Using SMS for alerts and notifications from Schools and Educational Institutes are highly beneficial for keeping parents and guardians notified on scheduling changes, upcoming tests and exams, student performance, and events. New software makes it possible to customize automated text messages to fit the needs of individual students. Administrators can now send personalized, and timely, reminders and resource links to thousands of students, whose questions and replies are routed to appropriate counselors and teachers.
Schools can send out a bulk SMS message to all parents advising them of closures or delays in case of unexpected events. With recipients being registered in advance for these alerts, the chances of missing any of parents or guardians is reduced and with delivery reports updated in near real-time, schools can rest assured that the communication as successfully been received by the intended recipients.
A scheduled process can check attendance data for all students and immediately send an alert to a parent of student's absence or to alert the authorized supervisor to call the parent. The attendance system can be updated when the student enters the school and once all students have "check-in", alerts can be sent to those parents whose children have not scanned their cards.
Parent-Teacher Meetings are important for parents to keep them abreast of their child's progress in the school and to identify any areas that require additional focus. With automated SMS, parents can be sent a notification a few days before the meeting to help them plan their schedule and an reminder can be sent on the day of the meeting. If the school uses 2-way messaging, it can also offer the parent(s) an option to link to the school's PTM appointment scheduling and request a change or confirm the appointment.
Sending an SMS alert to both students and parents on upcoming important tests and exams can be beneficial and help the parent to assist the child on preparing for the exams. Timings of the tests, if being conducted over a weekend, can also help the parent make sure the child attends on time.
Parents are not always up to date on their children's performance in school. Using automated SMS, schools can send notifications to parents on drastic changes in the student's performance or to high areas of improvement for the student. This also helps improve the interaction between parents and teachers and raise the school's standards and performance.
