SchoolMessenger automated attendance calls are optional but highly recommended for all district-run schools. Daily automated calls, particularly those sent in the morning, are valuable in several ways:
- Return students to the classroom earlier, turning absences into tardies.
- Act as a security measure for parents who may not know their child is absent
- Increase opportunities for ADA recovery
- Assist school offices and attendance clerks to better manage the daily attendance process
For participating school sites, daily attendance calls will be automatically sent to parents and guardians at specific times selected by each site. In order for these calls to be sent, attendance must be recorded in PowerSchool and a call time (or times) must be set in both PowerSchool and SchoolMessenger. Times can only be programmed by district personnel. To set up this feature or to set/change call times, please email [email protected].
To view your call times in PowerSchool, go to Setup>School>Attendance Call Times.
Please note that absence data must be recorded in PowerSchool at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled call time (i.e. all absences must be recorded by 9:30 a.m. for a 10 a.m. scheduled call time). This must be done to allow time for all data to be transferred from PowerSchool to SchoolMessenger. Unfortunately, this could mean that some unverified absences are cleared (or others are recorded) during that 30-minute window in which data is being sent from PowerSchool to SchoolMessenger. Should you receive parent calls, please politely explain that the absence was verified after the data had been sent to our notification system. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause school sites.
What does the Auto Attendance Message Say?
The Auto Attendance message is currently a text-to-speech message in both English and Spanish that says the following. The school name and phone number are automatically inserted.
Elementary: Hello, this is San Diego Unified School District, from [[Name of School]], calling to notify you that your child, <<First Name>>, was absent today. Please call the office immediately at [[school's phone number]] to verify the absence. If you would like to hear this message again, please press the star key. Thank you.
Middle/High: Hello, this is San Diego Unified School District, from [[Name of School]], calling to notify you that your child, <<First Name>>, was absent from one or more periods. Please call the office immediately at [[school's phone number]] to verify the absence. If you would like to hear this message again, please press the star key. Thank you.
You may record your own message if you choose. For assistance with recording your own message, please contact SchoolMessenger at 800-920-3897.