Safety and Security at Keefe Regional Technical School
The personal safety of our students and staff and the security of our school facilities are of paramount importance to the school district leadership and to the district School Committee. As a school community working collaboratively, we have focused on actions we can take to maintain and improve the security of everyone who is present on our campus and assure an environment in which our students, teachers, and staff can achieve their missions without distractions or fears of personal safety.
In recent years we have implemented many changes in operational procedures and our physical environment. School climate, school culture and school safety have been and continue to be administrative priorities. Following the most recent tragic events in Newtown CT, we have been reevaluating all aspects of security related measures ranging from ways to anticipate sources of concern for individuals in need of support services and intervention to the most effective response to situations that might arise.
Access to Keefe Regional Technical School is secured at the commencement of each school day. This secure atmosphere allows us to focus on the day's learning assignments. With all members of our school community we insist on a culture of mutual respect that promotes high expectations regarding the behavior and performance in all roles. We maintain a very supportive network which includes guidance counselors, the school psychologist, and clinical psychology interns. Each of them, every day, prioritizes the well being of our students.
Professional development programs for our faculty cover all aspects of their roles related to intervention and response. These are presented at the beginning of each school year and are reemphasized during the year on appropriate occasions. We constantly seek to develop in each of our students a sense of self esteem, of self confidence and awareness of ways to build constructive relationships with their peers. Thus, we seek to avoid intimidation and bullying or other destructive or demeaning practices in our school environment. We are proud of our ability to recognize and avoiding potentially troublesome behaviors in those respects.
The goal of completely assuring school safety and security is never fully realized. Our efforts toward that goal are ongoing and continuous. Those efforts include reliance upon the combined experience and professional training of our staff and calling upon the resources of the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education and of independent consultants for guidance and assistance. They help to expand our ability to provide a safe and secure learning environment.
We assure our students, their parents and the communities we serve that we are keenly aware of our responsibility in these matters and seek to meet them as completely as is humanly possible.