Student Safety: School Dismissal Manager To Roll Out Three New Key Features

CROMWELL, Conn., May 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- For parents and school administrators, the afternoon dismissal process can create a host of scenarios that can change on a daily, or sometimes hourly, basis.  This, unfortunately, can lead to pickup mishaps and miscommunication, not to mention the heavy burden placed on school administrators.  School Dismissal Manager (http://www.schooldismissalmanager.com), an online communication vehicle for parents, helps to eliminate these potential problems by allowing parents to securely log in and let school officials know if and when there is a change to their child's normal dismissal routine.  School Dismissal Manager, which is currently managing thousands of families, makes lost paper notes or forgotten phone calls a thing of the past.

Building upon its already successful, user-friendly platform, School Dismissal Manager, will be rolling out three new innovative features, which will be ready for the 2011-2012 school year. These new enhancements include a school bus capacity management feature that checks and monitors bus capacity throughout the school day, a carpooling assignment/notification function that allows parents to schedule carpools with other parents, and a new playdate scheduling feature which identifies with whom the child has a playdate and generates a confirmation email that is sent to the playdate's parents.  All updated data is integrated into the school's Daily Dismissal Report.  

"We are extremely excited about School Dismissal Manager's newest features, as they will enhance a system that has already revolutionized the school dismissal process for thousands of families," said Bob Watson, creator of School Dismissal Manager.

School Bus Capacity Manager

A new key feature to the School Dismissal Manager program is the addition of School Bus Capacity Manager, a function that continually monitors and checks school bus capacity throughout the school day.  As dismissal changes are made by parents, School Dismissal Manager will interface with any school's internal information system to track absences, as well as which child will be on which bus, and that bus' capacity.  School Dismissal Manager will immediately alert the school via email to address any overcapacity situation.  Any and all changes will be noted on the Daily Dismissal Report.

Carpooling Assignment Feature

The Carpool Assignment feature is designed to enable parents to quickly and easily establish carpool schedules online.  The new "Create a Carpool" link, which will be located on each parent's School Dismissal Manager screen after log in, lets parents assign a driver, list the kids in the carpool, and assign the designated dates and times.  Recurring carpools, along with the kids' and parents' names, are housed in the secure School Dismissal Manager data base for inclusion on the Daily Dismissal Report.  Additionally, a 24-hour email reminder is sent to the respective drivers when appropriate.  If a conflict arises, a "Conflict Tab" can be accessed only by members of the scheduled carpool, which will create an alert via a text message.

Playdate Feature

The Playdate feature is an item located on the parents' drop down activity menu which helps parents to easily schedule playdates.  Designed with a secure, password protected system; parents can quickly search the names of all of the parents/students in their school by simply typing a few letters.  The system will list the names that are close or exact matches.  Once a playdate is scheduled, a confirmation email is sent to the receiving parent.  The School Dismissal Manager system will record all of the information, reporting all playdates on the Daily Dismissal Report.

For more information, interviews, or to schedule a School Dismissal Manager demonstration, please call Bob Watson at (727) 525-0034 or send an email to [email protected].

About School Dismissal Manager

School Dismissal Manager is an online communication vehicle for parents, which enables them to securely log in and let school administrators know when there is a change to their child's normal dismissal routine.  The system is designed to replace the "hit and miss" offline process of lost notes and/or forgotten phone calls. School Dismissal Manager strives to better streamline the school dismissal process with a host of key offerings, including a bus capacity manager, a carpool assignment option and a playdate feature.

SOURCE School Dismissal Manager