Text alerts are SMS messages sent straight to families' phones — use them for time-sensitive updates like weather closures, schedule changes, and pickup reminders. Like emails, text alerts start as drafts, so nothing goes out until you send it.
Turn on Text Alerts
Text Alerts is an add-on for $15/month on any monthly plan (on Scale, add-ons are part of your contract). To add it:
- In the sidebar, click Settings, then the Subscription tab.
- Find the Text Alerts add-on and click Add.
Until the add-on is active, the Text Alerts page shows a lock page with an Open subscription button instead. See Plans & Pricing.
Create a text alert
- Go to Communication → Text Alerts.
- Click New text alert.
- Type your Message. A counter below the box shows the length and how many message segments it will use — one segment is up to 160 standard characters, and longer messages are delivered in multiple segments.
- Click Create & continue.
The draft opens so you can choose recipients.
Choose recipients
On the draft page, add recipients in any combination, then click Save changes:
- Send to a group — pick saved groups of contacts under Selected groups, or click Build an audience on that section to describe recipients on the spot ("Parents & guardians of students in Tuesday Co-op"). The built audience joins Selected groups named by its description; turn on Save this group for next time while building it and give it a Group name to reuse it in later emails and text alerts.
- Send to contacts — pick individual Selected contacts. Only contacts with a mobile number who haven't opted out appear in the list.
To text the families of a class, program, or term, use Build an audience and narrow it to that group.
Note: Recipients need a valid mobile number on their contact record. Anyone without one is skipped, and TeachHero warns you how many will be left out before you send.
Send a test to yourself
- Click the dropdown next to Preview and choose Send test.
- Click Send. The test goes to the mobile number on your profile.
If you haven't added a mobile number yet, add one under Settings → Personal profile → Contact first.
Send now or later
- Send now — click Send now, then Send to confirm.
- Send later — click the dropdown, choose Send later, pick a date and time in Send at, and click Schedule.
Warning: Sending can't be undone. Once you confirm Send now, the text goes out to every recipient.
Use Preview anytime to read the message as it will arrive, and Duplicate to copy a past alert into a new draft.
Check delivery
Open a sent alert to see Total Recipients, Delivered, Failed, and Pending at the top, plus a Recipients list with a status for each person — from Pending and Sent (accepted by the carrier) through Delivered, or Undelivered/Failed if the message couldn't reach them. Hover over a failed status to see the reason.
Opting out and back in
Recipients can opt out at any time by replying STOP (or STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT) to any message. TeachHero records the opt-out automatically and excludes them from future text alerts. Replying START, UNSTOP, or YES opts them back in.