Safety and Security

At Hopkins Schools, we pride ourselves on creating an environment where everyone can show up as their true, authentic self. The physical and holistic safety and security of our students, from early childhood through high school, is our top priority.

Hopkins Schools Safety and Inclusivity Commitment

Core Values and Inclusivity

Hopkins Schools build environments that are authentically inclusive of each unique and brilliant student. Our core values include Love, Vigilant Equity, and Authentic Inclusivity. We proudly embrace students who are members of historically marginalized communities including our Black, Brown, and Indigenous students and those who identify as LGBTQ+. Ensuring the holistic safety and security of our students is central to our mission.

Holistic Safety Approach

When we talk about holistic safety, we mean a well-rounded approach that includes physical, psychological, social, and behavioral safety. This comprehensive view ensures that all aspects of our students' well-being are addressed.

While schools are generally among the safest places for young people, we are committed to ongoing improvement to ensure the highest standards of safety supported by research and compelling evidence.

Safety Measures

Progressive Response to Student Behavior

We believe in fostering a positive and productive learning environment for all students. To achieve this, we have established a comprehensive, progressive response to student behavior that aims to address and support students when their behavior may impede their own learning or the learning of others. As students matriculate from elementary to middle to high school, we gradually increase the level of accountability directly on students while communicating with families when necessary.

Communication Protocols

When will I hear from my school? 

When an incident happens in your child’s school, the communication you receive will depend on the incident’s impact. We use phone, email and text as our primary ways to communicate when an incident occurs. We prioritize direct communication to impacted families and will send those messages first. While we cannot anticipate all possible scenarios, the guide below will help you better understand our school-based decision making process and the systems we will use to communicate.

Incident Communication Protocol

 

Incident Impact Level 

 Who will receive communication Who communicates?

Low Impact: Presents little to no risk to student safety. Regular school activities remain uninterrupted, and the incident is isolated, affecting only a small number of students.

Example: ​A minor argument or physical altercation. Note: Not every instance of misbehavior will require a notification response.

 Phone call or email to parents or caregivers of students directly impacted. The school, likely an administrator, counselor, nurse, teacher, or paraprofessional.

Moderate Impact Incident: Presents a moderate risk to student safety. Leads to some disruption of school activities, including possible schedule changes or cancellation of certain events.

Examples: A rumor of a threat, a lasting electrical outage, walk-out, protest, etc.
  • Phone call and follow-up email to parents or caregivers of students directly involved.
  • Email and text message to all parents of the school (preserving privacy of students involved). 
  • Depending on the disruption, we may send a message to other Hopkins schools in close proximity. 
  • Communication to Hopkins staff who work in the impacted building(s).

The school, likely an administrator, counselor, nurse, teacher, or paraprofessional.

If the disturbance or interruption is school-wide, the District may partner with the school in writing/sending parent communication.

High Impact Incident: ​The incident poses a significant risk to the safety of students. This could result in a significant disruption to school activities, change of schedule, evacuation, cancellation of activities, generally impacts many students. 

Example: ​An intruder in school or the use of a weapon in school resulting in injuries to students or staff.
  • Email and text to all parents in impacted building (preserving privacy of students involved).
  • Message to all Hopkins staff.
  • Message to Hopkins schools in close proximity to impacted schools. 
  • Depending on the reach of the incident, a high impact incident may warrant a message to all Hopkins families. 
 School and/or District in partnership with school.

 

Safety Drills

Minnesota schools are required to conduct a specific number of safety drills each year to ensure preparedness for various emergency situations. These requirements help ensure that both students and staff are well-prepared to handle potential emergencies effectively​. In accordance with statutes, all Hopkins Schools perform the following drills every school year: 
 

  1. Five school lock-down drills

  2. Five school fire drills

  3. One tornado drill

Our goal is to make safety drills as smooth and non-disruptive as possible for our students. We sometimes combine our fire drills and lockdown drills for the sake of efficiency. Our lockdown drills are age appropriate and prioritize the safety of all students while minimizing fear as much as possible. We conduct one tornado drill annually in April.

Restorative Culture at Hopkins

Hopkins Public Schools aims to foster a restorative culture that nurtures authentic connections between students and staff, ensuring everyone feels seen and heard. By creating a relational learning environment, we promote responsibility, accountability, and community support.

Alignment with District Vision
Restorative Culture aligns closely with Hopkins’ district goals, including student and staff wellness, equity, inclusivity, trauma-sensitive instruction, and culturally responsive teaching. This approach integrates social-emotional learning and multi-tiered support systems that contribute to cultivating key Hopkins graduate traits.

Restorative Culture seeks to address the root causes of conflicts, allowing individuals to repair harm and grow in a supportive environment.

Themes of Restorative Culture
Three themes drive Restorative Culture: Developing a Restorative Mindset, Building a Restorative Community, and Responding to Harm Restoratively. Developing a restorative mindset emphasizes respect, responsibility, and self-awareness, encouraging individuals to reflect on harm and explore personal biases. Building a restorative community focuses on empathetic communication and includes restorative circles that ensure everyone’s voice is valued. Responding to harm restoratively involves using structured questions and facilitated discussions to address conflicts and promote healing.