Above / Indian Prairie Unit School District 204 Administration Offices are located at 780 Shoreline Drive in DuPage County. The school district serves nearly 27,400 students from the Illinois communities of Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield, in DuPage and Will counties. For more information, visit www.ipsd.org.
Dear Parents/Guardians,
As I write this letter, my heart is heavy for the families that have been affected by the school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. A tragedy that has ended the lives of innocent children and teachers. An indelible event that has impacted the lives in that town and has in many ways impacted our lives hundreds of miles away. I share with you your concern, your grief, and your desire for our children to be safe.
Indian Prairie has always taken student and staff safety seriously. Events like yesterday make us review our current procedures and what we have done for our training, to ensure that we are as prepared as possible and will support the safety of our school community. I want to share with you some of the things that we have done to make our schools safe. These include the following:
- Collaborative relationships with local law enforcement agencies who also supply officers to provide safety and security within the schools as School Resource Officers. SROs work in conjunction with campus security to provide consistent security coverage throughout the school day.
- Raptor Visitor Management System to enhance school safety and provide for secure school facilities.
- All of our exit doors are locked at all times with entry to the schools limited to those who have legitimate school business.
- District and school level Threat Assessment Teams designed to prevent violence and resolve conflicts or problems that underlie threatening behavior.
- ALICE armed intruder response training for all staff to provide safety options during critical incidents.
- District and school level Emergency Operations Teams designed to mitigate potential school violence while working in a preventative role.
- All Emergency Operations Plans are reviewed on an annual basis by local police, fire, EMA, and safety improvements are implemented where needed.
- District 204 exceeds the state safety drill requirement by mandating proactive drills with local first responder agencies.
- District 204 is committed to student and staff safety and monitors a confidential Tip Line to allow safety measures to be undertaken prior to a critical incident.
We will continue to review our procedures and processes both now and in the future. We stay committed to our responsibility of protecting our children and our staff.
Sincerely,
Adrian B. Talley, Ed.D.
Superintendent
May Watts is among 21 elementary schools in District 204
