Blackboard - Tomball Independent School District

Tomball ISD utilizes Blackboard® Mass Notifications to contact both Parents and Staff. Phone calls from Blackboard® at the District level will come from 281-357-3100 and phone calls from the campus level will come from the main phone number associated with each campus. Non-emergency SMS (text messages) come from 60680 and Emergency text messages will come from 54968. If you aren't receiving emails or are having issues with phone calls and text messages, please complete the Help Form below.

When you enroll with Tomball ISD you are automatically added to the mass communication system. To ensure delivery for Daily Attendance (absences), Negative Lunch Balances, General Events, Newsletters, and Emergency Notifications parents and guardians can update delivery preferences through Home Access Center (HAC) or by calling the registrar at your child's school. Help information and forms are located below.

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Help Form

Blackboard Help Form

Required

SMS for Parents

You should have received the username and password for Home Access Center (HAC) in the mail for annual enrollment. If you are missing your credentials, you can call your school and they can update this information.

For a list of campus phone numbers view the campus leadership page.

If you choose to update the SchoolMessenger (Blackboard) mobile phone contact number yourself, please use the following steps. Login to HAC (Grades Online).

Once logged in, update your School Messenger (Blackboard) phone number, click the Edit button

A popup window will show all of your contact phone numbers. Please enter the mobile phone number for both Guardians and click Save.

If you have additional children in the district, please use the Change Student button and repeat steps 1. & 2. until all of your children’s School Messenger phone numbers are mobile numbers.

SMS for Staff

Username = 5-digit Employee ID

Password = Single Sign-on, same as email

On the EAC home page (Demographic Information) click the Update button, located directly below the blue Information bar.
Enter your cell phone number into the field labeled “Personal Cell Phone” (right column in the middle)
Click Save and logout of the Employee Access Center.

FAQs

Thanks for checking out Blackboard. Have questions? We've outlined answers to some of the most common questions here.

What is Blackboard Mass Notifications?
Blackboard Mass Notifications, is a messaging system that allows school and district administrators to send messages to staff and parents using any combination of: phone (AKA Robo Calls), email, text message, post to facebook, post to Twitter, Push notification to the mobile app and post to website alert. Messenger also sends automated attendance and negative lunch balance messages.

What type of automated messages does this system send?
Blackboard Mass Notifications sends automated attendance messages for absences, tardies, and negative lunch balance messages. Absences are sent from all schools, tardies from the middle and high schools and negative lunch balance calls from Child Nutrition Services. To stop daily negative lunch balance calls, please make a deposit into your child's lunch account.

How does Blackboard Mass Notifications obtain parent, student, and family data?
Mass Notifications gets its data directly from TISD Student Information System (SIS) on a daily basis. Therefore, all of the contact information, student attendance, and lunch balance information that is in TISD SIS is transferred to Blackboard. If information is incorrect within Blackboard, it is because the information is incorrect in the TISD SIS. To fix incorrect information, please log into the HAC Parent Portal and update your phone number(s) and email address(es). If you have other changes, please contact your child(ren)'s school.

Why do I get calls/texts on multiple phones?
When a message is deemed an emergency type message, Blackboard calls/texts all numbers listed under all the primary contacts in TISD SIS. Emergency contacts in TISD SIS are not called. If you have a different number listed under Primary Phone in the demographics section of HAC, it will add this number to call as well.

Can I opt-out of phone calls, text messages, or emails?
While we DO NOT recommend it, you do have the ability to opt-out of non-emergency phone messages, all text messages, and all emails. Non-emergency phone messages are categorized as messages not related to student safety. You MAY NOT opt out of emergency phone messages. This is for the benefit of your child. Emergency message examples are: school closures, early releases, evacuations, etc. (Note: Automated attendance calls are considered emergency messages as they pertain to student safety and therefore, cannot be opted out of).

How do I opt out of text, email, or phone messages?
For non-emergency phone messages, please listen to the entire message. At the end of the message, follow the prompts to opt-out or call the Blackboard Phone Hotline at "855-502-STOP (855-502-7867). For email messages, there will be a link at the bottom of the email to unsubscribe. For text messages, you can simply reply to the text message with the word "STOP". (Note: emergency text messages and standard text messages come from different numbers, so they must be opted in or out separately).

How do I opt back into text, email or phone messages?
There are several reasons you may have opted out of messages. Regardless of the reason, you CAN opt back into messages. To opt back into phone messages, call the Blackboard Phone Hotline at "855-502-STOP (855-502-7867)" from the phone line that has been opted out. To opt back into text messages, text the word "START" to "60680" from the phone line that has been opted out for non-emergency messages. Text the word "START" to "54968" for emergency messages. To opt back into email messages, please use the Blackboard Help Form and request to be opted back into Blackboard Notifications emails.

Is there a way to make these calls and texts from the District say they are from Tomball ISD?

Yes! Create a new contact in your contacts on your mobile device, called Tomball ISD, and add the phone number 281-357-3100 and text numbers 60680 & 54968. Going forward any texts or calls you receive from the District will show as "Tomball ISD". (Note: You may also want to add a contact for each of your child(ren)'s school phone numbers with the school name as well. Phone messages from the school will come from the main school phone number. Text messages will always come from one of the two numbers listed above).

I am receiving calls/messages, but I do not have any children in Tomball ISD and have not signed up for Community Messenger. How can I stop these?
Most times when this occurs, it is a work phone number and the parent no longer works at that company, or it is a home or cell phone number that was given up and reassigned to a new person. If you are having this issue, please use the Blackboard Help Form, provide the phone number and ask for the number to be removed from Blackboard Notifications.

Is Blackboard Mass Notifications secure?

The sign-up process creates a secure link between the user and Blackboard. Blackboard operates with the latest encryption technology to protect access to stored information. Blackboard is also a signatory of the Student Privacy Pledge, which requires us to adhere to stringent data protection standards as a further assurance of our commitment to protecting your data.

MORE QUESTIONS?

Please contact the Tomball ISD Communications Department via the Blackboard Help Form.

Status

MCA App

App Set-up Guide

District Search
Open the app and in the "Type to search" box type Tomball, then click TOMBALL ISD from the list as it appears.
District Search select
Click on Tomball ISD as it appears below the search bar.
Activity Stream
After entering Tomball ISD as the District you will be taken to the Activity Stream tab. Nothing will be populated until you login. To login select the More tab in the bottom right.
Student Info Button
From the More tab, click the Student Info button.
Enter Email Address - Account login
Enter your email address that is associated with your student's account. If you are unsure, you email address is listed in your HAC account. Once you've entered your email address, press the Next button.
Email OTP screen
If the system recognizes your email address, a One-Time Password will be emailed to you from Tomball ISD <donotreply@parentlink.net>. You will have 10 minutes to put the OTP into the App. If you have an issue, please fill out the Blackboard Help Form.
Populated Activity Stream
View of the populated Activity Stream after your account is authenticated via the OTP screen. This will include past messages for all of your children.