Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - (Page 50) Emergency Preparedness Series – Part 4 continued from page 49 provided valuable information and links from the CDC Web site to its member schools keeping them abreast of vital health information to keep parents up-todate with H1N1updates and changes in school policy.” The Hallen School, which serves children and young adults with disabilities, has also incorporated K12 Alerts for their emergency and regular communication with parents. The Hallen School is a private, special education school located in New Rochelle, New York. Established in 1972, Hallen is one of the most comprehensive special education schools in the New York area. Today Hallen serves children, ages five through 21, who exhibit learning disabilities, speech and language impairments, emotional difficulties, autistic features, and mild health impairments. Recently, The Hallen School had two doctor confirmed cases of the H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu), which required them to utilize K12 Alerts to send notices about steps that the school was taking in response to H1N1. Dr. Priscilla Feir said, “In addition to sending an informational letter to parents regarding the health concern, we used the K-12 Alerts to provide timely updates. Both parents and staff expressed appreciation for the information regarding the status of the health concern, the decision to keep school open or closed, and the process for disinfecting. Trusting they would receive continued updates helped to ease everyone’s concerns.” Mr. Bender adds, “Keeping parents informed and school officials empowered to communicate with parents in real-time is something that K12 Alerts prides itself on since its inception.” The Internet in the past couple of years has become the main tool to let parents know when school is canceled and to distribute important notices quickly. Most schools post school closing and other information to their Web site and they rely on parents to visit their Web site to access that information. Schools struggle with keeping email addresses and cell phone numbers current, this can be a fulltime job for most administrators, outsourcing to K12 Alerts requires no internal investments in hardware or software. A school administrator may call an 800 number to record a message and then send it to everyone, or to a targeted group like the fourth grade parents. Parents of students attending a fifth grade field trip can be contacted in the event of a school bus breakdown or delay, allowing parents time to make arrangements for picking up their child. Sporting event notifications are another way that schools communicate with parents; in the event of a rained out soccer game all the parents of the team may be contacted immediately. K12 Alerts also provides Electronic Student Emergency Cards that parents may update and administrators can access in a few keystrokes, providing doctor, allergy, and other critical student information about each child. K12 Alerts notifies parents anywhere through multiple modes of communication, including email, text messaging to cell phones, and by telephone - depending on their location. “What’s great about our triple-play alert system is that parents can be contacted anytime, anywhere, or while in transit via text and voice messaging about a weather delay or crisis concerning their children and we handle the data management,” said Bender. Research findings show that 30% of parents and staff members change their emails and cell phone numbers annually in the United States, thus making it difficult for schools to stay current with critical student information. K12 Alerts also offers a proprietary Parent My Account® portal that is customized for each school where parents and staff members can maintain/update their emergency phone numbers, email, and Text-to-Cell messaging numbers for emergency and routine messaging—like banks do for personal information. K12 Alerts also provides Electronic Student Emergency Cards that parents may update and administrators can access in a few keystrokes, providing doctor, allergy, and other critical student information about each child. Parents log onto a Web site to register their emergency contact information. They can also specify their children’s grade levels and extracurricular activities —so in case of an emergency unique to one school or activity, appropriate parents would be notified. School administrators also use K12 alerts to send newsletters and other periodic updates to parents, staff, and the community. Today, K12 broadcasts an average of 700,000 messages in an hour. Mr. Bender said his goal was not only to provide schools with an efficient, updated means of instant communication, but also help schools to save money and resources and help create “greener” school environments. The K12 Alerts program can lower school costs by decreasing paper communications and strengthening the home-to-school connection with email, voice, and text-tocell parent communications. “Schools nationwide are really embracing our mission, to increase communication and lower cost while decreasing their reliance on paper notices,” Bender said. Regular use of the K12 Alerts system also helps keep information current to parents and staff members. School administrators view the K12 Alerts instant-notification system as a way to communicate with families sending positive messages, in addition to instant alert. Most Superintendents and school administrators use K12 Alerts for system-wide messages and daily calls to the parents of students who were absent or late to school. • For more information, visit www.k12alerts.com, call (914) 220-8326 or email them at info@k12alerts.com. 50 August 2009 • EP MAGAZINE/www.eparent.com http://www.k12alerts.com http://www.eparent.com Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Exceptional Parent - August 2009 Exceptional Parent - August 2009 Contents Ancora Imparo What's Happening Further Reading New Products 2009 Disability Awareness Night Schedule 2009 Models of Excellence in the Healthcare Profession Preterm Birth: How It Affected My Family Treatment of Neurosensory Disorders Improves Psychological Well-Being in Children Federal Program Encourages Health Service Innovations on Developmental Disabilities Close Encounters of the Medical Kind Sitting on top of the World: One Physician's Journey to Success Raising a Noonan Syndrome Child When We Found Out Our Daughter Had CMT August is Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month! Newborn Screening Saves Babies, One Foot at a Time Another Day in the Life of the National Children's Study Evidence Based Humanity Must Be Part of the Equation Incontinence Education Series Part 7 Emergency Preparedness Series Part 4 On the Road to Recovery - Self-Deiscovery: The Crown Jewel of Psychotherapy Asperger Syndrome and the Difficulties of Diagnosing and Treating Related Conditions EP Bookstore Special Needs Alliance Specialcare AADMD - American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry Organizational Spotlight Living with a Disability Exceptional Parent - August 2009 Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Exceptional Parent - August 2009 (Page Cover1) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Exceptional Parent - August 2009 (Page Cover2) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Exceptional Parent - August 2009 (Page 1) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Contents (Page 2) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Contents (Page 3) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Contents (Page 4) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Contents (Page 5) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Ancora Imparo (Page 6) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Ancora Imparo (Page 7) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Ancora Imparo (Page 8) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Ancora Imparo (Page 9) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - What's Happening (Page 10) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - What's