Parents lead way to raise awareness and funds for a free-of-charge Emergency response and communications system for public-schools

Villageworks’ district launch partners include Galion City School District in Ohio.

Today, Villageworks, set up by a group of public-school parents who are software developers, engineers and product designers, launched its GoFundMe campaign to raise awareness and funds for Villageworks Aware – a free-of-charge Emergency Response and Communications System for public-school districts.  

In the wake of recent public-school emergency incidents including shootings in Parkland, FL; Aztec, NM; and Marshall County, KY, it has become clear that current public-school emergency response protocols are inefficient. Outdated communication tools based on the use of intercom and paper-rosters coupled with a lack of state and federal funding means that the latest technology remains elusive for the majority of districts. This results in slower response times from incident commanders and agonized, uninformed family members.

The team of parents behind Villageworks took matters into their own hands by developing a mobile and web-based solution intended to provide schools with the critical tools needed to handle any student, staff or school-wide emergency quickly and effectively be it a shooting, fire, bullying or medical situation.  The platform improves incident communications and connects a district’s entire community, from faculty members to incident commanders and families. Villageworks’ district launch partners include Southwest Preparatory School District in Texas, Cumberland County Charter School District in New Jersey and the Midview School District and Galion City School District in Ohio.

“To have an opportunity to be a pioneering partner with Villageworks is a very exciting endeavor for our district,” said Midview Superintendent, Dr. Bruce Willingham.  “This technology can greatly improve our emergency preparedness and potentially help protect our staff and students.”

“The number of school emergencies are increasing, yet too many school districts don’t have the tools they need to respond to and communicate with parents, law enforcement and school leadership quickly and easily,” said father of two and Villageworks’ co-founder Tal Moise. “Cost should not be a factor when it comes to keeping our kids and our communities safe, and not being able to receive fast and accurate information about your child if there is a crisis is something no parent should have to face. That is why we need a new system that parents, students, teachers and law enforcement can count on.”

“We are proud to be able to partner with Villageworks for this endeavor. We believe that this new technology will be greatly beneficial for our entire school community, and we are excited for its implementation.” Christina Murphy, School Business Administrator, Cumberland County Charter School District.

The Villageworks Aware enterprise solution which is fully customizable based on district needs offers the following:

• Incident Reporting and Distress Signaling

  • Features emergency type, time, location and needs

• Rapid Emergency Alerts via Text, App and Calls 

• Student and Staff Safety Roster 

• Action Plan Distribution

• Group and one-to-one Messaging

• Incident Management Summary

• Student Information System Integration

• Web Platform and Mobile App

• One shared platform unifying every community member including local incident management teams

To contribute and help implement this Emergency Response and Communication System in as many schools as possible, please visit www.gofundme.com/schoolsafety

About Villageworks

Villageworks is a group of impassioned public-school parents who are entrepreneurs, software developers, engineers and product designers on a mission to offer public- school districts the latest technology, free of charge, in order to keep communities safe, unified and informed.  

Villageworks’ parents were brought together by Tal Moise, a tech entrepreneur and father of two elementary school children, age 7 and 8.  Tal’s most recent technology startup was co-founded in partnership with John Sculley, the former CEO of Pepsi and Apple Co. Together they launched Verified Person, a company focused on improving corporate safety by providing personnel background and security checks. This experience made Tal acutely aware of safety threats and hence poised him to focus on finding a solution to threats that may affect school communities nationally.  Tal has earned recognition as one of CIO Magazine’s Top 100 CIOs. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and an MBA from University of Illinois.

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