Communications

VanGorden View

"VanGorden View" is VanGorden Elementary's weekly email publication. Parents, guardians and staff are invited to set their notification preferences for receiving email messages, text notifications and phone calls from their child's school(s) or the Lakota Local School District.

If you do not have a child attending a Lakota school or wish to receive communications from a school other than the one your child attends, you may do so through our self sign-up portal. Click here for more details about accessing your Lakota notifications account.

VanGorden sends out important information via our weekly newsletter, VanGorden View. This communication goes out every Friday afternoon to families, staff and the community. The newsletter provides important updates, as well as school, PTA and district information, each week.

Social Media

VanGorden has several social media outlets. We encourage you to join in on the fun by connecting with us. On Facebook and Twitter, you will find students hard at work and details on school happenings and fun PTA events. Daily morning announcements are posted on YouTube.

	@VGEagles
	VanGorden Elementary
	VanGorden Eagles

District Communications Portal

At Lakota, transparent and timely communication is critically important. Using a mass notification system, we deliver important school and district news and announcements primarily via email, but oftentimes by phone and text message as well.

Please reference the detailed sections below to ensure you are receiving school-to-home Lakota communications that are relevant to you as a parent/guardian, staff member or community member.

All parent/guardian contact information submitted through FinalForms at the beginning of each school year and then displayed in your Home Access Center account is our primary source of email addresses and phone numbers used to communicate school and district news. Please note below the alternative method being used to update staff phone numbers.

The parent portal powered by School Messenger is no longer used to update parent/guardian contact information.

In This Section

Stay Informed: Update Your Contact Information

Parents & Guardians

Official parents and guardians are automatically set up in Lakota's notification system to receive the communications most relevant to them, based on the school(s), grade level(s) and other attributes associated with their child(ren).

The email addresses and phone numbers displayed in your parent/guardian Home Access Center (HAC) account (accessed via OneLogin) is is the same information we use to send school-to-home communications. The beginning of each school year is a great time to review the email address and phone numbers Lakota has on file. The changes you enter through FinalForms at the beginning of each school year will also update your HAC account. If you need to make updates to this information during the school year, you can do so via FinalForms.

Update Contact Info in FinalForms (via OneLogin)

Log into School Messenger to Edit Preferences

Frequently Asked Questions

I'm receiving communications in the wrong language.

I want to receive communications from other Lakota schools.

General, community-facing communications, like a school's newsletter for example, will be shared beyond a building's associated staff and parents. Community members who have subscribed to a specific building's communications will also receive these types of updates.

If you are a community member without children in the Lakota district or a parent who wishes to receives these types of communications from Lakota schools outside of your immediate parent/guardian associations, you may create a separate account via our self sign-up portal (see instructions under "Community" tab).

Why might I still log into my School Messenger parent or staff account?

I'm not receiving text messages.

Lakota’s notification system uses something called “short code” texting to send text messages to parent and staff mobile devices, when necessary. This method is highly reliable and fast because it is strictly regulated by the wireless carriers themselves. With that access comes some strict federal requirements for Lakota to gain opt-in verification from those on the receiving end of those text messages.

When a new mobile phone number is provided at the time of registration or added/updated through FinalForms, within 24 hours, it will generate an automated opt-in message to this new number from Lakota's short code (675-87). Per federal guidelines, we are required to receive your consent before sending future text messages. Simply reply to the message with the letter "Y" to provide consent.

If you missed the original text message to the device associated with the number you provided to Lakota, you can still provide your consent at any time by texting the letter "Y" to Lakota's short code (675-87).

I'm a Lakota parent and staff member. Do I need two accounts?

Yes. As a parent, you will automatically receive parent-specific communications from the school(s) your child(ren) attend, using the contact information appearing in your Home Access Center account. Similarly, you will automatically receive staff-specific communications from the school at which you are employed.

For your parent account, the primary email address in your HAC account serves as your username for accessing your School Messenger account. Your Lakota email address serves as the username for accessing your staff account. Please follow the steps outlined above to review and maintain each account separately.

Teachers & Staff

Lakota staff are automatically set up in Lakota's notification system to receive district and school email communications most relevant to them, based on their associated school(s).

While we work toward a more automated solution for tracking staff phone numbers and preferences, please submit any changes or additions to the phone numbers currently listed in your School Messenger staff account using this staff phone change request form. For now, you can continue to update your preferences associated with each phone number within your School Messenger account.

We will update staff School Messenger accounts with the new information submitted on this form on the first of every month.

Update Your Staff Account Phone Number

Log into School Messenger to Edit Preferences

Community Members

We want you to stay connected to our entire Lakota community. If you are not a Lakota staff member or the parent/guardian of a current student, please log into our self-sign-up portal to quickly subscribe to district or school news, weather-related notifications or bid opportunity e-alerts for businesses.

Visit our community self-sign-up portal .
Click on First time user, Sign Up Now to create a new account. Provide the requested information and agree to the terms of service.
Click on the confirmation link sent to your registered email to activate your account and log in for the first time.
On your first login, click on Contact Info, where you can add one additional email and phone numbers to receive phone calls and/or text messages.
Under Interests, specify if you wish to be contacted for weather-related notifications, surveys and/or general district/school news.
Identify your Lakota Connection and/or Business Type (only if you are a business owner and wish to receive notifications about bid opportunities).
To receive specific School News, select the intended school(s).

Bid Opportunity E-Alerts

As a service to our local business community, this includes an opportunity to become part of our growing list of potential business partners. Depending on your business's service type, you'll have the opportunity to select one or more of the sub-categories listed below "Bid Opportunities." By signing up in this way, we'll include your business on any e-mails related to new bid opportunities in your service area at Lakota.

Receiving SMS/Text Messages

Once a new phone number is added to your account, it will generate an automated opt-in message to this number from Lakota's short code (675-87). Per federal guidelines, we are required to receive your consent before sending a text message. Simply reply to the message with the letter "Y" to provide consent; you will not receive messages until taking this step.

Create or Log Into Your Community Self-Signup Account

District Communications Resources

Please reference the detailed sections below to ensure you are receiving school-to-home Lakota communications that are relevant to you as a parent/guardian, staff member or community member.

The parent portal powered by School Messenger is no longer used to update parent/guardian contact information.

In This Section

Stay Informed: Update Your Contact Information

Parents & Guardians

Update Contact Info in FinalForms (via OneLogin)

Log into School Messenger to Edit Preferences

Visit our community self-sign-up portal .
Click on First time user, Sign Up Now to create a new account. Provide the requested information and agree to the terms of service.
Click on the confirmation link sent to your registered email to activate your account and log in for the first time.
On your first login, click on Contact Info, where you can add one additional email and phone numbers to receive phone calls and/or text messages.
Under Interests, specify if you wish to be contacted for weather-related notifications, surveys and/or general district/school news.
Identify your Lakota Connection and/or Business Type (only if you are a business owner and wish to receive notifications about bid opportunities).
To receive specific School News, select the intended school(s).

Bid Opportunity E-Alerts

Receiving SMS/Text Messages

Create or Log Into Your Community Self-Signup Account