On Tuesday, December 7, we will test our SchoolReach automated message transmission system. SchoolReach is a notification system that allows us to send a voice, text, and/or email message to all of our parents, faculty, and trustees simultaneously. It would only be activated when we have some unusual situation to communicate. When activated by the school, the system sends a message to each contact in the database that we have compiled from the emergency information you have sent us.
I will activate the test sometime before noon. You should receive a message on your home, work, or mobile phone, or your email address we have on file. The message will simply say something like, “This is the SchoolReach test message from The Country School.” Phones with Caller ID are supposed to display “The Country School.” The service delivers a message to both live answer and answering machines. Answer the call as you normally would, and then there will be a brief pause before the message starts.
If you do not receive any message via at least one of these means by 2:00 p.m. that day, please send us an email at schoolreach@countryschool.org or call 410.822.1935 extension 199 and let us know. We will then contact you to make certain we have your correct contact information. If we repeat a trial in the near future, I will contact you via email. Depending on how things go, we may also use this system on occasion to provide you with other notifications, for example when we expect significant delays in field trip or away game return times.
SchoolReach is just one of the tools we use to try to be prepared in case an unusual or emergency situation presents itself. We regularly monitor emergency weather, news, and government information services. We have an extensive emergency plan that outlines numerous potential situations and how we would respond to each. Our faculty and staff have been briefed on how we would handle various occurrences, they have copies of the entire emergency plan and summaries with relevant action points, and we have talked through various scenarios. We have practiced certain emergency drills with the children, and we have an average of one fire drill per month. All faculty and staff have also had first aid, CPR and AED (automatic external defibrillator) instruction. The Easton Police Department has made a commitment to be a presence on campus during off hours and whenever else we request. Our exterior doors are secure, we have procedures on what to do if a staff member notices an intruder, and every classroom has direct 911, phone, and intercom access. We ask the children not to open exterior doors for any adult, no matter how friendly looking. Overall, we take the business of safety and emergency preparedness seriously. We know how precious each child is, and so we do our best in a behind-the-scenes, non-threatening, non-scary, and child-sensitive way to be as prudently prepared for as many possibilities as is feasible.