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Safety & Security

Elkhart Community Schools is committed to keeping our school communities safe. We know that before learning is possible, our students and staff must feel secure, so we have developed measures to protect our children and to respond in the event of a threat at our schools.

See Something? Say Something!
It takes everyone working together to keep our students safe.

We encourage everyone to be alert and vigilant. If you hear of a possible threat or see something out of the ordinary, immediately contact your school administrator, a school resource officer, or local law enforcement. Non-urgent concerns can be submitted to our Sprigeo Reporting System.

Kent Street Service Building
1135 Kent Street
Elkhart
IN
46514

574-262-5899

Your Role

What Families Should Do During A School Emergency
The natural instinct for parents/guardians is to come to the school during an emergency to protect their children. However, by doing so, they may endanger themselves and their children. Law enforcement and school personnel are busy responding to the situation. Your arrival or calls may distract them from their work or put you/students into a harmful position. Please help by following the steps below.

Stay Home

The most important contribution you can make to your student and your own safety may be staying away from the school.

Stay Informed

Information will be shared with families as soon as possible. Please know, in some situations, accurate information may take some time to verify and share.

Be Ready

Be prepared to follow instructions from Elkhart Community Schools.

How Can You Prepare Now?

One critical way that parents/guardians can prepare for an emergency is to ensure the district has accurate information on file. ECS uses ParentSquare to communicate with families via all-call, text, and email. ParentSquare pulls contact information from PowerSchool, our student management system. To ensure your information is correct:

  • Check your contact information and emergency contact information on file in PowerSchool
  • Ensure your emergency contacts are aware and ready to assist when needed
  • Set preferences for alerts/messages in ParentSquare

Emergency Communication

Keeping parents, students and staff informed.

ECS is dedicated to providing families with information as soon as possible, but in some situations accurate information may take some time to verify and share.

During an emergency, ECS will work to notify family members via multiple communication avenues, primarily:

  • The Elkhart Community Schools website
  • Voice, text and email messaging (ParentSquare)
  • Social media, including Facebook and Twitter
  • Local news media

Standard Response Protocol — Information for Parents and Guardians

Our school has adopted the “I Love U Guys” Foundation’s Standard Response Protocol (SRP). Students and staff will be training, practicing, and drilling the protocol.

Common Language

The Standard Response Protocol (SRP) is based on an all-hazards approach as opposed to individual scenarios. Like the Incident Command System (ICS), SRP utilizes clear common language while allowing for flexibility in protocol. The premise is simple — there are five specific actions that can be performed during an incident. When communicating these, the action is labeled with a “Term of Art” and is then followed by a “Directive.” Execution of the action is performed by active participants, including students, staff, teachers, and first responders. The SRP is based on the following actions: Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, and Shelter.

Standard Response Protocol Parent Handout (English) Standard Response Protocol Parent Handout (Spanish)

Parent Guidance

In the event of a live incident, parents may have questions about their role.

Secure

“Get Inside. Lock Outside Doors”

Secure is called when there is something dangerous outside of the building. Students and staff are brought into the building and the outside doors will be locked. The school might display the “Building Is Secured” poster on entry doors or nearby windows. Inside, it will be business as usual.

Lockdown

“Locks, Lights, Out of Sight”

A lockdown is called when there is something dangerous inside of the building. Students and staff are trained to enter or remain in a room that can be locked and maintain silence. A lockdown is only initiated when there is an active threat inside or very close to the building.

Frequently Asked Questions