. This affects the information shown in the detailed list below the chart. Where relevant, the following options are provided: 4. Download to PDF (where available) 5. Download to CSV (where available) 6. Detailed List Number of Absences Reported through SafeArrival See how many absences SafeArrival has managed for you. Select the time frame in which you are interested. The chart shows the number of absences that were reported through SafeArrival to occur during the selected timeframe West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 26

27 Absence Handling for First Notifications See how much work SafeArrival is doing for you during the first round of notifications each day. The goal is to minimize the percentage of absences that remain unexplained after the first notifications, as these are the absences for which staff need to do the more time-consuming manual follow-up. If the percentage of absences reported before the first notifications is low, consider ways to encourage/remind more parents to use SafeArrival to report absences in advance. If the percentage of absences reported during the first notifications is low, consider the following: Do you have the right contact information for parents? Are they being reached? Do parents understand that you are going to continue trying to contact them until the student s safety is confirmed? Do you want to click Re-send Notifications to send the notifications again? 2018 West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 27

28 Methods Used to Report Absences See which methods are used most for reporting/explaining absences. Call Out shows the number of absences that are explained during the phone calls that SafeArrival makes to parents/guardians during the notification process. Call In shows the number of absences that are reported by parents/guardians calling the toll-free number. Guardian Web shows the number of absences that are reported/explained by parents/guardians using the SchoolMessenger app website. ios shows the number of absences that are reported/explained by parents/guardians using the Apple version of the SchoolMessenger mobile app on an ios device. Android shows the number of absences that are reported/explained by parents/guardians using the Google Play version of the SchoolMessenger mobile app on an Android device. Staff Web shows the number of absences that are reported/explained by school staff using the SafeArrival school staff website West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 28

29 Status of First Notifications To check on the school s progress for their first round of notifications today, select Today for the time frame. The chart shows: Not Started if the school has not yet started a notification process today In Progress if the school s first notification process of the day is currently in progress Completed if the school s first notification process of the day is complete To see how often the school is completing its first round of notifications, select the desired time frame. The chart shows: Never Completed the school has never completed a notification process on any of the school days within the selected time frame Sometimes Completed the school has completed a notification process on some but not all the school days within the selected time frame Always Completed the school has completed a notification process on every school day within the selected time frame 2018 West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 29

30 Average Time to Start First Notifications Keep an eye on how long it s taking your school to start the first round of notifications (as measured from School Bell Time). The chart shows the number of minutes on average that it took for the school to start the first notification process during the selected time frame. The time to start is calculated from the school bell time (start) to the time the notification process starts (either by clicking SEND NOTIFICATIONS or by an automated start) West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 30

31 The Help Page On the menu on the left-hand side of the screen, click the HELP option to open a new window containing the online help. You can search this document, print it etc. It also has a link to the PDF version of the document (i.e. the SafeArrival Guide for School Staff). Import Attendance Warnings When you import your attendance file, there are several warnings that may be displayed. This section contains an explanation. Note: If your district uses SIS Integration, these warnings will be shown in your SafeArrival Report. Warning: The imported attendance information was created at date/time. If you have more recent data, import a new file. This warning is shown when the marked time of absences is not within a short time. For the safety of students, the notifications should be sent as soon as possible after attendance has been taken. If you imported the wrong file, click CANCEL and import a more recent file. Warning: The imported attendance information contains invalid student IDS. These will be ignored. Click the invalid student IDs link. This will show you a list of student IDs that were in the attendance file, but are not in your SchoolMessenger Communicate database. You should investigate these student IDs. In the meantime, they will be ignored by the notification process, so you can go ahead and Send Notifications. Warning: This file contains attendance data that is not for today. Please import attendance for today. Click the attendance data link. This will should you the list of dates in the attendance file that are not for today. Re-export your attendance file from the student information system, ensuring you are exporting today s absences. Return to SafeArrival and click CANCEL to terminate the original import, then IMPORT ATTENDANCE using your new file. Warning: There are no marked absences in the file. If there are no marked absences in the file, you will receive this warning. In order to generate your SafeArrival report for the day, go ahead and click SEND NOTIFICATIONS (no notifications will be sent). Warning: There seems to be a timezone mismatch between Student Information System and SafeArrival. Please report this issue to SafeArrival support staff. You can continue to send notifications. Note that the student s marked time will be shown as date/time. This warning is shown when there is a significant time difference between the current time and the marked time of absences in the file. If you have timely attendance data, try exporting the attendance file and import it again West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 31

