February 29, 2008

Dear Bayside High School Parent/Guardian:

As principal of Bayside High School I am pleased to announce that Virginia Beach City Public Schools is implementing a new parent notification system – AlertNow – that is being “tested” at our school between now and the end of this school year. AlertNow is a powerful and convenient notification system that will allow the school district to send important information quickly to your phone and/or e-mail account about emergency situations such as school delays or cancellations due to inclement weather, for example. At the school level it will also allow us to remind you about various events and circumstances such as report card distribution, open house, delayed buses, class field trips, and more.

As the parent of a student at Bayside High School it is important that we share information about this new and exciting notification system and how we will communicate with you. 

• For non-emergency messages, you will receive a telephone call most likely to your home phone.
• Should a school emergency occur, in addition to being called at home, you will also be notified through the various phone numbers you have included on your child’s registration form.
• In addition to being notified by phone during a school emergency, you will also receive messages via e-mail.

• This new notification system has the capability of calling five of your phone numbers (home, alternate or cell, and work) and sending messages up to five different e-mail accounts for parents/guardians identified as residing with the student or identified as receiving copies of student reports.

• Multiple phone numbers and e-mail addresses will only be used to notify you during a school emergency, closing, or cancellation.

Over the next three and a half months, our school staff will be using AlertNow to keep in touch with every parent about events taking place at Bayside High School.  The number that will appear on your Caller ID will be 648-5200.  We will contact you with a future letter notifying you of the test date as we get closer to bringing this new program to you. Please use this time to update phone numbers, etc. by calling our main office now at 473-5050, ext. “0.”

Here is what you need to know about receiving calls through AlertNow: 

·    If you have Caller ID, for a non-emergency message, the number 757-648-5200 will appear in the display.

·    If you have Caller ID, for an emergency message, 411 will appear in the display.

·    Be sure to say hello when you answer the phone. The technology must hear a voice to deliver
the message.

·    AlertNow will leave a message on any answering machine or voicemail.

·    If the AlertNow message stops playing, press any key 1-9 and the message will replay from the
beginning.

·    If an e-mail is sent, the subject line will read Virginia Beach City Public Schools

We are proud to be one of ten schools selected to pilot this new system. As a Bayside High School parent, you will have the opportunity to test this communication system prior to being fully implemented in all 88 schools and centers in September 2008.

For your convenience, we have a list of the most frequently asked questions about the AlertNow parent notification system. These questions can be accessed on the school division’s Web site vbschools.com by selecting the link AlertNow Pilot Program on the home page. Should you have any questions about AlertNow, please e-mail me at kay.thomas@vbschools.com

On behalf of every member of the staff at Bayside High School, I thank you in advance for supporting this wonderful new parent communication tool.

Kay Thomas