Heritage High School Community News
Volume 1: Safety and Security in our Schools
Heritage High School Community
One of the goals of the Heritage High School community is to provide clear and consistent communication regarding important policies, procedures, and beliefs. This newsletter is one of four you will receive during the 2016 - 2017 school year.
Visiting Our Schools
- All visitors must first report to the main office to sign in and obtain a visitor’s badge.
- Any and all visitors who request any interaction with students must be entered into the Raptor system.
- Visitors who will not be accessing the building past the security doors do not have to scan or be registered in the system.
- Visitors to a campus entering the building past the security doors must provide a valid state or government-issued photo identification card before being granted access into the school.
- Each visitor will receive a "visitor sticker" to wear while inside the building.
- Visitors are encouraged to sign out through the Front Office upon the completion of their visit.
Safety Drill Protocol
Each school in the Frisco Independent School District follows state laws and District guidelines in the case of individual or school-wide emergencies. Student safety is very important. Each campus has a trained Crisis Response Team which will coordinate any emergency procedures. In case of an emergency, students should follow school procedures and the directions of their teachers. Telephones will not be available for student use during school emergency situations.
Fire, Disaster, and Lockdown Drills
Each school in the Frisco ISD is required by state law to conduct nine (9) fire drills per school year. Each school also conducts disaster drills, usually just prior to tornado season. These drills develop safety practices that will help students move quickly and orderly to assigned areas during an emergency. Teachers will review the rules of safety with their students. During a drill or actual emergency, the students’ personal safety will depend on the way they carry out these instructions. Two “lockdown” drills will be conducted each semester.
Bullying Prevention
Purpose
It is the goal of each campus to establish and maintain a campus environment in which each student feels safe and is confident in achieving academic success. FISD has adopted the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) to promote peer relationships and create a positive school climate.Resources
For more information, please click HERE to visit the FISD Guidance and Counseling page and learn more about:
- the difference between bullying and conflict
- when bullying becomes harassment
- how to report a bullying incident
- other bullying resources
The Whole Child
What is the “Whole Child”?
The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) in collaboration with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) developed a model to cover ten components to focus on what is called Whole Child. FISD has established a Whole Child Committee to assess the school’s health status, make relevant policy recommendations and make advancements on health related issues. This council includes students, parents, teachers, administrators and other school staff and community representatives. Specifically, the focus is on:
- increasing health and nutrition knowledge, attitude, skills and service
- increasing positive health behaviors and outcomes
- improving social, emotional, counseling and psychological services and climate
- strengthening physical education, physical activity and physical environments
- engaging and involve family and community members
- enabling employees to improve their health and wellness
Class Meetings
As educators, we firmly believe in the importance of an academic education. However, we also believe in engaging our students in discussions relevant to their social/emotional development. Each campus sets aside dedicated time in the form of a "class meeting" to talk about topics our students will potentially encounter.
The term "class meetings" was first introduced to our campuses as part of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP). These meetings are held at each campus on a regular basis, and according to the OBPP the purpose of these meetings is to:
- build a sense of class cohesion and community
- teach the rules and consequences of bullying
- help students understand their role in bullying situations and how they can help students who are being bullied
- address issues about bullying as they arise, and
- address a variety of other issues more or less related to bullying
In addition to bullying, campuses provide annual training to staff and lead class meetings on the following topics:
- Suicide Prevention
- Drug Prevention
- Healthy Relationships (Elementary - Friendships; Secondary - Dating Violence)
During class meetings, students are given information on the specific topic. The teacher will then lead a class discussion on the specific topic. Because some topics might be more sensitive in nature, counselor(s) are available as needed.