32 The SchoolMessenger App and SafeArrival This section contains an overview of the SchoolMessenger app (mobile apps and website) that can be used by parents/guardians to report absences. IMPORTANT: The SchoolMessenger app uses the addresses that are provided to SchoolMessenger from your student information system to determine which students will be shown in the parent s account. If you have not received instructions from your district administrator regarding the fields from which addresses are transferred (and under which conditions), please contact your district administrator to find out. Note: addresses are usually transferred to SchoolMessenger overnight. If you make changes, ask parents to wait until the next day to try the app again. Parents/guardians can Sign Up for the SchoolMessenger app using any of these methods: Web Open a browser and enter: go.schoolmessenger.com (for schools in the US) or go.schoolmessenger.ca (for schools in Canada) Mobile App Download the SchoolMessenger app (with the blue icon) from the Apple App store or Google Play To Sign Up for a SchoolMessenger app account, parents/guardians must choose the Sign Up option then provide an address and a password. Parents/guardians are instructed to sign up using the address their child s school has on record. Please note that the addresses that are transferred to SchoolMessenger come from specific fields in your student information system. If you have not received instructions from your district administrator regarding the fields from which addresses are transferred (and under which conditions), please contact your district administrator to find out. Note: addresses are usually transferred to SchoolMessenger overnight. If you make changes, ask parents to wait until the next day to try the app again. If parents/guardians sign up using an address that has NOT been transferred to SchoolMessenger, they will encounter one of the following issues: When they log in for the first time, they will see a message advising them that their address is not associated with any SchoolMessenger-enabled records. They will be instructed to contact the school to have their address added to the school records. If you have not received instructions from your district administrator regarding the fields from which addresses are transferred (and under which conditions), please contact your district administrator to find out Note: addresses are usually transferred to SchoolMessenger overnight. If you make changes, ask parents to wait until the next day to try the app again. If the address has been transferred to SchoolMessenger for some but not all of their children, when they try to report an absence, one or more of their children may be missing from 2018 West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 32

33 the list of their children. This means that the address they signed up with is in the correct place for one or more of their students, but not for other(s). You ll need to know exactly where to add the for the missing student(s). If you have not received instructions from your district administrator regarding the fields from which addresses are transferred (and under which conditions), please contact your district administrator to find out. Once parents/guardians have signed up for an account, the same address and password will work for the web and mobile apps. When parents/guardians login to the app, they can do the following: Student Absences Select the ATTENDANCE menu option from the main menu. The ATTENDANCE screen shows student absences. Student absences can be viewed in Calendar view (click the Calendar icon) or in List view (click the List icon). Report an Absence To report an absence, select the REPORT AN ABSENCE + icon o Select an entry from each of the drop-down lists, calendar or time selectors then select Send. Explain an Absence When there are absences to be explained, they will be highlighted in red. Select the absence then explain it by selecting entries from the drop-down lists, calendar and time selectors, then select Send. Edit/Delete an Absence Reported absences that will occur in the future can be edited or deleted. Select the absence then Edit or Delete as needed. Manage PIN Settings Parents/guardians may choose to require that a 4-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) be entered before an absence can be reported or explained for individual students when using the SafeArrival phone system. This provides an additional layer of security and also prevents students from reporting their own absences. For parents/guardians who do not use the SchoolMessenger app, staff with access to the SchoolMessenger Communicate Contacts page can manage the PIN settings West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 33

34 SchoolMessenger App - Mobile Apps (The samples shown below are from an ipad.) Calendar View List View " " 2018 West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 34

35 Report an Absence Manage PIN Settings (Android example) Parents/guardians can require that a Personal Identification Number (PIN) be entered before absences can be reported or explained for their student using the SafeArrival phone system. PIN settings can be updated by parents from the Attendance page of the SchoolMessenger app OR by school or district staff that have edit access to the SchoolMessenger Communicate Contacts page. Using the mobile apps, parents click the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner of the Attendance page. They will be shown a brief description of PIN settings. Click Manage PIN Settings to continue West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 35

36 On the Manage your PIN Settings screen, the parent can choose the district in which the student is enrolled (if the parent has students enrolled in more than 1 district). The parent will see a list of his/her students and will be able to tap the checkbox to request that a PIN be required for when reporting and explaining absences for this student by phone. A 4-digit PIN can then be entered. Changes made on this screen will be saved automatically. Tap the eye icon to see the PIN. Tap the edit icon to modify the PIN. This screen will be slightly different for Districts who do not use the Guardian Data Model. In that case, a separate PIN is required for each STUDENT West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 36

