Dear Parents,

Safety, safety, safety

As I referenced at Back to School Night, the safety of the children here has always been a priority and we continue to make every effort to keep Blessed Sacrament as safe as possible. In recent years we have added cameras and signage, moved to a key fob entry for staff, required name tags for visitors, and strengthened procedures around lockdowns. Today, I wanted to give a brief update on recent activities. On September 25 and 26, the archdiocese required attendance at a program called ALICE. This is a national program developed at the insistence of parents from Sandy Hook. I attended along with all of the other principals in the archdiocese as well as Maura Walsh Rogan and Grace Hamilton. That training was only the first step in developing new procedures around school safety and the archdiocese is currently developing a comprehensive plan for communication about the program with parents. In addition they will be working with schools on teacher training.

Also, I received a document from one of our parents entitled 'Enhancing School Safety Using a Threat Assessment Model: An Operational Guide for Preventing Targeted School Violence' that was created by the US Secret Service and published this past July. This information primarily focuses on school culture factors and ways to identify and prevent possible threats. I have skimmed through the document and we have many of these things in place. I have asked Mrs. Matejik to read through it for a more detailed analysis.

Finally, we have a school safety committee, composed of teachers and a parent who is an expert on security. We will be convening that committee again. I did not want to meet with the committee while we were waiting for the ALICE program training and subsequent materials and before we completed reading the document from the Secret Service.

You can expect a more detailed communication regarding school safety as the year progresses.

We also teach the children about personal safety. The Personal Safety Education program is an educational program that we have used in archdiocesan schools for over ten years. In addition to the Virtus program for adults, it is a structured program to educate children about making good choices, being safe, and identifying responsible adults whom they can trust and in whom they can confide. The program is designed to be developmentally appropriate and it covers topics such as internet safety, identifying and respecting the 'private parts' of your body and others, and understanding that it is not okay to be asked to keep secrets from adults that you trust. In the younger grades, Mrs. Matejik will work the students and teachers to present these topics between now and November. In the middle school, we deliver separate sessions for the boys and girls. More information will be sent home shortly about the program and resources associated with it.

We understand that children cannot learn unless they feel safe and we do all that we can to ensure that safe environment. Please let me or Mrs. Matejik know if you have any questions.

 

Faithfully,

Chris Kelly