The School District of Superior, the 23rd largest school district in the State of Wisconsin, has expanded its parent notification program for the academic year 2007-2008.

According to a news release, there are two primary objectives for this move: to communicate with the families of students effectively and quickly when there is an emergency and to enhance the quality and frequency of communication between schools and the community.

"We want the community to know that we are taking proactive measures to improve the flow of communication between our schools and home," said Jay Mitchell, superintendent of the School District of Superior, in the release. "Studies show that when notification solutions are used in schools, parents feel more involved in their child's education, they report improved peace of mind and attendance rates increase. In today's connected world, parents have 24/7 access to news and information, and they expect nothing less from their local schools."

The district is collaborating with SchoolMessenger, a leading U.S. parental notification company, for the expansion of the pilot program initiated and tested in April. With the new service, the district can communicate with parents anytime, with the help of voice messages or email.

"We want to applaud the district's success in creating an organized, strategic program that places a clear priority on parent communications," Jim Duggan, Northern Regional Director for SchoolMessenger, a division of Reliance Communications, was quoted as saying in the release. "By leveraging our notification service, which is designed exclusively for K-12 use, school administrators will save countless hours of staff time when communicating ongoing, routine alerts and events. In addition, if an emergency occurs, district officials can deliver a clear message quickly and reliably to provide valuable insight on the situation, and dispel the spread of misinformation."

In case of an emergency in any of the eight school campuses, the large calling capabilities of the system can be used to send any number of messages in a matter of minutes. If it is just a routine attendance alert or a community outreach, the officials of a school or the district can utilize a Web-based system, or use a toll-free number to communicate with parents by sending personalized messages or reminders during the academic year.

This year, all students are required to get an Emergency Contact form reviewed by parents and submit accurate telephone and email information. Through two emergency contacts, families will be sent alerts and messages regarding school activities. The database records for the 5,000+ students are automatically and regularly updated to ensure that the district is well prepared for any emergency. Any changes in the contact information of a family need to be updated in the records.

The notification plan will cover the following schools: Bryant Elementary, Cooper Elementary, Four Corners Elementary, Great Lakes Elementary, Lake Superior Elementary, Northern Lights Elementary, Superior Middle School and Superior High School. It is ensured that the personal information shared between families and the district will be private. The information is secured with multiple layers of data encryption, firewalls and other security measures.

SchoolMessenger is a division of Reliance Communications, Inc., which is a leading provider of parent notification solutions for education. The company’s range of products, including desktop, server and hosted solutions, are used in over 6,000 districts and schools to connect educators and millions of parents. It was founded in 1999 and is privately-funded. SchoolMessenger is headquartered in Santa Cruz, California.

For information, visit www.schoolmessenger.com.

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Calvin Azuri is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.