Safe Arrival

WHAT IS SAFE ARRIVAL?

SafeArrival is an absence management system that improves student safety and makes it easy for you to let the school know about your child’s absence.  To improve our safe arrival process, we are adding this new system that will make it easier for you to report – and respond to – school absences for your student.  This new, automated SafeArrival process is part of our SchoolMessenger notification system.

At this time, SafeArrival is only available in our three pilot schools which are Aspotogan Consolidated Elementary School, Chester District School and Newcombville Elementary School.

The new student absence reporting system will allow for multiple methods to report an absence in advance. As a result, it will take the school less time to verify student attendance, and less time to begin to notify parents and guardians of absences that were unexpected or unplanned.  If your student is marked absent and the absence hasn’t been explained in advance, our new SafeArrival system will be able to rapidly contact you.

You are asked to report your child’s absence in advance whenever possible using one of these convenient methods:

Interactive Toll-Free Phone

  • Call the toll-free, interactive telephone system at 1-833-673-8244
  • If the system does not recognize your caller ID, you will be asked to enter a phone number that the school has on record for you
  • Follow the instructions to report an absence

SchoolMessenger Through PowerSchool Parent/Student Portal

  • Log into the Parent Portal of PowerSchool: https://sisssrsb.ednet.ns.ca/public/
  • If signing in for the first time, follow the instructions at the bottom of the page
  • Select the SchoolMessenger link from the left-hand menu
  • Select Attendance from the menu, then select Report an Absence
  • Follow the prompts

App

  • Download the SchoolMessenger app for Android and iOS devices
  • Sign up using your PowerSchool username (full email adress) that the school has on record for you
  • Click on Attendance
  • Follow the prompts

Absences can be reported in advance, up to the start of the school day on the date of your child’s absence:

  • 24 hours/day
  • 7 days a week
  • For any school day during the current school year

When an absence is reported or updated, you will receive a confirmation notice by email.  If you don’t report your child’s absence in advance, the automated notification system will try to contact you.  You will be asked to confirm your child’s absence immediately.

If you try to explain an absence using SafeArrival, but are then told that it is past the cut-off time, please contact the school directly.

If you do not want to receive notifications when your child is absent, be sure to report your child’s absence in advance. 

If you do receive notifications of your child’s absence, be sure to provide the reason as quickly as possible, using one of the methods listed above or during the phone call notification itself.