Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
February 15, 2007 issue
Watauga Schools Turn To AlertNow Messaging Service
Story by Blair O’Briant
Watauga County Schools has chosen the AlertNow Rapid Communication Messaging Service to better reach the school system’s most important audience: parents.
The service allows the school district to send recorded messages directly to telephones, thereby enhancing communication about school closings, delays, early dismissals and emergency situations.
Marshall Ashcraft of Watauga County Schools said the system has been used between five and ten times for weather-related announcements since its launch in January. Ashcroft said messages relating to weather and scheduling issues will be the most common use of the system
Parents generally receive calls about school closings or delays soon after 6:15 a.m.
Superintendent Dr. Bobbie Short has personalized the system by recording the messages. If necessary, she can send messages from home.
AlertNow will call each number up to five times if no one answers. The prerecorded message does not identify the person being called, so parents who list their place of employment as their contact number should ask their employer to notify them if a call from the system is received. The system will only deliver the complete message to a number once, so parents with multiple children in school will not receive a separate message for each student.
Ashcraft said while there has been one instance where the message did not seem to reach parents, the overall response from users has been positive. He said the county hopes to expand its use of the program by next fall, allowing more contact numbers per student and creating more focused contact groups. The system will eventually have the capacity to call up to five numbers per student.
The AlertNow system does not replace alternative means of receiving information about schools. Local news stations, school websites and snow lines will continue to announce school closings, delays and emergency situations.
For more information about AlertNow, call Watauga County Schools at 828-264-7190 or click to www.watauga.k12.nc.us.