Advancement · Communications

Write the hard message
before the hard day

In an emergency there is no time to draft. Write each message now: the headline, the facts, what families should and should not do, where to go and when the next update comes. The tool builds the text, email and phone versions, counts the text against one 160-character segment, flags guessing words and missing pieces, and prints all three for the emergency binder.

Add a messageWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Development and giving kit, $39 for 30 items.

Emergency messages

The worked example is made up: a lockdown text that fits one segment, an early dismissal for a water main break and a first draft of a weather closure that guesses. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Advancement · Communications$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per pre-written emergency message: kind of event, audiences, channels, headline, facts, what to do and not do, the place, the next update and the sender, plus six readiness checks; a text version with its character and segment count, an email version and a phone script; and one printed sheet with all three.
Who it is for
Principals, school communications staff, office managers and district safety teams preparing messages for families, staff and the community.
Format
Browser tool with a saved record per message. Prints all three versions for the binder, the record, every message in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Development and giving kit ($39) and the Advancement Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Communications space in Caveat Advancement.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Pick the kind of event.
  2. Write the headline and the facts.
  3. Say what to do and not do.
  4. Add the place and next update.
  5. Print the sheet for the binder.

Add a message

How people read an emergency message

One message, three versionsTextHeadline and theaction.One segment, 160characters.EmailFacts, the action,what not to do,the place, the nextupdate.PhoneWho is calling.The same facts,spoken.Read twice.One message, three versionsTextHeadline and the action.One segment, 160 characters.EmailFacts, the action,what not to do,the place, the next update.PhoneWho is calling.The same facts, spoken.Read twice.
Write all three before the day comes; on the day you only fill the blanks.

Short, certain and specific

People under stress read less and remember less. Crisis communication guidance favors short sentences, one clear action, facts without speculation and a time for the next update. Say what you know, what families should do, and when they will hear more. Leave out names, causes you have not confirmed and anything a responder has not cleared.

Why one text segment

A plain text message holds 160 characters; longer messages are split into segments of about 153, and a single curly quote or accented letter drops that to 70 and 67. Split messages can arrive out of order. Keep the text to the action, and put the detail in the email and on the website. Your notification service’s own count is final.

Sources

  1. Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center. Guide for developing high-quality school emergency operations plans (rems.ed.gov).
  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) manual (emergency.cdc.gov/cerc).
  3. Federal Emergency Management Agency. Ready.gov: emergency planning for schools (ready.gov).
  4. 3GPP TS 23.038: the GSM 7-bit alphabet; 160 characters per message, 153 per segment when concatenated, 70 and 67 in UCS-2.

The worked example is made up, including the schools. Follow your school’s emergency operations plan and the instructions of responders on the day. Character counts are approximate: some characters count double in the GSM alphabet. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.