SUMMIT TWP — Residents of the township will soon have a way to get notified when a Summit Academy student has fled the school.

Administration at Summit Academy has agreed to set up a text message alert system, township solicitor Mike Gallagher told the supervisors at their meeting Wednesday night.

The school, located on Herman Road since 1996, is a private, residential program for boys and young men ages 14 to 19 who have committed juvenile and adult criminal offenses.

The idea for an alert system was brought up by residents at a township meeting several months ago. The township received information through the mail about a company that offers an alert service and officials approached the school with the idea, secretary/treasurer Roxann Stickney said.

The service will be for township residents only. All expenses will be covered by the school.

Dick Roberts, a spokesman for Summit Academy, confirmed Thursday that it is working with a vendor on getting a system in place this spring. A text alert would be sent out anytime a student leaves the premises without permission, he said in an email.

The school will sometimes go more than six months without any incidents at the school, but then a student will run away and people in the Herman area will find out through word of mouth or after seeing state police on their street, township residents said.

“I thought it would be a nice thing, if you get the message you can make sure your doors are locked,” resident Wilfred Balentine said.

On Feb. 25 state police used a helicopter to search the area surrounding the school after three students, all natives of Philadelphia, escaped and were believed to be on foot. In an incident last year, an escaped teen stole a Jeep and drove 200 miles across the state before he was arrested by police.

Despite the occasional incidents, the supervisors were complimentary of the school and its administration.

“They are not a bad neighbor at all,” supervisor Larry Osche said, adding that students at the school have done community service for the township such as landscaping work and picking up roadside litter.

Information about how to sign up will be included in the next township newsletter and will be posted to the township's website, www.summittwp.org, Stickney said.