1 SchlMessenger: Staff and Parent Cmmunicatin Henric Cunty, Virginia Shrt Overview SchlMessenger Schl Ntificatin is a prduct f Henric Cunty Public Schls (HCPS) that assists the schl divisin with simplifying cmmunicatin t parents and staff members. It cmbines a ntificatin system, a mbile applicatin and Web-based cntent management with an easy-t-use interface. It prvides an efficient, autmated way t cmmunicate things like student absences, late penings, snw days, urgent calls t parents abut campus issues and general news. Prduct users can create custmized recipient lists, define call types, generate cmputermessages r recrd persnal messages. They can designate what methd (call r email) will be used fr sending the cmmunicatin. SchlMessenger features analytics-reprts that can be emailed t the user r generated manually. T summarize, this system is reliable, easy t use and prvides the flexibility t effectively cmmunicate with ur cmmunity. It s prven capable f successfully delivering high vlumes f calls r messages efficiently with reliability and speed. The Prblem/Challenge/Situatin Our divisin as well as ur 72 individual schls needed a quick, efficient, autmated way t cmmunicate messages abut student absences, late penings, snw days, urgent calls t parents abut campus issues and general news. There was a time that messages t the parent/guardian f ur students and even ur staff was delivered hme thrugh a memrandum via the student backpack, U.S. Mail r if urgent in nature, thrugh the lcal media. With the
2 SchlMessenger: Staff and Parent Cmmunicatin Henric Cunty, Virginia desire fr a mre autmated delivery, we needed a way t relay messages thrugh cmputer generated calls, emails and text messages. Hw the Prgram Was Carried Out SchlMessenger is a prduct that assists the schl divisin with simplifying staff and parent cmmunicatins. It cmbines a ntificatin system, a mbile applicatin and Web-based cntent management with an easy-t-use interface. Schl ntificatins can cver students, parent/guardian and even staff. The messages can include infrmatin regarding schl emergency alerts, as well as attendance and lunch balance ntificatins. Cmmunicatins can be sent thrugh vice, text, email, scial media, web and push ntificatins. The schl system can custmize it t meet their needs. Users can create and stre templates fr repeat messages. Districts can custmize email templates t include their lg r custm statements t share with their parent/guardian r staff cmmunities. Our divisin ffice uses this prduct t cmmunicate new prcesses, changes t schl r after schl activities, schl clsings r emergency/critical ntificatins. Our schl principals use this prgram t send ut weekly updates t parents abut the things happening within the schl fr the upcming week. This replaces a paper newsletter and saves wrk effrt and dllars n paper and mailings. Our schl nutritin ffice has a feed f all students with a negative balance and a call and email ges hme every Sunday t allw parent/guardian t update the student s lunch accunt t ensure they have enugh mney fr schl breakfast and lunch r they bring their lunch.
3 SchlMessenger: Staff and Parent Cmmunicatin Henric Cunty, Virginia Our schl transprtatin ffice uses this prduct t ntify parents f a late bus and/r a change in the bus schedule. We are currently wrking n a review f ther manual effrts t see if SchlMessenger culd be a ptential replacement t thse paper cmmunicatins. Fr example, we have a prcess nw fr all f the Specialty Center Applicants (high schl centers) where acceptance packets are handled thrugh the mail. We wuld like t share the acceptance packets with the parent/guardian and student thrugh a link that is emailed hme. Parents wuld then be given a link t the nline dcumentatin tl t review and cmplete the nline packet. Objectives: Deliver messages quickly and easily Create custm recipient lists Create custm bradcasts Design custm message types (nn-emergency, emergency, attendance, et al) Custmize delivery methd (call, email, text) Create reprts Time frame fr develpment and implementatin: Summer Set up administrative users by schl using imprted PwerSchl data frm human resurces department Trained users Cmmunicatins began in early August Onging maintenance:
4 SchlMessenger: Staff and Parent Cmmunicatin Henric Cunty, Virginia Update data fr schl administrative changes Train any new users Clientele: Staff Parents Students Cunty s rle in implementatin: Henric Cunty Public Schls prvided resurces t assist with the prduct s adptin, including a prject manager, tw lead implementatin specialists and a database administratr. Technlgy implementatin included the fllwing prducts: SchlMessenger website custmized fr HCPS https://asp.schlmessenger.cm/henric/index.php Financing and Staffing Cst Annual cst: $64,990 Operating csts: nne, althugh the implementatin and training required sme HCPS staff resurces. HCPS staff time required t implement prgram: Implementatin: HCPS Department f Operatinal Technlgy implementatin team: 100 hurs
5 SchlMessenger: Staff and Parent Cmmunicatin Henric Cunty, Virginia Prject manager: 10 hurs Tw lead implementatin specialists: 25 hurs Database administratr: 40 hurs Supprt and maintenance: Supprt fr training and maintenance: 10 hurs per mnth Database administratr: 20 hurs per year Prgram Results SchlMessenger allws ur users t deliver messages quickly and easily thrugh an intuitive interface using just a few clicks. Users have the ability t send messages by cmputer, phne call-in r a mbile app. Because users can create custm recipient lists, messages can be targeted t specific grups f parents r staff. This makes cmmunicatin mre effective and reduces unwanted ntificatins t recipients. Messages r bradcasts can be custmized and delivered thrugh a phne call r via email. We have als created a plan t begin text messaging in 2016. The system ffers senders the ptin t recrd a message in their wn vice r t type the message and select a cmputercreated male r female vice t deliver the message. Messages can be labeled with a particular message type, differentiating critical messages frm mre general cmmunicatins. Users can decide whether they want t receive analytics reprts abut their messages via email r exprt reprts using the interface. Call reprts shw whether r nt a persn r a machine answered the call, and email reprts shw whether an email message was read, skimmed r deleted.
6 SchlMessenger: Staff and Parent Cmmunicatin Henric Cunty, Virginia Brief Summary SchlMessenger has becme a critical part f Henric Schls ability t efficiently deliver messages t staff and parents, bth at the level f ur 72 schls and divisin wide. SchlMessenger lets us reach ut t staff and parents directly withut having t rely n the media. It significantly increases the cnfidence that ur stakehlders are receiving crucial cmmunicatins. Supplemental Materials A test-user sample f the SchlMessenger dashbard: this is the first page a user sees upn lgin. The dashbard summarizes messages sent using a particular user name. Users have fur r five menus available, depending n their rle and assigned rights.
7 SchlMessenger: Staff and Parent Cmmunicatin Henric Cunty, Virginia The SchlMessenger custm lists feature: Als available are varius templates fr creating analytics reprts: