With five kids of her own and babysitting even more, this scene would make many moms' heads spin. Some how, Laura Rydholm keeps it together.

"I know where my kids are, I know where they've been, who they're with, I just need to know what's going on in their surroundings where they're at," she says.

She stays in the know, by constantly calling the schools.

"They know me by name."

It would be easier if she signed up for District 205's Electronic Notification System, available exclusively online. The only problem, you have to understand the Internet.

"It just never went through, so I gave up and said forget it."

"That's exactly it. Families who didn't have computers in their homes, families who weren't computer literate would need assistance, making it more difficult," says Chief Communications Officer Mark Bonne.

District leaders say only about a quarter of RPS parents and staff members signed up. So E.N.S. will be phased out next month. And the School Messenger System will be at the forefront of transmitting alerts to phone, e-mail or whatever communication form you prefer.

Webmaster Jared Weidman is the man behind the messages. Which he says should reach 32-thousand parents and staff members. All they need to do, is have current contact information on file.

"This is a way we could communicate on a rapid basis to a large number of parents such as weather related closings, things that are urgent but also things that are important, it allows us to reinforce it," says Bonne.

The School Messenger System is a little more expensive than the old program. But I'm told it's more reliable and will work in both emergencies and event reminders, such as a school dance. Principals are getting trained next month so they could send out information geared towards parents at their school.

Whatever contact information you provided the District during registration, is how they'll contact you. If you provided phone numbers for work, home and cell, then you'll get messages on all three lines. If you'd like to update your information, you must do so in person at your child's school when classes resume Monday. A test alert is being sent out January 9th, to make sure the system is working properly.