From Superintendent Andrew Melin, Ph.D. VCS Weekly Newsletter for the Week of January 3, 2011: 
Staff and parents able to customize contact information for VCS phone message system
Our VCS automated phone message system, SchoolMessenger, has been positively received by parents and staff members, but a couple of areas of improvement have been identified by both parents and staff. It is important the system has the most current parent and staff phone numbers and we need to give staff and parents an opportunity to control what phone numbers the system uses depending on the situation. As a result of these expressed needs, VCS has done two things. First of all, we have organized two settings inside our system. One setting is for emergencies that may occur during the school day in which we need to reach parents and staff as quickly as possible. Every phone number in our system would be called: home, cell, work, emergency contacts, etc. The other setting would be to announce weather delays or for general information announcements. This setting would not call work and emergency contacts.
The second adjustment we plan to make is to allow our staff and parents to create their own contact preference profile using SchoolMessenger’s Contact Manager web site. Contact Manager allows individuals to control the ways in which they prefer to be contacted. It also works like a mailbox, giving individuals a place to review messages they may have missed. A separate letter will be forwarded to staff and parents in the near future with the specific procedures needed to access the SchoolMessenger Contact Manager web site.
When choosing preferences, it will be important for staff and parents to think about what numbers need to be used in emergency situations as well as with weather delay and general information announcements. Staff and parents are encouraged to utilize Contact Manager at their earliest convenience.
VCS News
We hope our students, parents, and staff had a great holiday break!
We have changed the design of our weekly newsletter, and appreciate the suggestion and work of Clickbug Studios Marketing Director Joe Ubben.
Important Dates
- January 3 School Resumes
- January 18 End of Semester School Board Meeting
- January 19 Records Day (No School)
Viking Standouts
I enjoyed visiting our alternative program on December 15 to observe its “family” activity. The rapport between our students and staff was outstanding and our students were very supportive of one another.
The annual TJMS 7th Grade Poetry Contest December 16 was very impressive! Participating students were creative and highly entertaining.
First-graders from Central Elementary did a great job caroling at our central office on December 17.