Schools cultivate communication

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools soon will be ready to join Orange County Schools and the growing number of districts across the state in improving communication with parents and faculty.

The district will conduct a test run today of Connect-ED, its new centralized messaging system, to make sure that students’ contact numbers are updated and that parents are aware of the new system.

Connect-ED, which has been in place in county schools since early December, allows administrators to contact all parents in the district with emergency messages or announcements within minutes — with a single phone call.

Kim Hoke, spokeswoman for city schools, said the system can call up to six contact numbers for each student, and it also will include messages in Spanish.

She said the system will be an improvement from the district’s reliance on the news media and its district Web site and phone line to spread announcements.

“This will add one more direct link to parents,” Hoke said. “It’s more efficient, more direct, more timely.”

County schools officials say the system already has received positive feedback from parents.

Ryan Miller, instructional technology coordinator for county schools, said Superintendent Shirley Carraway was able to send a message to more than 18,000 people in about an hour when the district had an early dismissal for snow earlier this year.

He added that the system — along with The Loop, the districtwide e-mail list — is part of the county’s overall plan to increase communication with parents.

“This was just one more layer we were able to add on,” he said.

Jim Causby, executive director of the N.C. Association of School Administrators, said the use of systems like Connect-ED is a growing trend among school systems across the state.

More than 40 districts in the state are using similar types of communication systems, he said.

The majority of these districts are using Connect-ED.

“The biggest thing is to be able to have the best communication possible,” Causby said.

He said messaging systems are especially important in areas experiencing rapid population growth, where many parents new to the area do not have relatives nearby to take care of their children in the case of last-minute closings or delays.

An increase in parent involvement also has been evident in many districts using such messaging systems, with more parents attending meetings and school events, he said.

“School systems say the results have been amazing,” Causby said.

Raymond Reitz, chief technology officer for city schools, said systems like Connect-ED are essential for schools to have success.

“I believe it’s a requirement in this day and age to provide reliable and easy access for communication,” Reitz said.

“Parents and the community expect that.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.