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SchoolReach Parent Notification System Accessible Through Pearson PowerSchool
The SchoolReach Instant Parent Contact notification system, designed for K-12 school districts, can now be accessed through student information system Pearson PowerSchool.
SchoolReach, a hosted system, provides the tools for administrators to delivery emergency and non-emergency notifications such as meeting reminders, bus route changes, school cancellations, lockdown alerts, absentee messages, and school closings. Administrators can access their accounts from any computer connected to the Internet, by using any touchtone or cellphone or by using SchoolReach iPhone and Android apps. Notifications are stored in four data centers.
Features of SchoolReach include:
- Notification delivery by e-mail or phone;
- The List Center, which allows users to enter phone numbers manually or import them in .txt, .csv, Excel, or Access file types;
- Broadcast time selection, which lets the user choose now or a later date and time to send the notification; and
- Message confirmation, which asks parents to press 1 to confirm receiving the message, allowing school districts to keep track of who received the notification.
The system also allows parents to replay messages and list more than one phone number for delivery.
SchoolReach also allows administrators to get feedback from parents by asking questions through EZPoll and EZSurvey. Parents can answer questions through touch tone or voice response. The system allows for up to nine questions and lets administrators provide two choices for responses, such as yes or no.
"Our district operations revolve around our mission-critical data housed within PowerSchool," said Ron Spicer, technology coordinator at Affton School District in Missouri. "The more we can mine that data directly though PowerSchool, the more efficient and effective our operations become. We have used SchoolReach for many years and the new PowerSchool embedded integration is a great enhancement to the PowerSchool experience."
Free training is provided through webinars, and on-site training is available for a fee.
SchoolReach for PowerSchool is free to schools and school districts that are already customers of PowerSchool and SchoolReach. For more information, visit schoolreach.com or pearsonschoolsystems.com/products/powerschool.
About the Author
Tim Sohn is a 10-year veteran of the news business, having served in capacities from reporter to editor-in-chief of a variety of publications including Web sites, daily and weekly newspapers, consumer and trade magazines, and wire services. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @editortim.