With the ever-increasing focus on school security, the issue of how school districts and schools can best handle communications during an emergency is at the forefront. To solve this challenge, SchoolWorld has introduced Ed-Alert, a Web-based emergency communications tool. SchoolWorld provides Web content management systems to districts, schools, and teachers across the country and overseas.

Ed-Alert gives school officials the ability to rapidly alert parents, staff, and others to urgent situations by sending out cell phone text messages and e-mails. It has purposely been devised so that the communications can be sent to everyone simultaneously with just a few clicks of a mouse or keyboard. Ed-Alert is an opt-in process, in which families, faculty, and other interested parties put their names and contact information on the notification list by registering through the Web site of the district or school.

SchoolWorld has offered the emergency communications technology to districts and schools as part of its modular Web site management system for more than two years, under the name "E-News Communication System." With the introduction of Ed-Alert, it's the first time the emergency communications technology will be available as a stand-alone product for all districts and schools, regardless of whether they use any other SchoolWorld Web services.

Rob Lamy, SchoolWorld's CEO, says his company has introduced Ed-Alert in response to the increasing concern about how schools can effectively communicate with families and staff in crisis situations.

"There's growing recognition that having a sound process in place for quickly and accurately communicating during an emergency is vital to comprehensive crisis management," said Rob Lamy, SchoolWorld's chief executive officer. "For example, this topic was discussed during the national conference on school safety that was held in October at the request of President Bush. Ed-Alert provides educators with an emergency communications system that is easy to put in place and use, and that truly provides a solution to this issue."

An example of how SchoolWorld's emergency communications system works is its use by the East Aurora Union Free School District in East Aurora, N.Y. during a freak 2006 snowstorm that became known as the "October Surprise."

Frank Rizzo, the district's director of information technology and chief information officer for the East Aurora Union Free School District in East Aurora, N.Y., was in California on business when snow began piling up. Rizzo was awakened in his hotel room by a middle-of-the-night phone call from the school superintendent, who asked him to activate the emergency communications system.

Rizzo powered up his laptop to log onto the district's Web site. Then, using SchoolWorld's emergency communications system, he sent text messages and e-mails to parents, students, and teachers 3,000 miles away to let them know that school would be cancelled that morning. He repeated the process before daybreak over the next few days, as downed power lines kept the school system and the region as a whole at a standstill. Rizzo says since his district put SchoolWorld's emergency communications system in place in 2005, "more than 300 people have signed up for it. It's really a great way to let families and teachers know what's going on as soon as possible."

Besides Ed-Alert, SchoolWorld offers a comprehensive suite of Web content management tools for districts, schools and classrooms. "Our focus is on providing innovative features that are sophisticated in look and feel, but are also very easy to use," Lamy said. "It's not necessary to know any HTML to work with our systems. Even people who have very little computer experience can learn how to use SchoolWorld's technology in just a couple of hours." This means that the responsibility for updating content can be decentralized throughout a district or school. The athletic department, for example, can take charge of placing fresh scores and game schedules on the Web while the library & media center handles posting book lists, book fair events, and more. "Web sites are updated much more frequently, because it's no longer the responsibility of just one person who may not have enough time to put new information on the entire site on a regular basis," Lamy said. "As a result, the Web sites become much more dynamic and Web site visitation skyrockets. Families, staff, and the public start coming to the site more often, because they know they can expect to obtain important, interesting, and timely information. It's really a tremendous benefit to everyone."

In addition to Web solutions, SchoolWorld provides thousands of curriculum and educationally-priced software titles. More than 50,000 educators nationwide and overseas use SchoolWorld Web solutions and products. The company is headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., and also has offices in Charlotte, N.C. and Pittsburgh, Pa. The company's Web site is www.schoolworld.com. For more information on Ed-Alert or any of SchoolWorld's Web solutions and products, call 1-800-554-2991.