Creating a Safe School Culture
In the years Randy Moya served as a school resource officer in Rancho Cordova schools, his patrol car always got a lot of attention when it was parked out in front of a school — but it usually wasn’t there for the reason you may think.
Typically, Moya was just peeking in on classrooms, talking to staff about concerns or chatting with kids in the cafeteria during lunch.
“I’m just here to hang out with you guys,” he would tell them.
School officers in Rancho Cordova schools make it a point to know students for the good things they do. It’s just one example of the district’s approach to creating a positive environment for students, one in which students know they are safe and cared for. Other examples include counselors that address social-emotional issues, students who stand up for their peers, and parents who make great efforts to get involved.
Norma Trujillo has five children who have attended Rancho Cordova schools. Her oldest, Seth, is now a freshman at UC Santa Barbara.
“When my kids were in elementary school, I volunteered for one hour a week in each of their classrooms,” she says. “It helped the teachers, but it also let me see how they’re doing, who they’re hanging out with, how the teachers and staff interacted with the kids.”
“I had no safety concerns — ever,” she says.
In fact, she suggests that this is the best way for parents to evaluate where their children go to school. “We encourage [prospective and existing] parents to visit and stop by,” says Trujillo, who is now the parent coordinator for Mills Middle School.
For Moya, the former school resource officer, creating safety on campus is all about relationships. The district’s problem-oriented policing approach supports this by focusing on issues, as opposed to singling out a student for punishment. He knows the importance of this kind of positive interaction with authorities.
“In 1973, when I was 7 or 8, my older brother committed a crime in Elk Grove Park,” he recalls. “An officer came to our house looking for him and I happened to open the door. ‘You must be the good one,’ he said to me. A couple of weeks later, he came by with a Sac County Sheriff’s patch — I still have it.”
Moya believes this is why he went into law enforcement — and he hopes to give other kids similar lifelong memories: For example, Moya met a boy on campus whose main transportation to school was his bike. “I heard the bike got stolen, and I felt bad,” he says. “So I took him to Wal-Mart and bought him a bike, a helmet and a lock. It’s my way of giving back.”
Folsom Cordova Unified School District ensures that all students feel safe and supported. The district’s Child Welfare Coordinator Scott Meyer oversees the programs that contribute to a positive culture at every school. These include:
PBIS (Positive Behavior
Intervention and Support)
Proactive teams of staff, parents and students address specific campus issues such as building relationships.
Professional emotional support
Professional therapists at each school site offer individual and group counseling (girl empowerment/anger management), as well as staff training.
Anti-bullying program
Includes online and anonymous reporting.
“Cool to Be Kind” Week
Each year, students, staff and families create weeklong character-building activities meant to support school climate. This year’s theme was “Be a Superhero” and administrators on every campus wore capes.