Safety & Security

At St. Leander Catholic School, we take measures to assure the safety of our students, faculty, and staff. The campus perimeter is secured throughout the school day. St. Leander maintains  a closed campus policy. All gates remain closed throughout the school day.  All visitors, guests, and volunteers at St. Leander Catholic  School are required to report to the school office, sign in and secure a Visitor Badge before proceeding to classrooms or areas of responsibility.
  
 Fire drills, earthquake drills, and intruder drills take place on a monthly safety drill schedule throughout the school year. In addition, a full school evacuation and release to parents and guardians is practiced every year.
  
St. Leander Catholic  School adheres to the mandates of the Safe Environment for Children Program of the Diocese of Oakland.  Volunteers are screened according to the provisions of Megan’s Law; they are "Live Scan" fingerprinted and take online training through "Virtus Online the Vulnerable" before they are permitted to volunteer in any capacity in classrooms or school-sponsored programs and activities.
 

Parent Alerts 

In the event of an emergency or unexpected closure of the school, parents/legal guardians will be contacted by an automated broadcast via SchoolReach. This notification can be sent to the home and work phone numbers and cell phones including texts. Our school has the ability to send instantaneous notifications to our school community. This service allows us to send alerts as needed for any incident ranging from in-school emergencies to school closings, cancellations or schedule changes.

1.  Parents may turn their radio to KNBR (680) or to the local emergency number 1610 on the AM dial.
2.  Parents may be notified by e-mail and information may be posted to our  
     website as appropriate.

A Shared Responsibility

 Virtus is dedicated to raising awareness of abuse and neglect and providing resources to help protect the most vulnerable members of our communities


The Safe Environment for Children Project is mandated by the U.S. Conference of Bishops and our diocese to ensure a safe environment for our children. There are several components to the program. There is a curriculum component for grades K-8 concerning child safety, with a special emphasis on child abuse and its prevention. The diocese provides materials for classroom teachers. St. Leander School is in full compliance with the Safe Environment for Children Project of the Diocese of Oakland.
  
 Another component is the mandatory training of all staff members, parents and volunteers each year. The training will be offered on site, at neighboring sites and online to ensure accessibility. If a parent or volunteer does not attend, s/he will be unable to work in a classroom, field trip or fundraiser where children are present. There is also a component requiring that all parents and volunteers be screened through Megan's Law process. All staff members are fingerprinted as part of the hiring process.
 

Preventing & Reporting Child Abuse

In 1963, California enacted the first law in the United States requiring the mandatory reporting of child abuse. By 1967, all 50 states had similar laws.  These laws seek to protect children by establishing a legal duty for individuals in certain occupations to report abuse - and imposing penalties for failing to make a report. These laws also authorize other adults to contact the authorities to report problems and establish the immunities and responsibilities of these "ethical" or "permissive" reporters.
 Children in St. Leander Catholic  School and Parish follow the provisions of Virtus. This entails taking a training course and providing a certificate of successful completion.  Click to go directly to the Virtus Online website.
  

Discipline & "No Bully" Program

At St. Leander Catholic  School we have a written discipline policy in the Family Handbook that is in keeping with our Mission Statement and Diocese of Oakland guidelines. Six years ago, we implemented the internationally-recognized "No Bully" program as well as the "Second Step" program to support students as they develop positive conflict resolution skills in accordance with our Gospel values of respect and dignity for each person.
 
 These programs define and outline consequences of negative or unsafe behavior. The principal and vice principal reinforce the importance of clear behavior expectations and teachers reinforce the Family Handbook rules to students. Parents and students sign that they agree to abide by the rules in the handbook.