FAQ - Support for Parents and Guardians

Here are some questions that parents/guardians may ask, and information to help you answer their questions.

SchoolMessenger App Accounts

How do I access my SchoolMessenger app account?
When I log into the SchoolMessenger app, it says my email address is not associated with any SchoolMessenger-enabled records. What should I do?
I don’t see the Attendance menu option in the SchoolMessenger app. What should I do?
One (or more) of my children is not listed on the Attendance page or in the list of children for whom I can report absences. What should I do?

Automated Phone System

What if I’m not calling from my home phone number?
What if my caller ID is not passed to the system?
What do I do if I get a busy signal?
Why does it keep playing the menu options then hang up on me?
Can anyone who knows my phone number report an absence using the phone system? Including my child?
My child(ren) is/are not listed. What can I do?
What is a Confirmation Code?

PIN Settings

SchoolMessenger App Accounts

How do I access my SchoolMessenger app account?

· Check that the parent’s email address is associated with the student in the Student Information System.

IMPORTANT: The SchoolMessenger app uses the email addresses that are provided to SchoolMessenger from your student information system to determine which students will be shown in the parent’s account. If you have not received instructions from your district administrator regarding the ﬁelds from which email addresses are transferred (and under which conditions), please contact your district administrator to ﬁnd out.

Note: Email addresses are usually transferred to SchoolMessenger overnight. If you make changes, ask parents to wait until the next day to try the app again. Provide the URL (go.schoolmessenger.com (US) orgo.schoolmessenger.ca (Canada)) and ask parents to use the Sign Up feature.

· Check that the parent’s email address has been entered in the correct ﬁelds in the student information system.

· Check for the following common errors:

Incorrect letters - check spelling carefully
Mixing up the number 1, lowercase “L” and uppercase “i”
Typos (e.g. gmial vs gmail)
Wrong provider or country (e.g. gmail vs hotmail, .ca vs .com)
Missing a period or @ sign
Spaces and commas are not allowed in email addresses

· Provide the URL (go.schoolmessenger.com (US) or go.schoolmessenger.ca (Canada)) and ask parents to use the Sign Up feature.

· Once signed up, parents can use the Forgot Password link if needed.

· See the SchoolMessenger app documentation for more information.

When I log into the SchoolMessenger app, it says my email address is not associated with any SchoolMessenger-enabled records. What should I do?

· Check that the parent’s email address is associated with the student in the student information system.

· Check that the parent’s email address has been entered in the correct ﬁelds in the student information system.

· Check for the following common errors:

Incorrect letters - check spelling carefully
Mixing up the number 1, lowercase “L” and uppercase “i”
Typos (e.g. gmial vs gmail)
Wrong provider or country (e.g. gmail vs hotmail, .ca vs .com)
Missing a period or @ sign
Spaces and commas are not allowed in email addresses

I don’t see the Attendance menu option in the SchoolMessenger app. What should I do?

· Ask the parent to check the Contacts page in the app to ensure that their students are listed. If they are not, please follow the steps above to ensure that the email address that the parent used to sign up for the account is entered into the correct ﬁelds in the student information system.

· Assuming your school is using SafeArrival, check with your District Administrator to ensure that the guardian category for this parent/guardian is conﬁgured to be able to access the Attendance menu.

One (or more) of my children is not listed on the Attendance page or in the list of children for whom I can report absences. What should I do?

Automated Phone System

What if I’m not calling from my home phone number?

· You will be asked to enter a phone number that is registered for your student.

What if my caller ID is not passed to the system?

· You will be asked to enter a phone number that is registered for your student

What do I do if I get a busy signal?

· Try again in a few minutes or use the app/web. (To School Staff: This is a very rare situation since SchoolMessenger has large phone capacity. It the situation persists for more than 5 minutes, please contact SchoolMessenger support services.)

Why does it keep playing the menu options then hang up on me?

