In the year 2022, there were 46 recorded school shootings, a record high in the history of the United States. 2023 is on track to have a similar number, as there have already been 18 recorded school shootings within the first four months of the new year. In light of this, many schools have begun to adopt new policies and procedures to best prepare students and faculty for these terrifying scenarios. At the Upper School (US), administrators and faculty members are working to make sure that the school is prepared to face such scenarios should they arise, US Director of Security Kathleen Murphy said. Before working at the US as the Director of Security, Ms. Murphy served as the Sergeant of Community Relations at the Cambridge Police Department for 30 years.
Like many other schools, the school employs the ALICE procedure (see page 17) as one of its policies in the case of an emergency, she said.
“One program used by the school is the ALICE program,” she said. “Faculty and staff have been trained in that for the last five years, and they are told that it emphasizes locking down. When there’s a threat, they should get their students into the classroom and secure the doors.”
In case of an armed intruder or any other threat to the school’s security, reaching a secure location and commencing a lockdown should be prioritized, she said. This includes securing students inside classrooms, locking the doors, then barricading them in any way possible.
The US administration has already done work to make the campus more secure, implementing the use of ID cards to enter the building in 2021. “The ID cards are really important, they should be carried at all times. Even though some students may leave them behind and see them as an inconvenience, they are a big part of keeping the school secure and safe,” Ms. Murphy said.
“Students should focus primarily on getting inside classrooms and into lockdown. A locked door is your best bet in these situations, and getting behind one should be your utmost priority and then calling the police. People should never assume someone else has called the police. BB&N is in a very urban location and when calling 9-1-1/ Emergency Dispatch it should take no more than 5-8 minutes for the police and first responders to arrive.”
Another important part of keeping the school safe is maintaining clear communication between members of the US community and those who can provide safety, Ms. Murphy said.
“The challenge during an incident is how a person initially reacts and how the community is notified,” she said. “Communication is crucial. If you see something, say something. If anyone observes a very suspicious person on campus, they should notify the police first by calling 9-1-1 and then letting a teacher or adult in the school know. Time is important because it affects the police response time.”
Even with preparation, these situations can still be difficult to manage, making the need for individual diligence and attentiveness extremely important, she said.
“A big part of preparing to keep the school safe is learning how to react,” Ms. Murphy said. “People react different to situations. If something dangerous does happen, it can take a second to realize that the situation is real. Whether something is a drill or not, always treat it as if it’s real.”
Though the US faculty are required to undergo lockdown training, the next step for the school is to begin conversations with the students, she said.
“Incorporating students is our goal. And I would love to get the Peer Counselors or student leadership involved with this process. A big part of what we’ve been doing to further prepare the school in the case of these emergencies is adopting a new program called Blue-U, which the faculty did this past year. We are hoping to offer these programs up to students as well going forwards. Last year Blue-U conducted a safety presentation to the graduating seniors and it appeared to be well received.”
Alongside Ms. Murphy, Chief Financial Officer Tara Gohlmann has been introducing new safety procedures to the school. Both ALICE and Blue-U have been helpful in teaching faculty members about how to respond to these scenarios, she said.
“As of now, we use both ALICE and Blue-U. While ALICE provides a good outline on what to do in these situations, Blue-U provides more breadth and gives more information on the more personal elements,” Dr. Gohlmann said.
The Vanguard’s recent survey on school safety revealed that only 23% of students understand what to do in the case of a threat to the school’s security. However, the US hopes to soon facilitate student access to the same programs that the faculty undergoes, Dr. Gohlmann said.
“Something we’ve been talking about doing is facilitating tabletop activities amongst the students. So, this is where we gather students to talk about what they might do in the case of an incident, which is something that has been more widely embraced across a variety of schools,” she said. “Drills can trigger people, so we’ve been thinking about how we can best support everyone in our community. Rather than simply having students go through the motions, the best thing we can do is talk about what to do if these things happen. Hopefully, these new opportunities will come in the fall.”
US Director Jessica Keimowitz agrees that students should learn what to do in the case of a threat to the school’s safety, she said.
“The goal is to make sure that the adults are trained and as comfortable as possible, then to disseminate the information to students,” she said.
Next year, the school plans to have more opportunities for students to learn what to do in case of a threat to the school, in the form of guided discussion and communication with other members of the US community, Ms. Keimowitz said.
“I agree that students need to be given a chance to learn more about what to do and how to react,” she said. “We could start to do this in class meetings, which all grade levels have every week, or we could use assembly time. It’s incumbent upon us to give students more information about these things. I wish we did not live in a world where this was absolutely necessary, but we would rather have everybody prepared for the worst than not have a plan in action.”
Editor’s note: Thank you to US Theater Teacher Ross MacDonald, who informed us that the term armed intruder is more appropriate than active shooter, as intruders who are not carrying a weapon that fires live rounds are also of concern
