Villa Maria Academy Lower School is committed to fostering safe, secure and supportive learning and working environments for our students, faculty, and staff. Many improvements have been made to our facility and procedures over the years to ensure this safety.
- All external doors are always locked.
- Entry is only gained with a programmed fob for each staff member
- Main entrance has double doors, and no one can enter without being seen on camera, stating reason for coming, and identified.
- Both doors must be opened from within the office.
- Ten cameras are monitored in the office for each of the doors and walkways. These are timestamped recording cameras as well.
- All volunteers are required to have clearances.
- All teachers and staff now have individual walkie-talkies for use any time they leave their classroom with students.
- Teachers on recess duty have walkie talkies with them throughout the periods.
- This makes it easier to alert the nurse of an injury or the office if there is another concern.
- Principal and Maintenance always wear a radio so that they can hear all information.
- Teachers on recess duty have walkie talkies with them throughout the periods.
- No student is permitted to open the Cafeteria doors during the lunch periods or Extended Day hours.
- Classroom doors are kept in locked positions all day.
- Regular drills – fire, lockdown, and shelter-in-place are held to ensure the ease of movement.
- These begin at the start of school.
- We are connected to the Sisters’ Motherhouse for the fire alarm. (entire campus)
- Security from Immaculata University and East Whiteland Police monitor the campus with drive throughs.
- Annual walk-through by the East Whiteland police and or Chester County Office for Safe Schools may make recommendations.
Emergency Plans are also in place for other incidents of a larger nature.
