Allegany County Public Schools uses SchoolMessenger for one-way communications with the families of students and their emergency contacts as well as our full and part-time staff and the media.
The Public Information Officer uses SchoolMessenger to record and notify you about calendar reminders, closings, delays, virtual learning days, school emergencies and related events.
Schools use SchoolMessenger to confirm absences and remind you about school activities or athletic events.
How we contact you about non-emergency events (closings, delays, delays-to-closures, virtual learning days, etc.)
- Phone calls are made to the PowerSchool Priority 1 and 2 contacts (parents or guardians) for every ACPS student.
- Priority 1 and 2 contacts are responsible for communicating schedule changes to their daycare providers or others who assist with the child's care or transportation.
- Emails are sent to Priority 1 and 2 contacts.
- Text messages are sent to Priority 1 and 2 contacts who have opted-in to receive SMS texts.
- At present, we can translate emails and text messages to Spanish.
How we contact you about emergency events:
- Phone calls are made to Priority 1, 2 and Emergency contacts on file for every ACPS student.
- Emails are Priority 1, 2 and Emergency contacts.
- Text messages are sent to Priority 1, 2 and Emergency contacts who have opted-in to receive SMS texts.
- At present, we can translate emails and text messages to Spanish.
How we contact you about student absences or school-only events:
- Phone calls are made to the PowerSchool Priority 1 and 2 contacts.
- Optional: Emails are sent to Priority 1 and 2 contacts if we have your emails on file through PowerSchool.
- Optional: Text messages are sent to contacts who have opted-in to receive SMS texts.
How to receive or SMS text messages from SchoolMessenger
ACPS families, employees, and contacts must opt-in to our SMS text messaging system.
- Text "Y" or "Yes" to 67587 to opt-in.
- If you want to opt-out of our texts, text "End" or "Cancel" or "Stop" to 67587.
How to stop receiving calls from SchoolMessenger
When you receive a call from our SchoolMessenger Mass Notification phone number, select "5" using your keypad. This will opt you out of every phone call, including emergency calls.
How to update your contact information in SchoolMessenger:
- Contact your student's School Secretary. The staff at our schools manage the contacts associated with every student using PowerSchool SIS.
How to locate our current status:
- Visit acpsmd.org to view status updates.
- Check out our social media. We're active on Facebook and Instagram.
- Listen to your local radio station or visit their website and/or social media.
