INCLEMENT-WEATHER NOTIFICATION: Text in case of emergency

TRI-LAKES AREA — Chilly winds and cooler rains might be the

first signs that harsher weather is coming, but

perhaps the parents, students and teachers of

the Bryant School District have a new herald of

winter - the Notifyme TxtWire system test.

At noon Wednesday, Jessica Norris, director

of communications for Bryant Schools, picked

up her cellular phone and sent a short test mes

sage.

The entire test process took less than a min

ute and instantly notified more than 2,000 fami

lies and faculty members who have registered to

receive messages from the school system.

“The beauty of it is its simplicity,” Norris

said. “It will be the first information from the

source.” The information system was actually estab

lished last year by the school district’s informa

tion technology office, but was not used last

year. So before the first frost hits and long before

the snow and ice that can follow, Norris said

school administrators decided to see if their

texting communications were in good working

order.

“We would hate to just assume it was work

ing and only when it was needed would we find

out the text was not getting through to people,”

Norris said.

The text message would not be the only

source of information from the schools and is

not meant to carry all the information. The pur

pose of the text is to be the first, fast and simple

way to get information to those concerned.

“We are limited to only 160 characters,” Nor

ris said. “We will tell people the basics and then

where to look for more detailed information,

usually the school system’s Web site. But we

don’t expect or want our teachers and parents

to rely on this alone, but it is fast and can be

done almost anywhere.” Norris said even though the length of the

texts are limited, the notices would be fairly

clear of textspeak, the push-tone shorthand of

ten used in less formal and more personal text

messages.

A protocol of text messaging and e-mails has

been established under what the school district

calls their Notifyme alert system, using the

TxtWire mobile phone information delivery

system.

Norris said the possibilities of this system

are almost limitless. During the winter, school

district officials expect they will employ the

text messages as the first alert during inclem

ent weather“As soon as we realize that the road would be unsafe for our buses and for parents to bring their children to school,” Norris said, “Superintendent (Richard) Abernathy, one of the assistant superintendent or I will use our cell phones to announce that the schools are closed or that opening will be delayed until later, and then refer them to www.bryantschools.org.” The Notifyme system would also be used in emergency’s such as power outages, f lood or other water problems that might disrupt classes.

“We might need to have parents come to school for their children or a need to move the students from the school,” Norris said. “This system will speed accurate information directly to those who need it. “ The next step is the training of school principal in using the TxTWire system for important or urgent news from the individual schools in the system, Norris said. Each school can set text messages to those signed up for that school.

Parents can register to receive the Notifyme messages by signing up on the school district Web site or by texting the numbers 91011 to special five digit numbers issued to each school.

Students can sign up for messages that would arrive before and after school. At school, students must turn off their cell phones.

- wbryan@arkansasonline.comSubscribe to Notifyme TxtWIre To subscribe on line, visit the Bryant schools

Web site: www.bryantschools.org and look

for the TxtWire link at the top of the Web site’s

home page.

To subscribe using your mobile phone, text the

numbers 91011 to: Bryant Elementary 20455 Collegeville Elementary 20461 Davis Elementary 20463 Hurricane Creek Elementary 20465 Paron Elementary 20467 Salem Elementary 20469 Springhill Elementary 20471 Bethel Middle School 20452 Bryant Middle School 20459 Bryant High School 20457

Tri-Lakes, Pages 143 on 11/01/2009

Print Headline: INCLEMENT-WEATHER NOTIFICATION Text in case of emergency