37 " " SchoolMessenger App Website Calendar View List View Report an Absence 2018 West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 37

38 Manage PIN Settings Parents/guardians can require that a Personal Identification Number (PIN) be entered before absences can be reported or explained for their student using the SafeArrival phone system. PIN settings can be updated by parents from the Attendance page of the SchoolMessenger app OR by school or district staff that have edit access to the SchoolMessenger Communicate Contacts page. Using the SchoolMessenger app website, parents click the Manage your PIN settings link at the bottom of the Attendance page. On the SafeArrival PIN Settings screen, the parent can choose the district in which the student is enrolled (if the parent has students enrolled in more than 1 district). The parent will see a list of his/her students and will be able to tap the checkbox to request that a PIN be required for when reporting and explaining absences for this student by phone. A 4-digit PIN can then be entered. Tap the eye icon to see the PIN. Tap the PIN to modify the it. Click Save to save any changes. This screen will be slightly different for Districts who do not use the Guardian Data Model. In that case, a separate PIN is required for each STUDENT West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 38

39 Supporting Parents/Guardians Here are some questions that parents/guardians may ask, and information to help you answer their questions. SchoolMessenger App Accounts How do I access my SchoolMessenger app account? Check that the parent s address is associated with the student in the student information system. IMPORTANT: The SchoolMessenger app uses the addresses that are provided to SchoolMessenger from your student information system to determine which students will be shown in the parent s account. If you have not received instructions from your district administrator regarding the fields from which addresses are transferred (and under which conditions), please contact your district administrator to find out. Note: addresses are usually transferred to SchoolMessenger overnight. If you make changes, ask parents to wait until the next day to try the app again. Check that the parent s address has been entered in the correct fields in the student information system. Check for the following common errors: Incorrect letters - check spelling carefully Mixing up the number 1, lowercase L and uppercase i. Typos (e.g. gmial vs gmail) Wrong provider or country (e.g. gmail vs hotmail,.ca vs.com) Missing a period sign Spaces and commas are not allowed in addresses Provide the URL (go.schoolmessenger.com (US) or go.schoolmessenger.ca (Canada)) and ask parents to use the Sign Up feature. Once signed up, parents can use the Forgot Password link if needed. See the SchoolMessenger app documentation for more information. When I log into the SchoolMessenger app, it says my address is not associated with any SchoolMessenger-enabled records. What should I do? Check that the parent s address is associated with the student in the student information system. IMPORTANT: The SchoolMessenger app uses the addresses that are provided to SchoolMessenger from your student information system to determine which students will be shown in the parent s account. If you have not received instructions from your 2018 West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 39

40 district administrator regarding the fields from which addresses are transferred (and under which conditions), please contact your district administrator to find out. Note: addresses are usually transferred to SchoolMessenger overnight. If you make changes, ask parents to wait until the next day to try the app again. Check that the parent s address has been entered in the correct fields in the student information system. Check for the following common errors: Incorrect letters - check spelling carefully Mixing up the number 1, lowercase L and uppercase i. Typos (e.g. gmial vs gmail) Wrong provider or country (e.g. gmail vs hotmail,.ca vs.com) Missing a period sign Spaces and commas are not allowed in addresses I don t see the Attendance menu option in the SchoolMessenger app. What should I do? Ask the parent to check the Contacts page in the app to ensure that their students are listed. If they are not, please follow the steps above to ensure that the address that the parent used to sign up for the account is entered into the correct fields in the student information system. Assuming your school is using SafeArrival, check with your District Administrator to ensure that the guardian category for this parent/guardian is configured to be able to access the Attendance menu. One (or more) of my children is not listed on the Attendance page or in the list of children for whom I can report absences. What should I do? Ask the parent to check the Contacts page in the app to ensure that their students are listed. If they are not, please follow the steps above to ensure that the address that the parent used to sign up for the account is entered into the correct fields in the student information system. Assuming your school is using SafeArrival, check with your District Administrator to ensure that the guardian category for this parent/guardian is configured to be able to access the Attendance menu. Automated Phone System What if I m not calling from my home phone number? You will be asked to enter a phone number that is registered for your student West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 40

