School Safety

Safe2Say Something

At times, we’ve all wondered if a student is at risk or otherwise showing signs of harming themselves or others. But what can we do about it? Who can we discuss our concerns with? Enter the “Safe2Say Something” (S2SS) anonymous reporting system, a new state-mandated prevention program in which Collegium is extremely excited to participate.

S2SS was developed to:

1. Teach school educators, staff, students and parents how to identify at-risk signs/signals in themselves and others (especially those on social media), and
2. Give parents and students the ability to report that information anonymously to a crisis center through an S2SS mobile phone app, website, or a 24/7 Crisis Center Hotline. Please see the links below to contact the crisis center.

Visit S2SS Website
Call Hotline: 1-844-723-2729
Download App On The iOS App Store
Get App On Google Play

Anonymous tips to the crisis enter are analyzed, triaged, and shared with the appropriate personnel, depending on the information. All life-safety tips will be directly communicated to 911 Dispatch and our CCS Lead Team: Mr. Bill Duffy, Mr. Joe Vogelgesang (Campus Safety Officer), Mrs. Maureen Wilkins (Special Education Coordinator), Mrs. Natalie Corcimiglia (Mental Health Therapist), and Ms. Marita Barber (Acting CEO). If you have questions about the S2SS program, please email [email protected].

Collegium is confident that S2SS will help our community detect at-risk behavior early so that students can quickly receive the help they need. S2SS will provide CCS with resources to maintain student and staff awareness of its prevention techniques and efforts. For more information, please review S2SS’s Parent Brochure.

Standard Collegium Building Security

• Exterior doors are locked. Main office entry is via a secure and monitored vestibule area.
• Employees and visitors are required to wear identification badges.
• Volunteers must have valid background check clearances on file with Collegium.
• Collegium buildings have crisis prevention and intervention plans. Collegium also has building-level and campus-wide Safety Committees. Employees are provided with on-going training regarding incident prevention as well as emergency response.
• Collegium’s Code of Conduct calls for intervention when students threaten to harm others or themselves. Any threats of this nature are taken very seriously.
• Collegium has a team of professionals to offer intervention and referral for students deemed to be at risk: counselors, nurses, psychologists, and our Student Assistance Team. Restorative Practice strategies are employed when student conflicts require resolution.

A Safe And Supportive Learning Environment

Proactively, Collegium utilizes School-wide Positive Behavior and Intervention Support (PBIS) programs and our K-6 students also participate in an evidence-based Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Program called Second Step. Through these efforts, we aim to provide a cohesive foundation for a safe and supportive learning environment.

The Second Step Program
Second Step teaches skills in the following four areas:

1. Skills for Learning
2. Empathy
3. Emotion Management
4. Problem Solving

Bullying Prevention Education
To further help our school be a safe and respectful place, we also use the Second Step Bullying Prevention Unit. In these lessons, our students learn specific skills to help stop bullying. Students learn to:

• Recognize when bullying is happening.
• Report bullying to a caring adult.
• Refuse to let bullying happen to themselves or others.

Child Protection And Safety Education
Collegium also uses the Second Step Child Protection Unit. In these lessons, students learn Personal Safety; Touching Safety; and Assertiveness.

Understanding Campus Response Expectations

During emergency situations, Collegium will:

• Maintain student safety as our highest priority.
• Contact parents/guardians primarily through our SchoolMessenger system.  We will also utilize our website, official CCS social media accounts, and media outlets.
• Update information periodically, even if there is nothing new to report. For the safety of our students and employees, please follow the procedures shared during the updates.
• Keep students informed, as appropriate per grade level, so they are aware of circumstances and expectations.
• If releasing students, work with the Chester County Sheriff’s Office to deploy a designated parent reunification center (student pick-up location) for parents/guardians.
• Provide an appropriate environment and supervision if under a long-term and/or shelter-in-place situation.

We ask parents/guardians/emergency contact persons to:

• Provide emergency contact numbers and ensure they are always current. To update your contact information, please contact Mrs. Susan Novak.
• Talk to your children and have a plan in case of an emergency during school hours.
• Carry your photo identification to verify who you are when requested.

In emergency situations, please:

• Do not panic. (We understand this is easier said than done!)
• Do not call Collegium or come to the campus.
• Do not call or text your child. Depending on the circumstances you could be placing them in danger of being detected by the ringing/buzzing/vibrating phone.
• Reinforce with your children that in an emergency, it is important for students to follow the directions of Collegium employees.
• Wait for communication from Collegium regarding the situation.

Universal Emergency Procedures

In addition to the items above that demonstrate school safety integrated throughout our campus, Collegium trains employees in Universal Emergency Procedures. Universal Emergency Procedures are a set of standard, clear directives that may be implemented across a variety of emergency situations. When an emergency begins, the building principal, or Incident Commander, will decide which Universal Emergency Procedures to implement, based on the situation.

There are six basic procedures that can be utilized in responding to various campus emergencies: Evacuation, Reverse Evacuation, Severe Weather Safe Area, Shelter in Place, Lockdown, and Drop, Cover, and Hold.

The All Hazards Plan

On June 21, 2012, Pennsylvania’s Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC)approved the final version of PA’s State Board of Education’s Chapter 10 regulations pertaining to safe schools (Chapter 10 of 22 Pa Code). The regulations require schools to develop an All Hazards Plan which provides information on various emergency procedures including accidents, bomb threats, evacuation, explosion, fire, hazardous materials, natural disasters, radiological, and security situations. The plan and practices are developed and refined using the expertise of local and regional emergency personnel, as well as information from government sources. Here at Collegium, our All Hazards Plan was written and critiqued by a panel of safety and security professionals as a final project by our School Safety Coordinator, Mr. Bill Duffy. Our plan is annually reviewed and then adopted by Collegium’s Board. After approval, building principals update plans specific to their buildings. Emergency procedures binders are used by staff during drills and would be used in the event of an emergency. Regular updates to the plan are made as the school experiences emergencies or conducts routine drills. Collegium is confident in the quality and detail of our All Hazards Plan. We will continue to evaluate, in conjunction with emergency agencies (i.e. police, fire, PEMA, etc.), our procedures and practices, making those changes necessary to continually improve our emergency preparedness.