Dunbar Hill School in Hamden, a AAA School Safety Patrol School, has won a $500 Charles M. Hayes Advancement Grant from the National AAA office to expand or enhance the school’s existing Patrol program.
The K – 6 elementary school at 315 Lane Street, Hamden, was one of 10 schools selected in a nationwide competition to receive the grant, said Adelle Zocher, AAA Northeast’s School Safety Patrol program coordinator.
“Dunbar Hill is one of our more active school safety patrols in AAA Northeast’s three county territory with an energetic team led by an energetic advisor, Principal Laura Rodriguez,” she said. “We’re so pleased to have a school that focuses on the program’s safety and educational benefits.”
The Dunbar Hill patrollers are responsible for the monitoring students in hallways, arrival and dismissal activities, and bus stop arrivals and departures. They also walk younger students to class, assist the crossing guards, and lead quarterly “Behavioral Expectations Tours” to remind students of school safety rules.
Patrollers also meet monthly to review procedures, discuss safety issues and suggest ways to keep students safe in school. When new patrollers are appointed, veteran patrollers serve as mentors.
When school is back in session in the fall, Ms. Rodriguez plans to double the number of patrollers from 12 to 24. With the grant, she’ll take patrollers on several field trips to other schools for safety awareness discussions; and to local police and fire stations to discuss safety and cyber security issues. She also would like to conduct ALICE training for patrollers. ALICE, an acronym for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate, is a national active shooter preparedness and response program.
“Our Patrol program gives students the opportunity to take leadership roles in school and to make decisions that have a lasting impact on our school community,” Ms. Rodriguez explained. “Being part of this program teaches students responsibility; it gives them a voice that is valued and respected.”
Dunbar Hill School is one of more than 100 AAA School Safety Patrols in AAA Northeast’s territory of New Haven, Litchfield and Fairfield Counties.