Word: grimsley
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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That's why, for example, police, a bomb squad and a team of hostage negotiators descended on Grimsley High School in Greensboro, N.C., this August. Hostages had been taken, and the campus was under siege. It was all staged, with people acting the role of hostage takers, but there was nothing fake about the purpose. With the school's cooperation, the grim 6-hr. exercise was an opportunity for police and school officials to sharpen their response in an emergency. "You prepare for the worst and hope for the best," says David Robinette, a Greensboro policeman who is beginning...
HANDS-ON ADULTS School-safety advocates cite the importance of having adults on hand. According to Ronald Stephens, director of the National School Safety Center, "The single most effective safety strategy is the physical presence of a responsible adult." At every class change, Grimsley principal Jane Teague, assistant principals and teachers are in the hallways, chatting casually with students as they pass by. At lunchtime, Teague and her staff roam the campus, saying hello and asking kids how they're doing. "To the extent that every child is known, then a school is safe," Teague says. "The key is having...
IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION Five years ago, a Grimsley student shot and wounded an assistant principal and then turned the gun on himself. "Our kids know they don't want to go down that road again," says Phil Weaver, chairman of the school's counseling department. If teachers spot a kid who's having trouble, they immediately talk to a counselor who can set up a family conference, and Teague meets weekly with the school counselors to keep informed of potential problems. A strong parent-teacher-student association makes sure kids and families are aware of all the resources available within...
...environment, you have to mobilize all the resources," says Robert Myrick, an education counselor at the University of Florida, "and the best resources are the kids." A sense of security is reinforced when students feel they are part of the school and accepted by others. Like any other school, Grimsley has cliques and clusters of kids with shared interests, but students say that they exist without tension and that it is possible to bounce back and forth between groups. "It's a friendly environment," comments Tyler Brooks, who graduated last spring. Adds classmate Justin DeSimone: "We watch out for everyone...
FOCUS ON ACADEMICS Research by the Center for the Prevention of School Violence suggests that schools emphasizing academics are safer. At Grimsley, 68% of last spring's 273 graduates entered a four-year college; 21% opted for community college. Principal Teague says: "We take students who have discipline and attendance problems and give them career initiatives and help them to start feeling what it is to be successful." Nobody at Grimsley is saying violence can't happen there. But with teachers, parents and students talking and listening to one other, they are doing their best to create a peaceful place...