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Safety

Prioritizing Safety: Communication & Emergency Preparedness

At Lincoln Charter, our primary responsibility is to maintain a safe educational environment. This is the first email in a series of communications, which are intended to detail several of the safety efforts we undertake throughout each year.  These include proactive, preventative, and reactive measures.  This email covers emergency preparedness and subsequent emails will address mental health & student/staff health.  As part of our continued efforts to develop and refine our safety efforts, all of this information will be housed here at www.lincolncharter.com/safety.

This email is not intended to provide an exhaustive list of safety measures, additional protocols/procedures are not disclosed to preserve security.  Within these emails, there is some crossover between the various categories of safety, but regular safety team/administration meetings and periodic training underpin and align these efforts.  

At Lincoln Charter School, safety is not just a priority—it is the foundation of everything we do. Our approach blends proactive preparation, clear communication, and partnerships with local/regional experts to create a secure and supportive environment. We invest significant time, resources, and training to ensure that our staff, students, and families are ready for any situation.

General Measures:

  • Clear Communication: ParentSquare and StudentSquare are used to provide timely updates about drills, first responder visits, and urgent safety alerts.

 

  • Say Something: This tool is sponsored by Sandy Hook Promise.  This organization has used the Sandy Hook tragedy to develop a platform that allows any individual to make an anonymous report to alert LCS and law enforcement.  This tool can be used to address bullying, perceived or actual threats, and numerous other situations.  In addition, we utilize GoGuardian to monitor internet activity (24/7/365) to identify potential issues.

 

  • Car Rider Pro: This tool allows dismissal to occur in an orderly and organized manner, particularly for elementary-age students.  Car Rider Pro tags are individually assigned, ensuring that each student/carpool unit is properly identified as part of this daily process.

Key Safety Measures:

  • Local Law Enforcement Partnership: A full-time School Resource Officer (SRO) is assigned to each campus through our partnership with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department.  SROs receive ongoing training and support, specific to school safety.  

  • Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department K-9 visits: In conjunction with our dedicated SROs, a K-9 unit will visit each campus periodically, or as needed.  Parents will receive information each time a K-9 unit has visited campus.
     

  • Regular Safety Drills: Monthly fire drills and scheduled lockdown/severe weather drills keep our response procedures fresh and practiced.  Parents will be notified after each drill.  These drills align with the safety plan for each respective building/campus.
     

  • Visitor Management: The Raptor system ensures all visitors check in with a valid ID before entering campus.  This system maintains a list of current visitors and screens individuals, identifying issues before visitors are allowed to traverse beyond the front lobby of each building and/or alerting staff if unauthorized individuals attempt entry.  All exterior doors are locked throughout the school day, and visitors are buzzed into the lobby to gain initial access to the building.

  • RAVE app: This tool allows staff members to use a phone app to uniformly alert leadership & law enforcement of a potential issue.  
     

  • Technology-Enhanced Monitoring: Interior and exterior cameras with advanced monitoring tools help us maintain campus security.  This system uses state-of-the-art technology to assist our team in preventing and reacting to safety situations.  Buses are also equipped with cameras.
     

  • Threat Assessment: The Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) team—made up of administrators, law enforcement, and counselors—reviews and addresses potential safety concerns.  In North Carolina, making threats (including false reports) against schools is a crime.
     

  • Campus Safety Team: Meets regularly to assess and update both short-term and long-term safety strategies.

 

 

 

We appreciate your support of these measures.  Parents/guardians play a vital role in keeping our campuses safe. You can support our emergency preparedness efforts by ensuring that your contact information is always up to date in ParentSquare, talking with your child about the importance of taking drills seriously, and reminding them that anonymous reporting tools like Say Something exist to protect our community. We also encourage families to model calm and supportive responses when discussing safety, so students feel reassured rather than fearful. Together, we can make sure that safety feels like a shared responsibility, not just a school procedure.  It takes all of us to keep our community safe!  

If you have any questions about this communication, please feel free to reach out to the following individuals:

Jonathan Bryant, Chief Administrator

Taylor Helms, Director of Advancement & Engagement

Denver campus:

Mr. McCorkle, Assistant Building Administrator (grades 7-12) and Safety Team Lead

Deputy Scott, SRO

Ms. Nance, Ms. Doyle, and/or Ms. Amos - Building Administrators

Lincolnton campus:

Mr. Peterson, Assistant Building Administrator (grades 6-12) and Safety Team Lead

Deputy Schaeffer, SRO

Ms. Peterman, Mr. Bealer, and/or Ms. Kelly - Building Administrators