41 What if my caller ID is not passed to the system? You will be asked to enter a phone number that is registered for your student. What do I do if I get a busy signal? Try again in a few minutes or use the app/web. (To School Staff: This is a very rare situation since SchoolMessenger has large phone capacity. It the situation persists for more than 5 minutes, please contact SchoolMessenger support services.) Why does it keep playing the menu options then hang up on me? The touch-tone sounds are not being received by the automated system. Try calling again or use the app/web if this problem persists. Can anyone who knows my phone number report an absence using the phone system? Including my child? Yes, anyone who uses a phone that is registered for your student or anyone who can enter a phone number that is registered for your student can report an absence for your student. If you have not already done so, we strongly recommend that you provide your address so that whenever an absence is reported or updated, you will receive an confirmation notice. You can add a requirement for a PIN to be entered before an absence can be reported or explained for your student. This can be done on the Attendance page of the SchoolMessenger app (mobile apps-click the gear icon or web-click the link at the bottom of the page) or by making this request to the school. My child(ren) is/are not listed. What can I do? The SchoolMessenger app uses the caller ID or the phone number entered during the call to determine which students will be listed. If you have not received instructions from your district administrator regarding the fields from which phone numbers are transferred (and under which conditions), please contact your district administrator to find out. Check that the parent s phone number has been entered in the correct fields in the student information system. What is a Confirmation Code? If you report an absence by calling the SafeArrival toll-free number or if you explain an absence when the SafeArrival system calls you, you will receive a confirmation number before the end of the phone call. The Confirmation Number confirms that the absence was reported/explained and can be used provided to the school if you reported the absence but still received SafeArrival notifications. Staff can use the confirmation number to investigate why you received notifications West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 41

42 PIN Settings Parents/guardians can require that a Personal Identification Number (PIN) be entered before absences can be reported or explained for their student using the SafeArrival phone system. PIN settings can be updated by parents from the Attendance page of the SchoolMessenger app (see the SchoolMessenger App section) OR by school or district staff that have edit access to the SchoolMessenger Communicate Contacts page (see below). Note: To determine whether your district uses the Guardian Data Model or Flat Data Model, contact your District Administrator OR check the student Contact page in SchoolMessenger Communicate (shown below). If you see the Guardians section, your District is using the Guardian Data Model. If you do not see the Guardians section, your District is using the Flat Data Model. In Districts that use the Guardian Data Model, each parent (and staff) is able to modify the PIN-required settings for his/her students individually. Each parent has his/her own PIN. The SafeArrival phone system will accept any of the parent s PIN for a given student. In Districts that use the Flat Data Model, each parent (and staff) is able to modify the PIN-required settings for his/her students individually. There is one PIN for each STUDENT. If one guardian changes the PIN, s/he must notify other guardians. The SafeArrival phone system will only accept this one PIN for the student West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 42

43 To modify the PIN settings for a parent, you will need to login to SchoolMessenger Communicate and follow the instructions below OR contact your SafeArrival District Administrator. 1. Click System. 2. Click Contacts. 3. Click Search for Person. 4. Enter the student s name. 5. Click Search. 6. Click the student ID. For Guardian Data Model, Scroll down to the Guardians section of the page and click SafeArrival PIN Manager next to one of the student s guardians. Click the checkbox beside the student name to require entry of a PIN. If the PIN field is blank, it means that no PIN has ever been entered for this guardian. If the PIN field has special characters shown, it means that has a PIN has already been entered for this guardian. You can enter a new PIN for the guardian or leave it as it is (if the parent already knows the PIN). The system does not allow you to view an existing PIN West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 43

44 For Flat Data Model, Click the PIN Manager link near the top of the Contact screen. Click the checkbox to require that a PIN be entered for this student. Enter the PIN that will need to be used by all parents/guardians for this student. Reporting Absences Why can t I see attendance options in my SchoolMessenger app account? To School Staff: Check the parent/guardian s address in the SIS for the student(s). In order for the Attendance option to be shown, there must be at least one student associated with the parent s address in a SafeArrival-active school. In addition, the guardian category to which the parent belongs must be enabled for SafeArrival access. Why can t I see my child(ren) in my account? To School Staff: Check the parent/guardian s address in the SIS for the missing student(s) as well as the guardian category (ensure it is enabled for SafeArrrival access). Can I report absence when we are away on vacation? The toll-free phone line can be used from anywhere in Canada or the continental US. The website and app can be used anywhere you have Internet access. Can absences be reported for days when school is not in session? Exam days? To School Staff: Parents/guardians will not be allowed to report absences on Holidays and exam days that have been configured in the SafeArrival calendar. For exam days, parents will be asked to contact the school directly West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 44

