The Gideon School District has implemented a parent contact system to send instant alerts of emergencies and general announcements

Parents typically depend solely on their children's backpack to reveal important school-related news and information. Photo illustration [Click to enlarge]

According to Superintendent David Hollingshead, the district has chosen the SchoolReach Instant Parent Contact system to send personally recorded messages to parents for emergency alerts and general announcements of timely interest.

"The service that SchoolReach provides fills an important need for all school districts," Hollingshead said. "In today's environment it is critical to be able to notify families quickly. This service will provide the capacity for us to rapidly notify parents, staff and other appropriate individuals concerning events such as school closings and emergencies, as well as important information about upcoming activities within the district."

According to GroupCast, SchoolReach's parent company, SchoolReach is the fastest-growing parent notification service used among K-12 public schools in the United States.

The SchoolReach system, which is currently used by more than 4,200 schools in 49 states, provides an effective and affordable way for school officials to send personally recorded messages to parents for emergency alerts and general announcements of timely interest, according to GroupCast.

GroupCast goes on to say that the system allows a school administrator to record a brief message for delivery to an extensive, or selective, list of parents, teachers or students, simultaneously. Greeted by the familiar voice of a school representative, after seeing their school's Caller ID, parents immediately know that the message is important. The "List-Record-Launch" rapid messaging process takes only minutes for the notification to reach parents. Replacing older forms of communication, such as phone trees and sending notes home with students, the system allows for beneficial, timely distribution of accurate and vital information.

"Schools struggle with 'immediate, same day, or night-before' notices to parents," said Paul Langhorst, vice president of operations at GroupCast. "SchoolReach fills this need perfectly and requires no additional hardware, software, or phone lines to operate the solution. We are very pleased that Gideon School District recognizes the value of having a proactive system like SchoolReach in their communications toolkit."

Schools already using the SchoolReach system have found that it is an ideal way to provide parents with updates, such as school closings, meeting reminders, and even rumor abatement. Because the SchoolReach system is able to call parents at a preferred phone number or multiple phone numbers, including work, home, or cell phone numbers, the system also performs extremely well in emergency situations, like lockdowns, or whenever every second is critical, GroupCast said.

In addition to Gideon, several other public schools throughout the area are utilizing similar instant-communication programs, including the free text-alert system offered through the Daily Dunklin Democrat.

Holcomb Public Schools, as well as districts such as Senath-Hornersville and Kennett No. 39, have been using alternative means to contact parents in the last year or so.

For more information on SchoolReach within the Gideon School District, contact Charlotte Andrist at (770) 578-8007 or Charlotte@EicherCommunications.com, or Leslie Eicher at

(314) 965-1776 or Leslie@EicherCommunicaitons.com.