Happening (Page 11) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Further Reading (Page 12) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Further Reading (Page 13) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - New Products (Page 14) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - New Products (Page 15) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - New Products (Page 16) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - 2009 Disability Awareness Night Schedule (Page 17) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - 2009 Models of Excellence in the Healthcare Profession (Page 18) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - 2009 Models of Excellence in the Healthcare Profession (Page 19) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Preterm Birth: How It Affected My Family (Page 20) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Preterm Birth: How It Affected My Family (Page 21) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Treatment of Neurosensory Disorders Improves Psychological Well-Being in Children (Page 22) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Treatment of Neurosensory Disorders Improves Psychological Well-Being in Children (Page 23) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Treatment of Neurosensory Disorders Improves Psychological Well-Being in Children (Page 24) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Treatment of Neurosensory Disorders Improves Psychological Well-Being in Children (Page 25) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Federal Program Encourages Health Service Innovations on Developmental Disabilities (Page 26) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Federal Program Encourages Health Service Innovations on Developmental Disabilities (Page 27) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Close Encounters of the Medical Kind (Page 28) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Close Encounters of the Medical Kind (Page 29) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Close Encounters of the Medical Kind (Page 30) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Close Encounters of the Medical Kind (Page 31) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Sitting on top of the World: One Physician's Journey to Success (Page 32) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Sitting on top of the World: One Physician's Journey to Success (Page 33) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Raising a Noonan Syndrome Child (Page 34) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Raising a Noonan Syndrome Child (Page 35) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - When We Found Out Our Daughter Had CMT (Page 36) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - When We Found Out Our Daughter Had CMT (Page 37) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - August is Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness Month! (Page 38) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Newborn Screening Saves Babies, One Foot at a Time (Page 39) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Another Day in the Life of the National Children's Study (Page 40) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Another Day in the Life of the National Children's Study (Page 41) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Another Day in the Life of the National Children's Study (Page 42) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Another Day in the Life of the National Children's Study (Page 43) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Evidence Based Humanity Must Be Part of the Equation (Page 44) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Evidence Based Humanity Must Be Part of the Equation (Page 45) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Incontinence Education Series Part 7 (Page 46) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Incontinence Education Series Part 7 (Page 47) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Incontinence Education Series Part 7 (Page 48) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Emergency Preparedness Series Part 4 (Page 49) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Emergency Preparedness Series Part 4 (Page 50) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Emergency Preparedness Series Part 4 (Page 51) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - On the Road to Recovery - Self-Deiscovery: The Crown Jewel of Psychotherapy (Page 52) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - On the Road to Recovery - Self-Deiscovery: The Crown Jewel of Psychotherapy (Page 53) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - On the Road to Recovery - Self-Deiscovery: The Crown Jewel of Psychotherapy (Page 54) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - On the Road to Recovery - Self-Deiscovery: The Crown Jewel of Psychotherapy (Page 55) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Asperger Syndrome and the Difficulties of Diagnosing and Treating Related Conditions (Page 56) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Asperger Syndrome and the Difficulties of Diagnosing and Treating Related Conditions (Page 57) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Asperger Syndrome and the Difficulties of Diagnosing and Treating Related Conditions (Page 58) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Asperger Syndrome and the Difficulties of Diagnosing and Treating Related Conditions (Page 59) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - EP Bookstore (Page 60) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - EP Bookstore (Page 61) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Special Needs Alliance (Page 62) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Special Needs Alliance (Page 63) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Specialcare (Page 64) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Specialcare (Page 65) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Specialcare (Page 66) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Specialcare (Page 67) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - AADMD - American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (Page 68) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - AADMD - American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (Page 69) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - AADMD - American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (Page 70) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Organizational Spotlight (Page 71) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Organizational Spotlight (Page 72) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Organizational Spotlight (Page 73) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Living with a Disability (Page 74) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Living with a Disability (Page Cover3) Exceptional Parent - August 2009 - Living with a Disability (Page Cover4) http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201009 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201008 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201007 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201006 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201005 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201004 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201003 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/201002 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/2010rg http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/200912 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/200911 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/200910 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/200909 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/200908 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/200907 http://www.eparentdigital.com/nxtbooks/exceptionalparent/200906 http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.