East Pennsboro Area High School Student Newspaper

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Parents Get "Connect Ed"

Tuesday, 29 January 2008

On Sunday, January 20 at 7 PM, every phone on East Pennsboro Area School District’s contact list rang. These calls were placed by a new announcement system being implemented by district administrators called “Connect Ed,” says teacher Darcy Goshorn. The system allows administrators to record new messages and send out mass telephone calls or emails. Connect Ed also allows the administrators to “create groupings,” said Goshorn, so if a sporting event is canceled or a bus breaks down, only those people affected will be contacted- not the entire district. This new technology can be used to inform parents on any number of issues, such as school cancellations or lock-downs.The first call that went out was extremely successful, Goshorn said. A second phone call went out Sunday, January 27. In a phone interview, East Pennsboro’s Head of Technology Steve Vogelsong said that the second phone call was even more successful. “91 contacts were wrong last Sunday,” he said. “Only 11 were wrong the second time.” The message is initiated when the telephone is answered or when an answering machine is reached. While the system has no way to combat hang ups (parents who hang up within one minute of answering the automated call), the system will retry a contact five times if a busy tone responds.Goshorn said that the only major flaws with the system were the faulty phone numbers, which the administration is busy working out, as was seen in the success of Sunday’s second phone call. Vogelsong said that overall, the system has had very good reception and that parents have not been complaining about the calls. “There is a no call list in the district office,” said Goshorn. If parents do not wish to receive the updates (or would rather receive an email), they may go to the office and place their names on the list. While the phone messages have been sent out twice in the past two weeks, the administration is not sure if the weekly calls will continue. “We’re trying to find a way to inform parents without invading the home,” Vogelsong said. “It will be extremely effective,” Goshorn said. “It actually works.”

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