Mission Statement
The Cherry Creek School District is committed to creating safe,
respectful, and inclusive learning environments where all community
members work together to promote academic excellence, civil behaviors,
and social competence. All staff, students, and parents help create
safe schools.
District Safety Efforts
The Cherry Creek School District is committed to creating safe,
secure, and caring learning environments. This emphasis has resulted in
a Comprehensive Safe Schools Plan that includes a purposeful connection
between physical safety/security and the "psychological safety" of
students.
Physical safety includes measures such as visitor check-in and
identification badges, video surveillance, preparedness planning, and
practice drills to prepare for a variety of potential incidents.
District and school crisis plans are aligned with the recommendations of
state Homeland Security, local emergency responders, and public safety
officials and use the general response practices outlined in the
National Incident Management System (NIMS).
Psychological safety provides for the social-emotional well being of
students and works to create positive school climates through measures
such as asset development, bullying prevention, Positive Behavior
Supports, and early identification and intervention for at-risk
students.
The district's Safe Schools Design Team,
composed of staff from various district departments and schools,
continually updates the district's planning and resources to reflect
current needs and world events. Over the past several years, the
district's safety efforts have been responsive to events such as
Columbine and other school related shootings, September 11th, and the
potential threat of domestic terrorism. Training and practice drills
for staff and students have been held to contribute to preparedness for
potential crisis events.
Each school has a functioning school safety team that monitors the
building plan for both psychological and physical safety, and a crisis
response & recovery team that oversees and implements the school's
crisis response plan when needed. Major components of the district
Comprehensive Safe Schools Plan and school safety plans as recommended
by the US Department of Education (2004) are conceptualized as a
continuum of efforts represented by the district safety triangle.
- mitigation/prevention
- preparedness/planning
- intervention/response, and
- crisis response/recovery.