Good afternoon,
I have received many calls about text messages people are receiving from the district's School Messenger program.
Earlier this week our Superintendent sent out the following email regarding school communications:
Dear South Portland Schools Families,
With winter approaching, it is time to communicate with our families about school cancellations due to weather. We strive to make the decision about cancelling school as early as possible, usually by 5:30 a.m., and to communicate the news widely. There are a number of ways you can learn about school cancellations:
1. South Portland Schools website: http://www.spsd.org/
2. TV: Channels 6, 8, 13
3. Radio: 560 AM and 93.1, 97.9, 100.9, 101.9, 102.9 FM
4. Twitter (new district handle @spsdme)
5. SchoolMessenger SMS and email sent to your mobile number and email of record
SchoolMessenger allows us to send out quick SMS messages and emails to our community using mobile numbers and emails you provided to your child’s school. When school is canceled, or we have other important information to share, we will notify families through SchoolMessenger. While in past years we have also made automated phone calls for school cancellations, we are stopping this practice, except in rare emergencies, based upon feedback from our community. Through SchoolMessenger we will notify people via text (SMS) and email as soon as the determination to cancel school has been made.
In order to receive an SMS via SchoolMessenger you need to authorize us to send you SMS messages. We do this by sending an initial text to your mobile phone. This text will arrive on Friday morning, December 4th, originating from #684-53. To receive school cancellation text messages you must reply to this text with the word “Yes” or “y.” If you choose not to receive text alerts/messages, no action is required. You will still be enrolled in SchoolMessenger’s email alert system and will receive cancellation notices via email.
The InfoCenter portal in SchoolMessenger is an additional valuable tool to help you to manage your notifications. At any time you can change your preferences regarding notifications and check your contact information using the InfoCenter portal. Follow directions below to create an InfoCenter account. You will be able to opt out of receiving any messages by using InfoCenter. You will also have access to recent messages, archived in this service. Checking InfoCenter allows you to verify that the contact info our schools have for you is up to date. Please contact your student’s school if any information is inaccurate or out of date.
To sign up for InfoCenter:
1. Go to https://infocenter.schoolmessenger.com/
2. Click the “Sign Up” button, enter your email address and create a password (this should be the email address that we have on file). A confirmation email will be sent to this email address with instructions for completing your registration.
3. After authenticating via the token sent to your email, return to InfoCenter and sign in using your email and password.
Note: When you sign in, click on the “Preferences” tab. If your contact information is not there, then you have used an email address we do not currently have on file. Please contact your child’s school to confirm the email address they have on file.
Sincerely,
Ken Kunin
Superintendent
I have received many calls about text messages people are receiving from the district's School Messenger program.
Earlier this week our Superintendent sent out the following email regarding school communications:
Dear South Portland Schools Families,
With winter approaching, it is time to communicate with our families about school cancellations due to weather. We strive to make the decision about cancelling school as early as possible, usually by 5:30 a.m., and to communicate the news widely. There are a number of ways you can learn about school cancellations:
1. South Portland Schools website: http://www.spsd.org/
2. TV: Channels 6, 8, 13
3. Radio: 560 AM and 93.1, 97.9, 100.9, 101.9, 102.9 FM
4. Twitter (new district handle @spsdme)
5. SchoolMessenger SMS and email sent to your mobile number and email of record
SchoolMessenger allows us to send out quick SMS messages and emails to our community using mobile numbers and emails you provided to your child’s school. When school is canceled, or we have other important information to share, we will notify families through SchoolMessenger. While in past years we have also made automated phone calls for school cancellations, we are stopping this practice, except in rare emergencies, based upon feedback from our community. Through SchoolMessenger we will notify people via text (SMS) and email as soon as the determination to cancel school has been made.
In order to receive an SMS via SchoolMessenger you need to authorize us to send you SMS messages. We do this by sending an initial text to your mobile phone. This text will arrive on Friday morning, December 4th, originating from #684-53. To receive school cancellation text messages you must reply to this text with the word “Yes” or “y.” If you choose not to receive text alerts/messages, no action is required. You will still be enrolled in SchoolMessenger’s email alert system and will receive cancellation notices via email.
The InfoCenter portal in SchoolMessenger is an additional valuable tool to help you to manage your notifications. At any time you can change your preferences regarding notifications and check your contact information using the InfoCenter portal. Follow directions below to create an InfoCenter account. You will be able to opt out of receiving any messages by using InfoCenter. You will also have access to recent messages, archived in this service. Checking InfoCenter allows you to verify that the contact info our schools have for you is up to date. Please contact your student’s school if any information is inaccurate or out of date.
To sign up for InfoCenter:
1. Go to https://infocenter.schoolmessenger.com/
2. Click the “Sign Up” button, enter your email address and create a password (this should be the email address that we have on file). A confirmation email will be sent to this email address with instructions for completing your registration.
3. After authenticating via the token sent to your email, return to InfoCenter and sign in using your email and password.
Note: When you sign in, click on the “Preferences” tab. If your contact information is not there, then you have used an email address we do not currently have on file. Please contact your child’s school to confirm the email address they have on file.
Sincerely,
Ken Kunin
Superintendent
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