Barren County Schools Score with One Call Now and SchoolPointe

TROY, Ohio - Feb. 24, 2014 - PRLog -- Barren County School District is saving time and money while communicating better with students and parents, thanks to a new partnership between SchoolPointe and One Call Now. When purchased as a bundle, the two services are eligible for E-Rate discounts, meaning significant savings for qualifying schools.

The Schools and Libraries Program (of the Universal Service Fund), also known as E-Rate, provides discounts to help U.S. schools and libraries purchase affordable telecommunications.

Before making the switch, Barren County’s ten-school, 5,000-student district relied on various methods of communication. They sent email reminders and hired a webmaster to create school websites. But the sites were confusing and difficult to use. “It was very challenging,” said Melissa Moss, Instructional Technology Specialist, Barren County Schools. “Things were so complicated that sometimes important communication tasks just didn’t get done.”

Several years ago, Barren County began using One Call Now for routine and emergency notifications. Later, they signed on with SchoolPointe for school website hosting. In 2013, the district requested the One Call Now/SchoolPointe bundle.

Now, the district uses One Call Now for both district-wide and school-specific calls and to record attendance. Many clubs and classes use the service to reach small groups of students. SchoolPointe, meanwhile, has made online classrooms hassle-free. Teachers are posting agendas, class expectations, assignments, and links to educational resources.

Moss estimates that the time her team spends on communication has been cut in half, which translates to additional savings for the District. “Communications with the community, the students, and the faculty are better than ever,” Moss said.

About Barren County Schools

Barren County is a rural school district recognized as a growth district by the state of Kentucky. The district is located in South Central Kentucky near Barren River Lake State Resort Park and Mammoth Cave National Park. Barren County is comprised of seven elementary schools, a middle school, a ninth grade transitional academy, and a high school. The district offers various opportunities for expanded learning, including virtual courses and a state-of-the-art vocational school. For more information, visit www.barren.kyschools.us.

About SchoolPointe

SchoolPointe helps schools develop websites that engage parents, students, staff, and communities. SchoolPointe is a product of Digital School Network, an Ohio company proudly serving public school districts nationwide. More than 10,000 U.S. school districts use either SchoolPointe or Digital Scout, the company’s industry-leading athletics module. Major SchoolPointe features include mobile and desktop websites, cloud file storage, document management, Google search and analytics, award-winning service, and professional design. Learn more at www.schoolpointe.com.

About One Call Now

Founded in 2002, One Call Now is America’s largest message notification provider, with 20 percent of American households—55 million Americans—depending on the company for messages that protect, inform, and engage. Schools nationwide use One Call Now’s high-speed, fully redundant service to quickly and easily send messages to thousands of staff and parents simultaneously. One Call now is proud to support the mission of educators through partnerships with anti-bullying organization Olweus, sponsorship of the Million T-Shirt March Against Bullying, free levy calls for schools, and KidsReadNow.org, Once Call Now’s national summer reading program designed to stop the summer reading slide in elementary schools. For more information, please visit www.onecallnow.com.

###

One Call Now Media Contact:

Christina Brownlee

Director of Corporate Communications

Christina.Brownlee@onecallnow.com

877-698-3262 ext. 2323 (office)

937-479-9287 (mobile)