Sunday, August 18, 2024
With school back in session, Gatesville Intermediate School makes it their main concern to ensure the safety of its students.
“Student and staff safety are a top priority,” Gatesville Intermediate Principal Angela Pearson said. “Parents entrust us with their children each day, and when those students leave their parents, the expectation is that they will be safe as well as educated.”
The intermediate school follows the Gatesville Independent School District school safety policy, which requires fire drills to take place once every nine weeks, with lockdown, secure, and evacuation drills done in the fall and spring as well. There are also annual drills for sheltering in place for severe weather and in case of a hazardous material spill.
“Our campus LEO, Bobby Cole, is in constant patrol of the building along with our assigned Friends on Duty when available,” Pearson said.
Cole is currently in his second year at the intermediate and he believes that it is important for students and staff to be familiar with all the safety drills, and measures associated with the drills.
“I believe it is better to be ready, than to get ready,” Cole said. “My daily responsibilities are to ensure that the school and joining properties of the school are safe. I will also do some mentoring, and some counseling here and there.”
As well as having drills set in place, all doors in the building are also closed and locked at all times, and campus visitors must enter through the front office.
The staff at the front desk have access to a video monitor, which helps them to keep an eye out for people walking up to the building.
Once the front office staff allows a visitor to enter, that individual is then checked in via Raptor. If necessary, an alert to all staff will be sent out for any reason involving a visitor who should not be allowed on campus.
“In order for the staff to be able to focus on instruction, it is key that we put every measure in place to ensure their safety as well,” Pearson said.
Each day a district employee walks the entire campus to check that all doors are closed and locked. If any are not, the employee will notify the office, so they can follow up with staff and/or put in work orders as needed.
In the event of an emergency, parents will be notified via text message, email, bulletins, and newsletters regarding the situation.
Cole expressed that parents can help support school safety measures by talking to their students about safety, establishing emergency procedures, and getting involved.
“I would like to encourage parents to talk to their children regularly about safety risks, school and community safety,” Cole said. “I would like to say also that parents need to be honest and don’t assume your child knows basic safety facts; make school safety a common topic in family discussions and encourage children to share their concerns.”
“Create a clear, practical family emergency plan with your child, so he or she may know what to do in case of an emergency at school,” he said. “I would like to encourage parents to volunteer at your child's school; many children like to see their parents at school or at school events.”
“My goal is that each day that students and staff walk into the building they feel safe,” Pearson said. “I want to make sure that our students and staff are prepared for any type of emergency, all while praying that there never is one.”
“Protecting students and staff is important to me, because in this community we are a family,” Cole said. “With that being said, I take joy in knowing the children and staff are safe; this way the children get to learn in a positive environment free of fear.”
