Parents now able to report absences via app

Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) has introduced a new student absence reporting system called Safe Arrival. This will be used at Duclos School, H.E. Bourgoin Middle School and Bonnyville Centralized High School for the remainder of the 2018-2019 school year. “The new system will reduce the time it takes to verify student attendance, make it easy for you to report your child’s absence, and easy for staff to respond to unexplained student absences,” explained the school division.

NLPS reports that with SafeArrival, you can report your child’s absence in advance using any of these three convenient methods:

1. Using your mobile device, download and install the SchoolMessenger app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store (or from the links at go.schoolmessenger.ca). The first time you use the app, select Sign Up to create your account. You must create your account with the same email address you have provided to your school. Select Attendance then Report an Absence.
2. Use the SafeArrival website, go.schoolmessenger.ca. The first time you use the website, select Sign Up to create your account. You must create your account with the same email address you have provided to your school. Select Attendance then Report an Absence.
3. Call the toll-free number 1-833-288-7008 to report an absence using the automated phone system.

“These options are available 24 hours/day, 7 days a week. Future absences can be reported at any time,” confirmed NLPS.

In addition, the school will use the SchoolMessenger Communicate automated notification system to contact parents whose child is absent when the absence was not reported in advance. “The automated notification system will attempt to contact parents at multiple contact points until a reason is submitted for the absence. If our system is unable to reach the designated contacts, office staff will follow up,” explained the school division.

“If you report your child’s absence in advance using the SafeArrival toll-free number, website or mobile app, you will NOT receive these notifications.”

The school division asks that parents of the above listed schools report absences in advance using SafeArrival. Please note that while you may still call the school directly to report absences, school staff will not be actively monitoring other communication methods (email, social media, etc.) for absence notifications. As a result, if you do report an absence using one of those methods, you may still receive an automated attendance call for your child.

If you have children attending other schools, please continue to report absences using the existing procedures for those schools.