Our School

Safety Information at Steward

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The safety and security

of our students, faculty, and staff is our top priority

Our daily operations are designed with the safety and security of our community in mind. Parents, faculty, staff, students — and our friends and neighbors — can feel reassured about our commitment to providing the safest possible environment in which to learn and grow.

Our goal is to be prepared for any type of emergency that may occur while also maintaining our close-knit community. We review and update our crisis procedures annually under the guidance of COSECURE (formerly known as Margolis Healy), a firm specializing in safety, security, and emergency preparedness. We also have an active partnership with local law enforcement, legal counsel, and emergency communications consultants.

A Secure Campus

Steward has two assigned officers from a local security firm (one full-time, one as a backup); an officer is on campus every school day. Our security officers are members of our community: They patrol the campus on foot and bikes, and they get to know students, faculty, and staff.

All doors across campus are locked and feature a high-tech access system that can be used via mobile devices or swipe cards. Middle and Upper School students and Steward employees have access to buildings during designated times.

Security cameras are installed throughout the campus (including parking lots and outdoor spaces), and digital signage and speakers offer additional communication tools to increase awareness of important messages. In addition, faculty and staff laptops receive emergency alerts that flash on the screen.

During the 2024-25 academic year, Steward expanded its safety measures by using Ruvna, a digital platform designed to enhance safety and emergency management by providing real-time communication. Ruvna enables Steward to quickly and efficiently communicate emergencies, weather-related early closures, and other situations to parents, faculty, and staff simultaneously and directly through phone calls, text messages, emails, and social media posts.

The school is also utilizing Informacast, an on-campus notification system that quickly sends alerts to faculty and staff’s computers and mobile devices. This platform could be utilized in possible events such as severe weather warnings, lockdowns, or evacuations.

Steward is a vibrant community of friends and families, and our goal is to maintain the ease of personal connections while protecting each individual’s safety.

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Crisis Management Team

The Steward School’s Crisis Management Team includes select administration, faculty, and staff members familiar with and trained in safety and security issues that face schools today. The team meets regularly to review and update procedures and information; additionally, it educates the rest of the school community to make sure its members are informed and prepared at all times. If you have questions about the Crisis Management Team’s role at Steward, please contact Associate Head of School for Finance and Operations, Lisa Dwelle at lisa.dwelle@stewardschool.org.
Informacast

Informacast is a mass-notification system that allows organizations to send alerts and messages to multiple devices and platforms quickly. It supports various communication channels, including speakers, phone calls, and desktop notifications. Informacast is used for sending emergency alerts, such as lockdowns, evacuations, and severe weather warnings, to ensure the safety of everyone in an organization.
Raptor Visitor Management System
The Raptor Visitor Management System requires all visitors, including parents/guardians, to present an ID such as a Driver's License, which can either be scanned or manually entered into the system. If the visitor does not have a US government-issued ID, Steward can use any form of identification and manually enter the visitor's name into the Raptor system. The system checks the visitor's name and date of birth for comparison with a national database of registered sex offenders. This database is the only official database checked by the Raptor system, and no other data from the ID is gathered or recorded. The information is not shared with any outside agency.

Check-in locations for each building are listed below:
- Lower School — Office of Lower School Division Assistant Jay Parrish
- Middle School — Office of Middle School Division Assistant Ben Brown
- Upper School, Cramer Center, and Athletic Center — Office of Upper School Division Assistant Lee Healey
Once entry is approved, the system will issue a badge that identifies the visitor, the date, and the purpose of their visit. A visitor's badge will not be necessary for large school events, such as Back-to-School night, plays, or athletic games. It will also not be necessary for those who visit Steward's campus simply to drop off an item in the office or to pick up paperwork. Before leaving Steward's campus, please return your visitor's badge to any of the above-mentioned check-in locations.

Watch a video demonstration of the quick and efficient check-in process.

If you have questions about the Raptor Visitor Management System, please contact Associate Head of School for Finance and Operations, Lisa Dwelle at lisa.dwelle@stewardschool.org or Controller Dena Dickson at dena.dickson@stewardschool.org.
Ruvna

Ruvna is a platform designed to enhance safety and emergency management in schools, providing real-time communication. Ruvna enables the school to quickly and efficiently communicate emergencies, weather-related early closures, and other situations to all parents, faculty, and staff simultaneously and directly through a phone call, text message, email, and social media post.
SchoolPass App

The SchoolPass app is used to manage student arrival, attendance, and dismissal information. Additionally, it will be used to track attendance in emergency situations.