TEXTING FOR SCHOOLS

Communicate Beyond the Classroom

We help teachers, educators, and faculty share important information that results in student success, school safety, and informed families.

This is not a service for students looking to message friends or parents.

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Simple messaging tools that anyone can use

Text-Em-All's text messaging service for schools is the perfect solution for all emergency and day-to-day school notification needs. Quickly notify staff, parents, and students in just minutes and track who’s received your messages with our easy-to-use software.

Here are some good ideas:

School closures

Substitute messaging

Severe weather

On-campus emergencies

Schedule changes

Early dismissal

Rumor control

Meeting reminders

Policy reminders

Automated Calling

Schedule messages in advance

Adjust call speed to regulate reply volume

Save recorded messages for future use

Leave voicemails if contacts don’t answer

Let contacts easily connect to a live person

School Texting FAQs

Are there text message privacy laws for schools?

There are. The two main regulations to keep in mind when it comes to privacy and texting are the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

The FERPA act simply states that a student's information should be kept private. In other words, only those who have a legitimate need to see the student’s data should be able to. FERPA regulations do not apply to prospective students.

TCPA laws are much broader. They are not specific to education and apply to everyone, whether they're current students, parents, alumni, or even school applicants. It's also a best practice to keep all regulations currently in place for phone call and email communications and apply them to all texting communications as well.

You can read more about these laws here.
What are the benefits of mass texting for schools?
There are countless benefits when it comes to utilizing mass texts for your administration. In this world of fast, ever-changing information, your school has to be able to stay on top of communication. Mass text messaging is an effective, efficient, and affordable communication tool that allows you to use bulk SMS with ease. Some of the most notable benefits include:
- The ability to reach all the parents quickly in an emergency situation
- Being able to communicate changes in scheduling, even at the last minute
- Keeping track of who is reading your messages and using that data for the future
- Using two-way communication to schedule appointments with students and parents.
Mass text messaging for schools can be used for a variety of different situations. That includes everything from announcing snow days to scheduling parent-teacher meetings. Text messages can also be sent out as a sort of ‘rumor control’. There’s no denying that information can sometimes get out of hand in a school setting. Instead of sending letters home with each child, you can personally send messages to all parents and guardians in order to clear up any misunderstandings that are happening within the school.
Do you share the numbers in my account/How safe are my numbers?
What if someone doesn’t want to receive my messages?

What to Look for in a School Messaging Service

Teachers spend a lot of time communicating with parents, staff, and students, and an effective school texting service can streamline that communication to save time and effort. However, deciding on the right texting solution can be difficult, and not all mass texting platforms are a fit for teachers’ needs. Here are some essential tips for choosing the right solution.

Features to Prioritize

2-Way Texting

Connecting with students through mass text messaging is a great way to get in touch with everyone all at once, but there are a lot of cases where teachers will need to talk to a student or parent one-on-one. Due to this, you’ll want to make sure the solution you choose has an Inbox feature.

Personalization

While some messages such as weather warnings and schedule changes will not require personalization, many of the messages teachers send to students and parents must be personalized by name and time.

When choosing a mass messaging solution, make sure the platform offers personalization features that can easily be added to any message. With Text-Em-All, you can easily add personalization to any message with the click of a button.

Cross-Device Functionality

This feature comes in handy when you want to send messages from both your computer and smartphone. A school texting app that syncs messages automatically between different platforms will ensure that teachers do not duplicate messages, which is especially beneficial if the account has more than one user.

Privacy

One of the most important things to do when choosing a mass texting service is to ensure that your and your contacts’ privacy is protected. The platform you choose should be protected against information leaks, and be in line with FERPA. Teachers should also understand which compliance regulations need to be met and then closely follow the rules and regulations that apply.

In addition, a platform that gives you a number to text from is preferred because the teacher will not have to use their number to contact students, parents, and staff.

Affordability

Schools often have tight budgets, so finding a cost-effective solution is essential. At Text-Em-All, we offer both Pay-As-You-Go and Monthly plans, and our support team will work directly with you to find the best, most affordable plan for your needs.

Mass Texting