The mission of the Department of Catholic Schools is to create an environment where "each individual is safe, nurtured, respected, and treasured." Parents, administrators, and educators work together to ensure that each student enrolled in our school and each staff member working on behalf of students is provided with a welcoming, caring, respectful, safe and Catholic environment that promotes the well-being of all students and staff and fosters community support for achieving this goal.
We adhere to administrative procedures to ensure that we have welcoming, caring, respectful, and safe environments are as follows:
Supervision and Protection from Predators: Every parent that interacts with the school as well as all administrators, are immersed in Virtus training (to be certified every three years) on how to identify and protect students from predators, and must adhere to policies on campus such as the "rule of three," where we as a community constantly remind and supervise each other in ensuring that no child is ever left alone with any adult. In addition, all staff, faculty, clergy, and parent volunteers have Department of Justice clearance through Livescan fingerprinting process: our school safe environment coordinator runs a Megan's Law background check on every volunteer and submits documentation to the Diocese of Oakland. For more information on Virtus Training and supervision to protect our students, as well as additional resources on protection from predators from the Diocese of Oakland, visit the website here.
Appropriate/Professional Relationships: In addition to Virtus training, the Diocese of Oakland has created additional policies that every adult must strictly adhere to in order to protect our students from predators. Please view these policies and procedures in the Diocese of Oakland's Code of Conduct.
Emergency Preparedness: Each school maintains an Emergency Preparedness Plan that has been developed to provide a comprehensive guide to responding to emergency situations. Detailed plan information can be found in each school handbook.
Technology/Social Media: The Diocese of Oakland recognizes the various ways, both positive and negative, that students and parents can use technology both in school and at home. Our objective is to fully prepare students to use the resources available in ethical, constructive, productive and intelligent ways as Christian citizens in a global community. In regards to staff, our objective is to use technology to enhance education, operate efficiently, and communicate effectively. We also aim to maintain appropriate communications between staff and students or families while taking advantage of the vast benefits of telecommunications technology. To this end, the Department of Catholic Schools has developed Technology Responsible Use Policies for Students and Parents, as well as for Faculty and Staff. All are expected to sign and abide by the expectations in these policies. The full policies are here.
In addition, the Department of Catholic Schools has embarked on a Digital Citizenship initiative. We want to empower students to think critically, behave safely, and participate responsibly in our digital world. We also want to empower our educators and parents to guide students in learning those skills. To that end, teachers at our schools have been trained to deliver Common Sense Education lessons.