45 Can extended absences be reported through the system? Absences longer than [insert your Maximum number of consecutive days limit here] consecutive school days must be reported directly to the school. This includes when you are adding a new absence report that, in addition to existing reported absences, would cause the maximum number of consecutive school days to be exceeded. This includes Full Day absences AND Late Arrivals. To School Staff: The maximum number of consecutive school days that an absence can be reported through the system is configurable by your SafeArrival District Administrator. If a parent/guardian attempts to report a longer absence, they will be asked to contact the school directly. This applies to a single absence as well as to a series of reported absences. e.g. if the maximum is set to 10 days and parents try to report 12 days of consecutive school days absence, they will be asked to contact the school. Also, if parents have previously reported 10 consecutive days of absence, then they try to report 2 more days immediately following the 10 consecutive days, they will be asked to contact the school. This includes Full Day absences AND Late Arrivals. What is the cut-off time? Why won t the system let me edit/explain/delete an absence? Absences for dates in the past cannot be edited, explained or deleted through the system. Parents/ guardians must contact the school. On the day of the absence, absences can be edited, explained or deleted up to the cut-off time. Absences can always be explained during the school s notification process. An absence that was not reported in advance, but was marked by the school cannot be deleted by parents/guardians. To School Staff: The cut-off time is configured by the District. See the Settings page, under Notifications, to find the cut-off time for your school. If the cut-off schedule is set to At the time the first SafeArrival notifications are completed each day, then the cut-off time will depend on when you start the notifications on a particular day and when they are finished. Plans changed and my child went to school. How do I delete the reported absence? You can delete a reported absence up to the cut-off time. After the cut-off time, the absence cannot be deleted. If the child is at school, the reported absence is ignored. The final student attendance record is in the Student Information System. To School Staff: If parents insist that a reported absence be deleted, you can do this on the Attendance screen. How do I report a half-day absence? If the student will be away for the morning, report a Late Arrival, with the arrival time being the start of afternoon classes. If the student will be away for the afternoon, report an Early Departure, with the departure time being the end of morning classes West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 45

46 Absence Confirmations I reported my child s absence but I didn t receive a confirmation notice. To School Staff: Check that the parent s address is correctly associated with the student in the Student Information System. To School Staff: Check the parent s communication preferences to ensure they have allowed s. I received a confirmation notice but I didn t report an absence. First, check with other guardians of the student and the student (if it s possible/likely they may have reported their own absence). To School Staff: Check the reported absence REPORTED BY and REPORTED VIA information on the Attendance page to see who reported the absence. For privacy reasons, do not give out phone numbers or addresses to parents/guardians. Absence Notifications I reported my child s absence. Why did I still get notified of the absence? If the reported absence did not cover the timeframe when attendance was taken, you will be notified of the absence. For example, if you reported a Late Arrival with the expected arrival time of 9:30 and attendance was taken at 9:45, you will be notified of the absence. If the notifications were started before the absence report was received by the system, you may still be notified of the absence. Why does the system keep calling me about the same absence? If no one submits the absence type and reason, the system will keep calling about the same absence for a pre-configured length of time. Why is the system using this phone number/ to send notifications? SafeArrival uses the information provided to the school and stored in the Student Information System and any communication preferences that have been set up using the SchoolMessenger app West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 46

47 New Features The following new features have been added in the latest release (Fall 2018): Statistics View statistics for your school. On the SafeArrival site, click the STATISTICS option on the right-hand side of the page. Additional Details in the SafeArrival Site Footer The SchoolMessenger app URL has been added to the SafeArrival site page footer for your convenience. Questions? If you have any questions regarding SafeArrival, please contact your SafeArrival District Administrator FIRST. Check the bottom right-hand corner of the SafeArrival website for the District Service & Support link. Click SafeArrival District Administrator. This will allow you to send an request to your SafeArrival District Administrator(s). If you do not see this link, you should have been provided a District person to contact for help with SafeArrival. If needed, your SafeArrival District Administrator will then contact SchoolMessenger Solutions Support. SchoolMessenger Solutions Support support@schoolmessenger.com Chat Live with a Support Rep West Corp. [ ]. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without express written permission. 47