Safety is Our #1 Priority
The emotional and physical well-being of every student is a primary concern at SMCS.
- Each building is locked and entrances are accessed only by permission of office personnel
- The SMCS comprehensive counseling program includes age-appropriate education for students in personal safety and well-being
- Every school performs fire, tornado and intruder alert drills to ensure preparedness in case of an emergency
- The technology department maintains strong filters to block student access to undesirable online content
- Every school has undergone an audit to confirm safe storage of hazardous maintenance materials and tools, and checks are performed periodically to ensure compliance
- Every classroom has a first aid and safety kit to deal with unexpected circumstances, as well as a binder that contains a current list of all students using the classroom throughout the day to facilitate attendance-taking in cases of emergency
Virtus
Every administrator, faculty or staff member, parent volunteer, coach and chaperone must have successfully completed the Green Bay Diocese’s VIRTUS® – Protecting God’s Children program before being allowed to spend time with students.
Certification requires completing an application, authorizing a background check and completing a training session. Generally, one training session is offered at SMCS near the beginning of each semester, though the requirement may be completed at another location in the Diocese of Green Bay. This training requirement may also be completed online. Go to https://www.gbdioc.org/protecting-our-children/virtusr-and-background-checks or contact an SMCS school office for the specifics about how to become VIRTUS trained.
Awareity Incident Reporting System
The Diocese of Green Bay Office of Safe Environment has implemented a web-based incident reporting tool called Awareity. Awareity is a comprehensive platform for reporting, tracking, and documenting incidents and concerns such as: sexual abuse of a minor (if this is currently taking place, immediately call 911 to report), harassment, boundary issues, threats of violence, and concerning behavior by clergy, staff, or volunteers. Awareity empowers all community members to be heard and to safely report warning signs and trouble.
All reports can be submitted by using your name or remaining anonymous if you choose. As soon as a report is made, all of the appropriate personnel will receive an immediate notification of the report, review the report information and take appropriate actions to intervene and/or prevent escalation. By working together, we can help prevent incidents from occurring and ensure a safe and secure school environment. The goal of Awareity is prevention and to help identify red flags and warning signs before an incident occurs or escalates. You can get to the Awareity site through the Green Bay Diocese website.