Is there a notification on the phone screen, not just a message?

Yes. The Parents Portal and the Teachers Portal can be added to a phone's home screen and send push notifications — a COMPLEMENTARY channel that mirrors the first delivery attempt, not a replacement for the message itself.

Eight message types are deliberately kept out of push: those carrying a PIN or a one-time code, connection test messages, and platform messages to the school's contact about subscriptions, suspensions, and payouts. Credentials must not spread to whatever device happens to share the number.

Push never changes a message's status and consumes no credit. On iPhone, notifications can only be enabled after the portal has been added to the home screen.