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Rachel, 

As we approach the end of the school year, our focus shifts to the myriad of activities and programs that fill our after-school hours and summer days. It's a time of celebration, exploration, and reflection for our students and it's also a critical period for ensuring their safety and security.

Over the years, we've seen a significant evolution in the structure and scope of auxiliary programs- an umbrella term that covers activities not covered in the regular school day. These programs now offer a wide range of activities that enrich students' experiences and learning, but certainly can also present new safety and security challenges. As you gear up for these programs, we hope you consider these key areas:

• Roles and Responsibilities: Have we clearly communicated the specific duties and responsibilities to all staff members involved in after-school and summer activities? Ensuring everyone knows their role is vital to prevent confusion and ensure a swift response in an emergency.
• Resilience: We all know that incidents are different at 11am vs 11pm, but sometimes we forget how different incidents are in the summer vs during the school year. Making sure you have your incident commanders lined up and prepared to lead saves time during an emergency and time saves lives! 
• Communication: Have we established clear and effective lines of communication among staff, students, and parents to ensure smooth coordination, especially during off-site activities where rapid response and coordination are critical? Clear communication is crucial to avoid misunderstandings and respond effectively to incidents.
• Training and Drills: Are we regularly conducting tailored training sessions and emergency drills to prepare staff and students for potential incidents? These drills should be specific to the activities and environments of your auxiliary programs. Regular training and drills help build confidence and ensure everyone knows how to react quickly and correctly in an emergency.
• Offsite Considerations: Have we conducted a thorough risk assessment for all off-site locations and activities, considering transportation, venue safety, medical emergencies, and weather-related risks? Additionally, do we have a designated point of contact at each off-site location who can provide their documented safety plans? Thorough risk assessments and established contacts at off-site locations are essential to manage unforeseen risks and ensure a coordinated response.

Our goal is to empower you with the knowledge and resources you need to create a safe and secure environment for your students. Our friends over at SPARC are a wonderful resource on all things auxiliary programs as well, and we’re honored to partner with them in continuing to establish best practices around these important programs.

Our team is wishing you a safe and successful end to the school year and a fun-filled summer ahead!

In strength,

Chris Joffe

Founder and CEO 

Safety Spotlight: End-of-the-Year Activities

In our latest talks with Auxiliary Directors, a top-of-mind question has been, "With summer program activities, what are the best ways to ensure our facilities are secure when entrances are always a revolving door?" 

To answer this, we’ve turned to a Joffe partner Karen McCann McClelland of SPARC (Summer Programs and Auxiliary Revenue Collaborative) and Director of Auxiliary Programs at Sidwell Friends School with campuses in Washington, DC and Bethesda, MD. 

She responded: “To ensure the security of our facilities during high-traffic summer programs activities, we implement controlled access points, mandatory ID badges, and a digital visitor management system to monitor entries and exits. We also have our summer programs staff and vendors/partner staff in identifiable uniform shirts whenever possible. Security personnel and strategically placed surveillance cameras provide real-time monitoring and immediate response capabilities. We also use electronic access control systems for sensitive areas and maintain clear emergency protocols, regularly practiced through drills. Effective communication systems, staff training, and educating parents and students on security measures further enhance our efforts to maintain a safe and secure environment.”

June 10th Webinar: Join us this month as we wrap up our 23-24 webinar series with our special guest, Jim Hulbert, J.D. Jim is a partner and CEO at The Jane Group and a labor and employment lawyer by training. Jim works closely with board chairs and executive committees advising on complicated issues involving governance matters and best practices, leadership transitions, sexual misconduct investigations, and employment disputes and DEI(JB) cases, as well as managing a response to social media campaigns against schools. Join us for an exciting conversation with Jim and Chris Joffe!

Simple School Solutions: This downloadable resource is a tabletop exercise designed to help you effectively manage the situation of a missing student. It's an excellent tool for training staff and improving emergency protocols, providing a realistic scenario and expert guidance.

Summer Program Safety Blog Post: As summer approaches, we know you are focused on how to prioritize the well-being of your students and staff. Our guide covers topics like health and hygiene, heat safety, emergency preparedness, and much more. Ensure a safe and enriching experience for everyone!

End-of-the-Year Activities Toolkit: Close out the school year safe and successfully with our End-of-Year Activities Toolkit! This comprehensive package includes a course on how to run tabletop exercises, expert interviews on summer activities, and an end-of-year documentation course, and much more. Use the code SummerWithJoffe to get 50% off the entire bundle. 

Interested in workplace violence prevention training?

Our latest course on Joffe Academy, Workplace Violence Prevention, equips you with the essential resources to meet California SB 553's legal obligations by the July 1, 2024 deadline. Non-Joffe clients can purchase our Workplace Violence Prevention Course today for $349.00 or our current clients can access it for free through their Joffe Academy Plus Membership! Prioritize safety in your school and check out a free course preview now!

Still have questions? Check out our blog post highlighting 10 reasons the Workplace Violence Course will help your school.

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X: @JoffeChris & @Joffeemergency

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