· The touch-tone sounds are not being received by the automated system. Try calling again or use the app/web if this problem persists.

Can anyone who knows my phone number report an absence using the phone system? Including my child?

· Yes, anyone who uses a phone that is registered for your student or anyone who can enter a phone number that is registered for your student can report an absence for your student. If you have not already done so, we strongly recommend that you provide your email address so that whenever an absence is reported or updated, you will receive an email conﬁrmation notice.

· You can add a requirement for a PIN to be entered before an absence can be reported or explained for a student. This can be done on the Attendance page of the SchoolMessenger app (mobile app-click the gear icon or web-click the link at the bottom of the page) or by making this request to the school.

My child(ren) is/are not listed. What can I do?

· The SchoolMessenger app uses the caller ID or the phone number entered during the call to determine which students will be listed. If you have not received instructions from your district administrator regarding the ﬁelds from which phone numbers are transferred (and under which conditions), please contact your district administrator to ﬁnd out.

· Check that the parent’s phone number has been entered in the correct ﬁelds in the student information system.

What is a Confirmation Code?

· If you report an absence by calling the SafeArrival toll-free number or if you explain an absence when the SafeArrival system calls you, you will receive a confirmation number before the end of the phone call. The Confirmation Number confirms that the absence was reported/explained and can be used provided to the school if you reported the absence but still received SafeArrival notifications. Staff can use the confirmation number to investigate why you received notifications.

PIN Settings

Parents/guardians can require that a Personal Identification Number (PIN) be entered before absences can be reported or explained for their student using the SafeArrival phone system. PIN settings can be updated by parents from the Attendance page of the SchoolMessenger app (see the SchoolMessenger App section) OR by school or district staff that have edit access to the SchoolMessenger Communicate Contacts page (see below).

Note: To determine whether your district uses the Guardian Data Model or Flat Data Model, contact your District Administrator OR check the student Contact page in SchoolMessenger Communicate (shown below). If you see the “Guardians” section, your District is using the Guardian Data Model. If you do not see the “Guardians” section, your District is using the Flat Data Model.

In Districts that use the Guardian Data Model, each parent (and staff) is able to modify the “PIN-required” settings for his/her students individually. Each parent has his/her own PIN. The SafeArrival phone system will accept any of the parent’s PIN for a given student.

In Districts that use the Flat Data Model, each parent (and staff) is able to modify the “PIN-required” settings for his/her students individually. There is one PIN for each STUDENT. If one guardian changes the PIN, s/he must notify other guardians. The SafeArrival phone system will only accept this one PIN for the student.

To modify the PIN settings for a parent, you will need to login to SchoolMessenger Communicate and follow the instructions below OR contact your SafeArrival District Administrator.

1. Click System.

2. Click Contacts.

3. Click Search for Person.

4. Enter the student’s name.

5. Click Search.

6. Click the student ID.

For Guardian Data Model:

· Scroll down to the Guardians section of the page and click SafeArrival PIN Manager next to one of the student’s guardians.

· Click the checkbox beside the student name to require entry of a PIN.

· If the PIN field is blank, it means that no PIN has ever been entered for this guardian. If the PIN field has special characters shown, it means that has a PIN has already been entered for this guardian. You can enter a new PIN for the guardian or leave it as it is (if the parent already knows the PIN). The system does not allow you to view an existing PIN.

For Flat Data Model,

· Click the PIN Manager near the top of the Contact screen.

· Click the checkbox to require that a PIN be entered for this student.

· Enter the PIN that will need to be used by all parents/guardians for this student.

Reporting Absences

Why can’t I see attendance options in my SchoolMessenger app account?

· To School Staff: Check the parent/guardian’s email address in the SIS for the student(s). In order for the Attendance option to be shown, there must be at least one student associated with the parent’s email address in a SafeArrival-active school. In addition, the guardian category to which the parent belongs must be enabled for SafeArrival access.

Why can’t I see my child(ren) in my account?

