#271 Safety & Health
2018-19 SCHOOL YEAR
Coeur d'Alene Public Schools — October 5, 2018
Stay informed on safety and health issues
School security, student safety, and health and wellness are vitally important in our community. At Coeur d’Alene Public Schools, we are working continuously to evaluate and strengthen our safety programs and health initiatives. We welcome families to engage with us on this important topic. Please take a few minutes to read this newsletter and stay informed.Much more information is available on our websites.
Mental Health & Suicide Prevention
Sources of Strength
QPR suicide prevention
QPR stands for Question, Persuade, Refer. Those are three steps anyone can learn to help prevent suicide. QPR training has been offered in our school district for several years, and 90-minute community trainings have been offered and will continue to be offered as well. This year we plan to train all students and staff in our middle schools and high schools on how to use QPR. The program empowers people to ask if someone may be contemplating suicide, and to help that person get help. QPR seeks to overcome the social stigma and taboo topic of suicide. Please watch this short video to learn more about QPR.
Cope2Thrive
Cope2Thrive is an elective health course that we began offering last year at Venture High School. Students learn skills to help them reduce negative thoughts, increase healthy behaviors and improve how they communicate and solve problems. The goal is to equip them with skills to deal with stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms in healthy ways. The course will be offered as an elective at some point at Lake City High School and Coeur d'Alene High School. Cope2Thrive learning is also available to students in therapeutic support classrooms in middle school and elementary school.
Save the date: How to survive lethal threats
A nationally known speaker on surviving active lethal threats in schools will meet with Coeur d'Alene students, parents, teachers and school staff members at the end of October. Jesus Villahermosa with Crisis Reality Training is a former Pierce County (Wash.) Sheriff's Department sergeant and SWAT team member. He visit our district Oct. 30 and 31.
On Tuesday, Oct. 30, from 6-8 p.m., Villahermosa will conduct a two-hour community forum, for adults only, “Surviving the Active Lethal Threat: What Every Parent Needs To Know.” This will be held in the auditorium at Lake City High School.
On Wednesday, Oct. 31, he will lead morning assemblies for students at Lake City High School and Coeur d'Alene High School. The assemblies will cover lockdown, evacuation and survival tactics.
Villahermosa also will conduct an 8-hour training for 100 school staff members on Oct. 30.
More details on this visit will be shared in the coming weeks.
See or hear something? Say something!
All Coeur d'Alene Public Schools staff, parents, students and community members are encouraged to report any school-related safety concerns and to alert administrators to any potential threat. There are several ways you can do this:
- If you hear, see or are made aware of an immediate possible threat or danger, call 911.
- You also can use our new district Tip Line to report a threat easily, quickly and anonymously.
- Or use our new mobile app, which has a "Report a Threat" feature. Get the app on Google Play, or download it from the App Store. Search for Coeur d'Alene Public Schools. Read more about this new app.
Weather-related school closures
Schools may be closed for weather, road conditions or other safety issues. When severe weather or dangerous road conditions are a factor, District officials will assess our neighborhoods, roadways and driving conditions early in the morning, taking into account the latest weather forecasts. The Superintendent will decide whether to cancel school, in most cases by 5 a.m.
Once we decide to close school, communications will be sent as soon as possible. You can expect to receive an email message or text from us if we are closed. We also will post closures on our websites; on our Facebook, Twittera nd Instagram pages; and share with area news media. Learn more here.
How we communicate in emergencies
In the event of a school emergency or lockdown, we will communicate about what is happening just as soon as we are able to confirm the information from school officials, law enforcement or emergency responders. Our goal is to provide credible, accurate and useful information to the public as soon as possible.
Look for updates on the District Facebook page (@cdaschools) and Twitter feed (@cdaschools). We also may post an onscreen alert on our website. Another way we keep in touch is by sending messages directly to the parents and guardians of our students. This may include emergency text messages or email. Please make sure your emergency contact information is up to date in your child's Skyward account; the number listed in the No. 3 phone contact needs to be your cell number.
We will provide updates to local news media as well, but emergency situations can change rapidly. When multiple agencies are involved, communication is coordinated through a lead agency, which may cause a delay in notification. Please help us control the spread of rumors and unconfirmed details. Information shared by others on social media may be inaccurate and could prove harmful.
SRO spotlight: Jordan Noble, CdA Police
Officer Noble has been with the Coeur d'Alene Police Department since 2008. This is his fourth year as an SRO. Before joining the Venture staff this year, he was at Lakes Middle School for three years. He also loves to fish. "Whether it's fun fishing or tournaments, you will usually find me fishing for something. I also enjoy hunting, skiing, camping, and spending time with family."
The best part of being a School Resource Officer, he said, is "being a role model and making a difference in a student's life. I like being able to help a student with issues or problems they are having and being able to see how that interaction helps them as they get older."
Safety in schools starts at home, Officer Noble said. "I encourage parents to be involved in their student's own safety. If you hear or see something, please report it. I also encourage parents to know who your child is talking to as well as what they are looking at while using cell phones and the Internet."
How to monitor your kids' online activity
Sometimes monitoring your student online can feel like you’re being overprotective, but many teens admit they would change their online behavior if they knew their parents were watching. So it’s important for parents to monitor their students’ online activity.
The best ways are to be on the social media platforms they use and have regular discussions about their activity. If you need help learning how to navigate the apps your student loves, visit Smart Social's Parent App Guide page and learn how you can keep them safe on each platform. Once you’ve become familiar with the platforms that your teen is on, start monitoring their activity.
Wondering where to start? These experts share their best tips on how parents can monitor and interact with their teens on social media without feeling like they’re intruding.
Courtesy of SmartSocial.com
All schools now equipped with defibrillators
Heart Safe, run by EMS personnel from Kootenai County, Coeur d'Alene Fire and Northern Lakes Fire District, has raised funds from the community to purchase 20 AEDs that are now installed in all schools. We have three AEDs each at Lake City and Coeur d'Alene High Schools, two each in our three middle schools, and one in each elementary school and at Venture High School.
The high schools are able to assign one AED to the athletic trainer so that it may be taken with teams traveling to competitions.
Protecting children from childhood diseases
A message from Lead School Nurse Nichole Piekarski:
Immunizations protect children from dangerous childhood diseases. Previously common childhood diseases can still cause serious complications and even kill. Immunizations are one of the greatest public health accomplishments of all time. Immunizations prevent illness, hospitalizations and deaths. Immunizations save lost time at work, money, and lives. For each dollar spent on immunizations, $10 are saved.
Getting your child vaccinated helps protect others in your community — like your neighbor who has cancer and cannot get certain vaccines, or your friend’s newborn baby who is too young to be fully vaccinated. When everyone in a community who can get vaccinated does get vaccinated, it helps to prevent the spread of disease and can slow or stop an outbreak.
Routine childhood vaccines are available to Idaho children, under the age of 19, at no cost or at a significantly reduced cost. The vaccine itself is free through medical providers who participate in the state vaccine program, though the provider may charge a fee to administer the vaccine.
The Idaho Immunization Program works to reduce the incidence of vaccine-preventable disease in Idaho. All local public health districts participate in the state vaccine program, as do most pediatricians and family practice physicians. Contact your primary care provider to see if they are participants.
Stay Connected
Email: info@cdaschools.org
Website: www.cdaschools.org
Location: 1400 N. Northwood Center Court
Phone: (208) 664-8241
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cdaschools
Twitter: @cdaschools