WP Families, staff and community,
This is an update for families about what steps we have taken to ensure the safety of staff and students at William Penn.
Safety and security for students and staff is a primary concern. Since January 10th, we have focused our safety and security efforts on the present as well as the future in order to ensure everyone is afforded the safe working and learning spaces they deserve.
What WE have done:
In the weeks following the January 10th incident, when a weapon was fired inside a bathroom at William Penn, we conducted debriefing sessions with staff and sought feedback from students on how to improve our crisis response as well as how to improve the overall climate in the school. In response to that feedback we have:
- Increased adult support in the hallways with PASS Tutors.
- Increased teacher and staff support for student safety with all staff being asked to perform duties outside of normal teaching responsibilities throughout the day.
- Provided ALICE Training/ALICE Refresher Training for staff during the most recent professional development day. ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evaluate. This is a nationally recognized training program for active shooter preparedness and response.
- Held building level Safety Team meetings
- Communicated and posted crisis response instructions in each classroom.
- Held monthly fire drills and crisis response drills during normal school hours; including during a lunch period.
- Adjusted building schedule to assist in clearing the halls before lunch periods.
- Ensure Constables are providing additional coverage to monitor students transitioning outside from the main campus to N3 during hall changes.
Our District Safety and Security Team is continuing to discuss, learn and implement further safety methods and tools to possibly be used in the near future. We will continue to update our students, staff and families in the weeks and months ahead as we continue to meet and enhance our efforts in school safety and security. We appreciate the role you play in our efforts and invite you to share any feedback, thoughts or concerns to info@colonial.k12.de.us