If we want to significantly improve our school’s level of safety, we need to attend to all three of the primary facets of school safety.

When we take care of the physical aspects of safety, we not only reduce injuries & accidents, we make our building a harder target than deters would-be intruders.

Physical aspects of school safety include things like locked doors, a shatter-proof film on windows, communication devices and practices, security cameras, and procedures for responding to emergencies, fights, and medical crises.

Keeping our buildings safe also involves being present and vigilant. Be visible and watchful in the hallways and at the particularly vulnerable times of before school, after school, during lunch or recess periods, and any time students are moving through the building or moving around in class or during special events.

Improving our school climate yields benefits every day. We want to be proactive, rather than always having to be reactive when incidents occur. School climate is related to how welcoming our school feels to students, staff, parents, and visitors. Bullying prevention and response, alcohol and drug prevention, counseling groups, and student leadership opportunities are included under school climate.

Identifying and intervening when someone is struggling allows us to change outcomes and create a safer environment overall. It's important to know your students and colleagues so you can identify when something is amiss. Learning the warning signs of both suicide and potential violence will help you to know when you need to act to help an individual and keep others safe.

When we don't attend to all three of these areas, we create gaps where our schools become vulnerable.

Keep in mind that school safety is an ongoing and collaborative effort. We need to continually check our procedures to make sure they are working well and make improvements where needed. It's also important to stay on top of current best practices in the field. School safety is continually evolving and it's vital that you have a reliable source to provide ongoing best practice information.

Does your school district have a good working relationship with outside responders and agencies? Do you need to put agreements or memoranda of understanding (MOU) in place? It's better to know now than to experience a misunderstanding when there is an emergency.