The Green Bay Area Public School District uses School Messenger’s notification system to communicate with families through automated phone calls, emails, text messages, and mobile app push notifications. Communications from the District or a school can range from school delays or cancellations, late buses, emergency situations, District and school announcements and newsletters, signing up for parent/teacher conferences, food service negative balances, attendance messages, and more.
During the enrollment process or annual update, guardians will provide contact information and identify which individuals should receive general information or emergency notifications (inclement weather, school closures, emergency situations, etc.). By providing contact information, parents/guardians and emergency contacts agree to be contacted by phone, email and text.
Since School Messenger is a mass communication system, at any time, individuals are able to opt-out of receiving messages. Every School Messenger email does include an unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email. To stop receiving text messages, individuals only need to text “STOP” to 67587 or opt-out online at http://schoolmessenger.com/tm, scroll to the bottom and fill out the unsubscribe form. However, the system does not distinguish between opting out of general messages vs. emergency notifications. So once an individual unsubscribes from an email, or opts-out of receiving text messages, they will no longer receive any messages from GBAPS or their child’s school in that format, including school closures or emergency messages.
New for 2023-24!
Expanding who can Receive District/School Communications
At GBAPS we recognize that every family is different. For the 2023-24 school year the district will be making updates to School Messenger that will allow information to be shared with more than one guardian or household. Parents/guardians will identify individuals to be contacted during enrollment (for new students) or annual updates.
- Guardians: These individuals are parents/guardians who have been verified by using the child’s birth certificate and are able to legally receive pupil record information (e.g., attendance, school fees, low/negative food service balances, etc.)
- Parents: These individuals are parents who have not been verified using the child’s birth certificate and will receive school and District communication, such as school or District announcements (e.g., sign up for parent/teacher conferences, upcoming events, graduation information), surveys, newsletters, etc.
- Emergency: These are individuals who the parent/guardian would like to be contacted in the following situations - “secure the building,” school closing/delay/early release due to inclement weather, and/or other emergency, such as school being closed due to flooding, etc.
Students Can Receive Text Messages for Emergency Situations
Beginning with the 2023-24 school year, when parents/guardians provide their 6th-12th grade student’s cell phone number, students will receive messages for the following:
- Emergency situations
- School closures/delays or early releases due to inclement weather
- Secure the building messages to inform students who may be traveling between schools, arriving late due to an appointment, are off-campus for lunch, etc.
- District or school-wide technology failures (e.g., Google not working, etc.)