Dear Members of the Sacred Heart School Community,
As we end the first week of our return to school, we are reminded of the joy of being together as a school community. Each person entering through our open gates is a reminder of the sacred gift of life and the value of our educational mission.
As two storms enter the Gulf and inclement weather for the weekend is predicted, our ethic of care alerts us to the importance of careful preparation. A proactive stance in relation to emergencies is essential to safety of each one and to the well-being of our community. For these reasons, our school’s emergency management system includes planning and routine drilling on our procedures for multiple types of emergencies throughout the year.
During recent years, school closures have occurred for several types of weather-related emergencies such as flooding, tornadoes, and hurricanes. School closure occurred last year for the pandemic. Because these are unpredictable situations, it is important that you remain aware of emerging conditions as these may occur without a significant amount of advance notice. NOLA Alerts provides timely information at http://www.nola.gov/ready/alert/. You can sign up to receive these alerts.
For emergency situations that impact us “city-wide,” Sacred Heart follows the same emergency procedure as the Archdiocese of New Orleans. In the event of severe weather, please stay tuned to local TV/radio broadcasts and await emergency notification from the school.
Through our school emergency messaging system, powered by Bright Arrow, you will be notified using the contact information (both phone and email) you have provided to us. We will leverage Bright Arrow to communicate with you about power outages, storms, and any other types of emergencies that affect all-school operations. This system is separate from other apps used by our divisions (BrightWheel, SeeSaw, etc.). You may also check our school website at http://www.ashrosary.org for up-to-date information.
The Bright Arrow system is used only for emergency purposes, so it is very important to us for you to receive our phone call, email and text messages through this system. We will conduct a test of this system at 2 p.m. today to ensure that all parents/guardians are receiving our emergency alerts.
Please note that last year, Bright Arrow transitioned into an opt-in model, and you were instructed to reply "YES" to opt-in to our messages. For our new parents or anyone who has changed cell numbers since that time, you will be prompted to reply "YES" to opt-in and continue to receive messages from us. The short-code number that you will see on these alerts is 87569 .
If you do not receive a test message from Sacred Heart this afternoon, please email communications@ashrosary.org so that we can verify your correct contact information is in our system.
For your family's emergency preparedness, you can find helpful planning tools and information at the following sites:
If you have any questions, or if you need assistance, please let us know!
Let us pray for a safe, peace-filled year for our children and community at Sacred Heart, and for our world.
In CJM,
