Photo by C.A.S.E.Y on Flickr
Oh, I know we don’t want to think about it (well, at least us sun-loving warmth seekers don’t), but the word “snow” should be popping up in our forecast soon. And snow means snow days — school cancellations, delays and the like. How do you find out when your kid’s school is closed? I’ll get back to that question in a second.
You may have noticed The Eagle-Tribune started a text alert system earlier this year. Our staff are sending out text alerts of everything from breaking news to traffic accidents. The beauty of the system is you can customize it to exactly what your interest level is. If you only want to know when there’s a huge accident on Interstate 495, you can check just that alert. Scroll through the signup page and you’ll get the idea.
Beginning several weeks ago, The Eagle-Tribune has been in contact with each of the school departments in our coverage area to work with them to offer text alerts of school closings and delays this season. Just about every district has some sort of system in place — automated phone calls are the most popular. If you’re like me, however, you’d rather be notified with a text. It’s quick, it’s easy and — most of all — it requires minimal effort on my part. No message you need to listen to and no ringing of your phone.
I’m pleased to say the North Andover School District jumped on the idea and will actually be using our system to send school closing alerts themselves. Business Manager James Mealey said he realized it’s about giving parents options as to how they want to receive information.
For other schools, we’ll be here by 5:30 a.m. on possible snow days sending out alerts ourselves after confirming closings with the schools.
What does your district do?
What way would YOU want to be notified?
Noah R. Bombard is the new media editor for The Eagle-Tribune in North Andover. He is a former award-winning newspaper and magazine editor who has been covering news in Massachusetts since 1997.