Walking into school this year, students have discovered that there are stricter rules that have been put in place. It may seem as if the school is getting strict for no reason; however, all of these precautions are just to create a safer atmosphere for students and staff and parents alike.

One of the biggest changes this year is the introduction to SchoolPass which is a visitor management system that scans a QR code from your phone wallet in order to check in and out of the school.

“When you scan that QR code it brings up a digital picture, parents are asked to provide an ID the first time, and it runs that person’s name through a database, so we are aware of someone that shouldn’t be here,” Head Principal Corey Sink said. “If there’s no issues, it prints out a little badge so we know who they are. But if it does flag them, the person at the front desk notifies an administrator and the administrator will come have a conversation about what’s going on.”

This system is another added layer of security which better protects the school community, but this is far from being a new invention.

“This is not new technology in most businesses,” Sink said. “In a lot of government buildings you go into there is certainly that level of safety and now we’re adding it to schools. We’re hoping our parents and guests understand why we would want this level of protection and need this level of security in a schoolhouse.”

ParentSquare and StudentSquare is also a new system this year where teachers can now communicate with certain groups of people way easier than they used to, whether it be for a class, a sport, or parents.

“The beauty of this is Rockwood has the ability to have much more control over what is going out to students and staff and parents this way,” Sink said. “It also is a system where if something were to happen and I needed to send out a notification to students immediately, I could do it.”

On all exterior doors at Eureka, there are visible signs that say not to prop doors open for any reason. This again is to keep everyone in the building as safe as possible.

“You don’t leave a door unattended in a school,” Sink said. “You need to make sure that they are working, that they’re properly closing, that they’re locking, that we know who is coming in and out of the building. Unfortunately, we live in a day and time where that’s necessary and pretty much every business works that way.”

Students last year may have been told about the alleged Parking Lot Attendant, but most students probably had never seen such a person out there. This year however, is different because of the change in staff and they are embracing the job that they are assigned.

“The visibility of the person on parking lot is incredibly important and that students know that when they come here that there’s going to be someone here to make sure that you’re parking in the right spot, that someone else isn’t parking in your spot, that there’s a way to check-in and check-out, and just that systems are in place,” Sink said.

During lunch this year, administrators are really emphasizing the need to stay in the designated areas during that period of time.

“Those aren’t new procedures, what feels new is there is actually someone turning you around now and it’s not as easy to sneak out a door,” Sink said. Teaching and learning is the most important thing that we do here. While half the students are having lunch, the rest of them are having class. So you get kids in the hallways and then that can be an interruption, so we’re trying to eliminate that.”

Sink said the administration’s biggest goals are to make sure that kids are safe, happy and can learn.

“There’s physical safety and there’s also emotional safety,” Sink said. “Most of the changes you’ve seen have an impact on your physical safety, but if you know you can be physically safe, it’s a lot easier to be emotionally safe.”