Mentor Schools Quality Profile Report 2024 2025 - Flipbook - Page 8
School Safety
Our district’s top priority is to provide a safe learning environment where students can grow academically, socially and emo琀椀onally.
Safety Drills
Fire, tornado, bus evacua琀椀on, ac琀椀ve shooter or intruder, lockdown,
table-top, and scenario-based — these are all examples of drills we
prac琀椀ce in Mentor Schools. These are very important from a
preparedness standpoint to make sure that our students and sta昀昀 know
what to do in case of a school emergency.
Tabletop and Large-Scale Safety Drills
Our most sophis琀椀cated drills happen when we partner with Mentor Police and Mentor Fire to simulate school-based emergencies and work
together though a 琀椀meline of events, like one example pictured here:
Safety Audit
Experts conducted a school safety audit for every building in the district
and we received good informa琀椀on - both from the standpoint of what
we’re doing well and areas we could improve. This helped shape our
request for safety grant money available through the State of Ohio.
Mentor Schools was awarded more than $1 million, near the maximum
available. We con琀椀nue to seek safety grant funds when possible.
School Resource O昀케cer & Local Police Departments
Mentor Schools has a full-琀椀me Mentor Police Department School
Resource O昀케cer assigned to serve the district. Addi琀椀onally, o昀케cers take
extra shi昀琀s at our middle and elementary schools daily. Mentor-on-theLake Police Department takes shi昀琀s at Lake Elementary School and the
Lake County Sheri昀昀’s O昀케ce also works shi昀琀s in our schools at 琀椀mes.
Mentor Fire & Mentor Police School Visits
Both Mentor police o昀케cers and 昀椀re昀椀ghters regularly visit all of our
schools for both planned educa琀椀onal events and random drop-ins.
ALICE
ALICE is ac琀椀ve shooter civilian training, focused on the tac琀椀cs: Alert,
Lockdown, Inform, Counter & Evacuate. We have cer琀椀昀椀ed ALICE trainers
at each of our schools who assist their teams with this important work.
Building Inspec琀椀ons & Safety Audits
Extensive safety assessments with Mentor Police & Fire and other experts have been conducted to iden琀椀fy strengths and weaknesses at each
of our buildings and improvements have been made as iden琀椀昀椀ed.
Health Curriculum
Students in elementary, middle and high school receive health educa琀椀on
based on Na琀椀onal Health Standards. Addi琀椀onal health courses were
added to reach students each year of 6th, 7th and 8th grade.
NAMI (Na琀椀onal Alliance on Mental Illness)
Experts from NAMI present important messages to students and sta昀昀 to
raise awareness of Mental Health areas, such as depression and suicide.
Digital Ci琀椀zenship & Online Monitoring
Lessons about the importance of being a posi琀椀ve online ci琀椀zen are a
part of our everyday learning. We also have been consistently communica琀椀ng with parents and guardians on this topic because working together toward good digital ci琀椀zenship prac琀椀ces needs to be a focus both at
home and at school. We have taken addi琀椀onal steps to monitor our
students’ online ac琀椀vi琀椀es in the form of emails and searches, while
they’re using our devices, so we can address concerns quickly and help
guide be琀琀er choices.
Crossroads & Signature Health
Beyond our own sta昀昀, Mental Health experts from Crossroads & Signature Health are in our schools every day to provide extra support. Mental Health issues can intensify if le昀琀 unaddressed, so the experts are
embedded in our schools to help with early iden琀椀昀椀ca琀椀on & interven琀椀on.
Mental Heath Needs
To help address an increased need in support among our students, our
cer琀椀昀椀ed sta昀昀 has received training sessions about mental health awareness and trauma sensi琀椀ve issues a昀昀ec琀椀ng schools and our community.
Character Building Programs
Con琀椀nually building a culture of kindness, compassion and acceptance is
extremely important in all of our schools. We do this through an array of
di昀昀erent programs, including: Start with Hello, S琀椀ck Together, Student
Ambassadors, Where Everybody Belongs (WEB), Kindness Rallies ,
classroom mee琀椀ngs and more. Many of our an琀椀-bullying and character
programs also involve powerful messaging through peer leaders.
Exterior Bus Cameras
Using grant funding, Mentor Schools purchased exterior cameras for our
昀氀eet of buses to address an increasing issue of drivers illegally passing
buses on the roadways. This ini琀椀a琀椀ve is supported by local law
enforcement and we hope encourages people to stop for school buses.
Improved Indoor Air Quality
Several-hundred bi-polar ioniza琀椀on devices were installed all across the
district to improve indoor air quality in all of our schools. These devices
work by neutralizing par琀椀culate ma琀琀er, bacteria and virus cells, odorous
gases and aerosols, and Vola琀椀le Organic Compounds (be琀琀er known as
VOCs). This technology has been found to be very e昀昀ec琀椀ve against
viruses, and essen琀椀ally will help clean and purify the air for years to
come in learning spaces all across the district.
See Something? Say Something!
Students, parents and community members are encouraged to report
concerning and/or suspicious behavior they believe could a昀昀ect our
schools to us at any 琀椀me! We have a crisis hotline that is monitored
24/7/365 to assist in keeping our schools safe. Call: 844-SaferOH
Please note: This is only a small sample of our safety ini琀椀a琀椀ves. When it
comes to safety, some informa琀椀on cannot be shared publicly in the
interest of safety itself.
