SAINT PAUL, Minn., June 13, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GovDelivery, leading provider of cloud-based public sector communication solutions, announced today that its technology was chosen to enable the new summer program texting service for parents looking to find activities for their children while school is out of session. Announced by Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Saint Paul Public Schools Superintendent Valeria Silva the new program leverages GovDelivery's text-to-subscribe service to help parents keep their kids active and learning all summer.
"Saint Paul has always been an innovator when it comes to leveraging technology to better engage with citizens and then motivate them to take action on important issues," said Scott Burns, CEO and co-Founder of GovDelivery. "This is a great example of a local government using digital communications to increase program effectiveness, and in this case, driving the very important program mission of supporting child educational success."
"Summertime is a crucial period in our kids' lives, and keeping their minds active to prevent summer learning loss is essential," said Mayor Chris Coleman. "These text alerts offer an easy new tool for parents to keep up with the many great activities that are available to engage kids during the summer months."
The opt-in text service includes tips on how to keep kids active and learning throughout the summer, while providing parents with ideas for how to 'do the Summer Countdown,' a key part of the citywide summer learning campaign. The new text service is another tool, in addition to Sprockets' Program Finder, for parents to keep up with out-of-school programs.
"Parents, caregivers, and families are important influences in a child's life and play a vital role at all stages of education," said Supt. Valeria Silva. "This tool can help support parents in the summer as they look for things to do with their children."
There are two ways parents can sign up using their mobile phone:
- To subscribe for text alerts, text STPAUL SUMMER to 468311
- To subscribe for email updates through text, text STPAUL SUMMER YourEmailHere to 468311
The City and school district will be promoting the texting service through a variety of channels this summer, including providing information and sign-up support at libraries and recreation centers, as well as through a series of recorded phone messages to families within the school district.
The summer program text reminders will run from early June to late August. Standard messaging and data rates may apply. Parents should refer to their wireless plan for details.
About GovDelivery
GovDelivery enables public sector organizations to connect with more people and get those people to take action. More than 1,000 organizations, from the smallest local parks to the largest national agencies, trust GovDelivery's secure, scalable platform to deliver highly impactful communications. In total, GovDelivery connects its clients with more than 65 million people. GovDelivery's enterprise-class, cloud-based technology allows organizations to meet mission and program goals, resulting in safer communities, happier commuters, healthier families, and better government. GovDelivery is an ICG (Nasdaq:ICGE) company. For more information, visit www.govdelivery.com.