COVID-19 continues to disrupt daily lives and drastically impact our students, staff, and learning environments. Industry leaders and mental health professionals have warned that we may see an increase in incidents or students who act out as our classrooms reopen.
It’s more imperative than ever that our schools are safeguarded and that the people within them can confidently respond to emergencies. To help schools receive the training they critically need, Raptor and Safe Kids Inc. have partnered to provide schools with age-appropriate active shooter training.
This partnership expands our mission to protect every child, every school, every day and gives Raptor customers a no-cost, 1-school–year subscription to the Safe Kids H.E.R.O. training curriculum to teach students how to prevent and survive active shooter incidents with simple, easy-to-remember, and truly effective strategies.
Safe Kids Mission
In 2016, a team of experienced law enforcement officers and educators who recognized that violent events were becoming more commonplace in our schools founded Safe Kids. After investigating active shooter incidents and realizing that students were not being taught critical survivability methods, the founders developed the H.E.R.O Program. Safe Kids is focused on their mission to provide safety curriculum that prevents violence and empowers students and educators to turn safe thinking into safe action.
The H.E.R.O Program Curriculum
The H.E.R.O. Program which has been used by over 100,000 students across the U.S. gives students the confidence to respond to any kind of violence. Designed by experts in law enforcement, education, and school psychology, the program teaches students how to overcome situations like bullying and abuse, as well as how to recognize, avoid, and survive violent events, such as an active shooter.
The interactive H.E.R.O. Program incorporates critical thinking concepts, and its lesson plans are adaptable, problem-based, and vetted by parents, teachers, and psychologists. The program includes age-appropriate student facing curriculum, professional development for staff, drill and scenario guides, an accessibility guide for students with special needs, and other materials specific to violence prevention.
The curriculum teaches students and teachers how to:
- HIDE from active shooters and barricade in their classroom. In addition to building barricades, students are taught how and where to hide safely in classrooms and outdoor locations.
- ESCAPE from violence and find a safe place.
- RUN from the violent threat. It is common for people to freeze during violent attacks.
- OVERCOME an active shooter by creating an environment of resistance, chaos, and disruption.
Raptor & Safe Kids Help Keep Schools Safe
The Raptor K-12 integrated safety platform which is trusted by over 35,000 U.S. schools includes Raptor Visitor Management, Raptor Volunteer Management, and Raptor Emergency Management. The platform empowers schools to screen & track visitors; vet & approve volunteers; summon help immediately with a silent panic button; and maintain real-time visibility during drills, active incidents, and reunification events. Adding in the H.E.R.O. Program empowers students through age-appropriate safety training, meaning schools can comprehensively prepare and respond to emergencies, inclusive of all individuals on a campus.
Safe Kids and Raptor complement each other and are great partners to keep our kids safe during the school year, said Russell Lee-Sung, Superintendent at Newport-Mesa Unified School District in California.
Current Raptor customers can fill out this form to get started. Not a current customer? Request a demo online to learn more about Raptor solutions.
