Southern Columbia Area Communication Information

Delays, Early Dismissals, Cancellations

Information concerning delays, early dismissals, and/or cancellations will be broadcast by local TV and radio stations. We encourage having a family emergency plan for childcare in the event of an early dismissal or cancellation of school. This will reduce your child’s anxiety over an uncertain situation and reduce phone calls to and from school. You will also be notified via our School Reach phone system.

Local Media 


If schools must be closed because of inclement weather a school reach message will be sent out to your home telephone. You can also check for an announcement  on the following radio and television stations:
    WHLM (106.5), WCNR (930), Bloomsburg
    WISL (1480), Shamokin or (95.3FM)
    WPGM (96.7), Danville
    WILQ (105.1 FM), Williamsport
    WKSB (102.7FM), Williamsport
    WNEP-TV (16), WYOU-TV (22), WBRE-TV (28)
 


SchoolReach Communications Program


Southern Columbia Area has implemented the use of SchoolReach, a state of the art automated parent notification systems.

Here's a quick rundown of what will happen and what you can do to make sure you receive all of your important school-related communications:

  • When receiving a SchoolReach call, answer your phone as you normally would. Say "hello" once, saying multiple "hellos" may delay the start of the message. Please note that there is a short pause in the beginning of the call.

  • Caller ID will display the main number for the school.

  • IMPORTANT: Set your answering machine to answer in four rings or less to ensure best message delivery. Note: Short, succinct answering machine greetings are best for our machine detection and delivery process. Long answering machine greetings, or greetings with pauses or gaps, may cause the SchoolReach message to begin too soon.

  • To listen to a message again, wait for the 'press any key' prompt at the end of the message and after pressing a key you'll hear the message again in its entirety.

  • A live or machine answer will complete the notification cycle and cease any future calls for a particular message broadcast. If the SchoolReach system encounters a busy, no answer or failed (bad number or line) condition, the system will typically retry that number(s) twice more in 15 minute increments.

  • Depending on how your school has structured their calling lists, you may receive simultaneous calls on your home, cell and/or work numbers.
     

PowerSchool Parent Portal

PowerSchool-Parent Portal:  PowerSchool Parent Portal gives parents and students access to real-time information including attendance, grades and detailed assignment descriptions, school bulletins, lunch menus and even personal messages from the teacher. Everyone stays connected: Students stay on top of assignments, parents are able to participate more fully in their student's progress, and teachers can use their gradebook to make decisions on what information they want to share with parents and students.