· To School Staff: Check the parent/guardian’s email address in the SIS for the missing student(s) as well as the guardian category (ensure it is enabled for SafeArrrival access).

Can I report absence when we are away on vacation?

· The toll-free phone line can be used from anywhere in Canada or the continental US. The website and app can be used anywhere you have Internet access.

Can absences be reported for days when school is not in session? Exam days?

· To School Staff: Parents/guardians will not be allowed to report absences on Holidays and exam days that have been configured in the SafeArrival calendar. For exam days, parents will be asked to contact the school directly.

Can extended absences be reported through the system?

· Absences longer than [insert your Maximum number of consecutive days limit here] consecutive school days must be reported directly to the school. This includes when you are adding a new absence report that, in addition to existing reported absences, would cause the maximum number of consecutive school days to be exceeded.

· To School Staff: The maximum number of consecutive school days that an absence can be reported through the system is conﬁgurable by your SafeArrival District Administrator. If a parent/guardian attempts to report a longer absence, they will be asked to contact the school directly. This applies to a single absence as well as to a series of reported absences. e.g. if the maximum is set to 10 days and parents try to report 12 days of consecutive school days absence, they will be asked to contact the school. Also, if parents have previously reported 10 consecutive days of absence, then they try to report 2 more days immediately following the 10 consecutive days, they will be asked to contact the school. This includes Full Day absences AND Late Arrivals.

What is the cut-off time? Why won’t the system let me edit/explain/delete an absence?

· Absences for dates in the past cannot be edited, explained or deleted through the system. Parents/guardians must contact the school.

· On the day of the absence, absences can be edited, explained or deleted up to the cut-off time. Absences can be reported and explained during the school’s notification process.

· An absence that was not reported in advance, but was marked by the school cannot be deleted by parents/guardians.

· To School Staff: The cut-off time is configured by the District. See the Settings page, under Notifications, to find the cut-off time for your school. If the cut-off schedule is set to “At the time the first SafeArrival notifications are completed each day”, then the cut-off time will depend on when you start the notifications on a particular day and when they are finished.

Plans changed and my child went to school. How do I delete the reported absence?

· You can delete a reported absence up to the cut-off time.

· After the cut-off time, the absence cannot be deleted. If the child is at school, the reported absence is ignored. The final student attendance record is in the Student Information System.

· To School Staff: If parents insist that a reported absence be deleted, you can do this on the Attendance screen.

How do I report a half-day absence?

· If the student will be away for the morning, report a Late Arrival, with the arrival time being the start of afternoon classes.

· If the student will be away for the afternoon, report an Early Departure, with the departure time being the end of morning classes.

Absence Confirmations

I reported my child’s absence. Why didn’t I receive a confirmation notice?

· To School Staff: Check that the parent’s email address is correctly associated with the student in the Student Information System.

· To School Staff: Check the parent’s communication preferences to ensure they have allowed emails.

Why did I receive a confirmation notice when I didn’t report an absence?

· First, check with other guardians of the student and the student (if it’s possible/likely they may have reported their own absence).

· To School Staff: Check the reported absence REPORTED BY and REPORTED VIA information on the Attendance page to see who reported the absence. For privacy reasons, do not give out phone numbers or email addresses to parents/guardians.

Absence Notifications

I reported my child’s absence. Why did I still get notified of the absence?

· If the reported absence did not cover the time frame when attendance was taken, you will be notified of the absence. For example, if you reported a Late Arrival with the expected arrival time of 9:30 and attendance was taken at 9:45, you will be notified of the absence.

· If the notifications were started before the absence report was received by the system, you may still be notified of the absence.

Why does the system keep calling me about the same absence?

· If no one submits the absence type and reason, the system will keep calling about the same absence for a pre-configured length of time.

Why is the system using this phone number/email to send notifications?

· SafeArrival uses the information provided to the school and stored in the Student Information System and any communication preferences that have been set up using the SchoolMessenger app.