Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education will be launching a new way to report school absences over the next several months. It’s called Safe Arrival and it is designed to help improve safety and simplify the process when families need to notify school about an absence.

   CLICK HERE for a list of schools currently using this system.

What is SchoolMessenger’s SafeArrival?

SchoolMessenger’s 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.

As schools begin to use this system, parents/guardians will be asked to report their 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 1-833-673-8243.
• 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 Website

• Type or copy https://go.schoolmessenger.ca/#/home into your web browser
• Click sign up at the top right of the page and follow prompts to create an account
• Use the email address that is on file with your child's school to create the account.
• Once logged in, follow prompts to report an absence.

App

• Download the SchoolMessenger app for Android and iOS devices. (Please note you must download the app with the blue logo, not the yellow one).
• Sign up using your PowerSchool username (full email address) 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.

What if I don’t report my child’s absence?

Once your child’s school begins using Safe Arrival, an automated notification system will try to contact you if you don’t report your child’s absence in advance. This will include an email, text message, and phone call. You will be asked to confirm your child’s absence.

If you try to explain an absence using SchoolMessenger, 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 their absence in advance.

If the automated system cannot reach you, a school staff member will contact you.