Parent/Caregiver Communications

The Ithaca City School District uses SchoolMessenger to communicate with families through emails, phone calls, and SMS/text messages. The contact information loaded to SchoolMessenger is driven by students' current information in SchoolTool. 

To ensure you receive communications from the district and your child's school, please verify that your contact information in SchoolTool is correct and that you are set up to receive mail. Instructions for doing so can be found below.

SchoolTool Parent Portal Support

Through the SchoolTool Parent Portal, parents and caregivers have access to their children's schedules, grades, assignments, and more. Information on how to set up your account, reset your password, verify your contact information, request translations, and opt in to receive text messages can be found below. For additional support, click here.

Set Up Account

If you would like to set up a Parent Portal account, please contact your child's school and verify that we have your current/correct email address on record. Within a few days of requesting an account, you will receive an automated email from smsadmin@icsd.k12.ny.us with your account password and instructions for logging in.

Reset Password

If you have an existing Parent Portal account but have forgotten your password, please view our password reset instructions

Verify Contact Information

Please follow these steps to verify that your contact information in SchoolTool is correct:

  1. Log in to the SchoolTool Parent Portal at ithaca.schooltool.cnyric.org/schooltoolweb.

  2. Click on the blue 'view student record' button next to your student's name.

  3. Review the phone number(s) and email address associated with your name. If you need to edit or update a phone number or email address, please contact your child's school or click on the 'request contact changes' icon to submit your request directly in the Parent Portal.

    Note: If you need to update your physical address, you must complete the Change of Address Form and provide proof of residency to the District Registrar.

  4. Confirm that the 'receives mail' icon appears to the right of your contact information. Without this icon, you will not be able to receive our communications. To have the 'receives mail' icon added to your record, please contact your child's school or click on the 'request contact changes' icon to submit your request directly in the Parent Portal.

    Note: Those with the 'receives mail' icon also receive report cards, discipline letters, and all other official school mailings. Given this, the icon can only be added to contacts that are in a parental or guardianship relationship with the student.

If you have confirmed that your contact information in SchoolTool is correct and that you are set up to receive mail, but you are still not getting our messages, please reach out to your child's school or email ICSD Communications for support. 

Request Translations

For those who need or prefer to receive school and district communications in a language other than English, SchoolMessenger will send automated translations using Google Translate, based on the preferred language of each contact that receives mail. Please contact your child's school if you need to add or change the language in which you receive our communications.

It is important to note that, due to the limitations of Google's machine-generated translations, the translations may contain inaccuracies and should not be considered exact. We will continue to seek more precise solutions and appreciate our community’s patience.

Opt In to Receive Text Messages

Through SchoolMessenger. schools can send parents and caregivers important informational text messages about events, school closings, safety alerts, and more, directly to their mobile devices.

Any ICSD parent or caregiver who wishes to participate in this service need only do the following:

  1. Verify that your wireless phone number is on file and listed as the first number in SchoolTool. To add, change, or re-rank your wireless number, please contact your child's school secretary or click on the 'request contact changes' icon and submit your request directly in the Parent Portal.

  2. Confirm that the 'receives mail' icon appears to the right of your contact information. Without this icon, you will not be able to receive our text messages. To have the 'receives mail' icon added to your record, please contact your child's school secretary or click on the 'request contact changes' icon to submit your request directly in the Parent Portal.

  3. Opt in any time from your wireless device by texting “Y” or “Yes” to the district’s short code number, 67587, or by scanning the QR code on this flyer.

For more information about SMS/text messaging, please view these FAQs.