We often take for granted some of the less exciting aspects of providing a quality education, such as keeping track of grades, attendance and other administrative-related activities that are critical to keeping our schools up and running for the benefit of our students, as well as for compliance with all legal requirements.
One of the most critical areas related to educating our students is the record-keeping aspect — keeping track of all the information and data associated with each individual student — especially these days, as the amount of required documentation never seems to dwindle.
This is where student management systems come in. All school districts across the country have to have some way to manage the massive amounts of information generated by a school district and maintain that data within a stable and secure environment.
There are many student record systems available to school districts, some simple and straightforward; others that are incredibly complex. Within our district we use Skyward, a leader in providing student, finance, human resource, and administrative services that are aligned to state and national standards for reporting.
Todd Ulses, our district information systems coordinator, recently shared a status update about a new feature now in place through our information management system, called “Skylert.” This important new component will allow us to send out mass communications in the form of telephone calls, text messaging and/or emails to parents and guardians to notify them about school-related issues, such as student absences or weather alerts, in case of school closures or delays.
More importantly, it will provide that same capability to generate mass communications to families in the case of any type of emergency circumstances or safety threats. This ability to send out mass communications can be made either across one campus or districtwide.
At the moment, Skylert is being tested at one of our school sites to work out any glitches and to tweak as needed for optimal performance. Superintendent Terry Myers expressed his satisfaction at the way the new service was proceeding. “We’re pleased to be able to have this additional means of communicating with our families quickly and efficiently whenever the need arises.”
If you have a student enrolled at any of our Clovis Municipal Schools and would like to double-check to make sure that your contact information is current, call or drop by your child’s school to check or update your information.
Cindy Kleyn-Kennedy is the Instructional technology coordinator for the Clovis Municipal Schools and can be reached at cindy.kleyn-kennedy@clovis-schools.org
