Tri-Creek School Corporation

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Improving Parent Communication with AlertNow

{AlertNow}

Tri-Creek School Corporation

AlertNow
Emergency Notification System

Important details and frequently asked questions.

What is AlertNow?

AlertNow works like this: via an automated dialing system, you will receive a call and/or e-mail initiated by the Superintendent, the Assistant Superintendent, Director of Operations, Director of Technology, your school Principal, or a designated member of school district staff. The primary uses of the system will be to notify you of delayed openings, early dismissals, school closings, and emergencies. This will enable the district to disseminate information to each of our families in the most time efficient manner possible.

How will the system be used?

School Closings/Delayed Openings/Early Dismissals – Calls will be placed to a primary phone number and one primary e-mail address. In addition to using AlertNow for this purpose, the corporation will continue to communicate school closing announcements via our website, and Cancellations.com.

Important Communications
In the event that a school bus should run late, an event should be rescheduled at the last minute, or other critical information should need to be conveyed to parents as soon as possible, and we cannot be reasonably assured that families will receive the information by e-mail in enough time should action be required on the part of the parent, a call will be placed to the primary phone number and one primary e-mail address. In some situations, an e-mail will be sufficient. Examples include cancellation and re-scheduling of after school activities and events.

Emergency
In extreme emergency situations, the message may provide critical information and/or emergency instructions. Messages of this nature will be distributed to the primary phone number and up to two emergency phone numbers, in addition to one primary e-mail and up to two emergency e-mail addresses provided to us.

Attendance
Tri-Creek will also begin using AlertNow to place attendance calls. These contacts will go to the primary phone number and one primary e-mail address.

What is the difference between AlertNow, E-mail from Harmony, and E-Alerts (website)?

AlertNow is the corporation's rapid calling and emergency notification system described here. Communications of a routine nature are not conveyed with the use of AlertNow. All district families are automatically signed up for AlertNow. Your information can only be removed by contacting the Tri-Creek Administration Office directly. AlertNow messages are sent by phone calls and sometimes followed up with an e-mail as well.

E-mail from Harmony is general information and notification from the home school or classroom teacher. Parents may also receive a specific e-mail from the teacher about their child via Harmony e-mail.

E-Alerts from school or corporation web pages are e-mails generated by groups and staff members editing the corporation and individual school building website, and often contain information of a routine nature; examples include school fund raisers and events, volunteer sign-up opportunities, notifications of important information added to the website, messages from teachers, and daily informational newsletters.You must subscribe to receive E-Alerts. To subscribe, you must go to the Tri-Creek School Corporation's web page and register, and during that process, indicate if you want to receive E-Alerts.

Do I need to sign up again each school year? How do I notify the district of a change in my information?

No. Once your information is in the system, you only need to contact the home school if your information changes. If it does change, download an enrollment form and send it in by e-mail to the building principal or return to the building secretary. You may also make changes on the demographic information section of the Harmony parent portal once you login.

What do I do if I think a call was placed, but I didn't get one?

Not all calls generated with AlertNow are sent to all families. Often, information is only sent to those directly affected. For example, if a field trip bus is expected to return late to an elementary school, only those families whose children are on that bus would be contacted. If one of our schools has an emergency, a call may only be generated to the families of students in that school, but an e-mail might be sent to all families so that everyone has the benefit of accurate information about an emergency. In most circumstances, duplicate information will be on the district's homepage within minutes of the AlertNow system activation. If you believe you were missed, go to the website first to get accurate information. If you do not have access to the Internet, call your home school.

I received an e-mail, but no phone call - was I missed?

Probably not. Not all situations will warrant a phone call. District administration will make the determination as to when to make calls and when to send e-mails only. Contact your home school so that your information can be checked to be sure that your phone numbers and e-mail addresses are accurate.

I have an extension at work; can I add that number to AlertNow?

The AlertNow system can only accept direct dial numbers.Check with your employer to determine if you have a direct dial number in addition to your extension.

I received an AlertNow message that school is delayed or cancelled, what does that mean?

If school is cancelled, ALL activities and events scheduled for that day are also cancelled. If a two-hour delay is announced, that means that the school bus will pick up students two hours later than normal (e.g., if the bus normally picks up a student at 7:15 a.m., the student will be picked up at 9:15 a.m. if there is a two-hour delay).

Other Important Details:

1. Your caller ID will display your school's main number anytime a call is coming through from the school. Caller ID will not display a name associated with the number.

2. Your caller ID will display 411 anytime an emergency call is coming through from the school. Caller ID will not display a name associated with the number.

3. The system will leave a message on your voicemail or answering machine. If you have a Telemarketer Zapper or Privacy Director on your telephone lines you may not receive the call. For example, with Privacy Director all incoming calls are rerouted, and the callers must identify themselves for the call to go through. Because our system is automated, it will not identify itself; thus, the call will not get through to your number.

Some Issues

You may not want to receive informational calls (i.e., non-emergency calls) from the school, especially if they are frequent. We will strive to strike a balance between informing you and bombarding you with calls. If you elect to only receive emergency calls please contact the school to let them know to update your information. If you do not want a number called please contact the school building and as to have that number "opted out".
Some of you may experience that you did not receive a complete message on your answering machines.
1. Some machines have a set maximum recording time for a single message (i.e., 60 seconds). If possible, increase the allowed recording time.
2. If the message is cut off at the beginning, it's possible that the machine's outgoing message has a long pause somewhere, which would cause the AlertNow message to begin playing. You may need to re-record their outgoing message so that there are no pauses except the one after the beep.
The school's main number will display on your caller ID whenever the message is informational or announcement-oriented. Emergency calls (launched using display 411 on the caller ID.
When you receiving messages on your cell phone, reception issues frequently cause errors, such as no message playing, a delayed start, or a partial message on your voicemail.
1. We have noticed particular problems with the Sprint and Nextel networks. These networks often have an automated message that says "Please hold while we locate the Nextel/Sprint subscriber," and then there's a pause, which our system thinks is the proper time to start playing the message.