Safety Personnel
Our trained team of armed safety personnel is highly visible across campus and here for our community’s protection. One of the most important ways they do that? By getting to know our campus community—you, your peers, and teachers—and our campus culture. That’s why you’ll catch them offering high fives at lunch, guiding traffic in the car line, and even cheering you on from the sidelines of a Chargers game.
As active community members, our campus safety officers can better meet our needs—and be on the alert for situations that might be outside our norms. They are experienced, licensed, trained in crisis response (through the North Carolina Private Protective Services Board), and expert in de-escalating tense situations before reaching that tipping point. (Did we mention they are also genuinely kind and thoughtful human beings?).
Ongoing Training
Every single employee at CA considers YOUR well-being their top responsibility. Our faculty and staff undergo regular training on how to avoid and address harassment, respond to child welfare and health concerns, and foster an inclusive and equitable learning environment. Your advisor—your go-to trusted adult at CA—has received extensive training to guide you through a process of self-discovery and growth as part of our advisory program.
Emergency Response
Everyone responds differently in stressful situations. You’ll build muscle memory by regularly familiarizing yourself with safe emergency responses. In monthly fire and lockdown drills, you will practice how to exit buildings safely, where to shelter in place, if necessary, and how to check in with your peers and teachers. A campus-wide broadcast system supports these drills; all classrooms and offices have posted emergency response guides should you need a refresher.
At the beginning of each school year, we test our text-message emergency community system with parents and employees. If you’re an Upper School student, you’ll also participate in a test of the app-based system we use to communicate in an emergency should you be learning off-campus or on class trips.
We’re in regular contact with local police and first responders, who are up-to-speed on our campus and provide feedback on our protocols. (We also tap industry professionals for periodic audits of our systems and practices.)
In a real emergency, we can put the campus into lockdown mode, review the feed from more than two dozen security cameras, and immediately direct an internal and external response team.
Student Support Services
Of course, there is much, much more to creating a safe learning environment than guards and locked doors. Our Student Support Services department is a superstar team of health, counseling, and learning support professionals. Together, they help direct our advisory program and meet regularly with faculty and staff to check in on the well-being of all of our 789 Chargers (whew!). This comprehensive and highly communicative approach allows them to see patterns and causes for concern that might not have surfaced otherwise and helps us provide support and direct resources quickly. We have strict protocols in place should we have concerns about the potential of a student (or employee) to harm themselves or others.
On our courts and athletic fields, we have two full-time trainers to help keep you healthy and play-ready, even responding to injuries in real time. They also monitor weather conditions, including checking wet-bulb temperatures during early fall and late spring, to ensure we play safe.
You can learn more about the school’s approach to Health and Wellness here.
Access Control
CA is located off Harrison Avenue in Cary. We’re lucky to be in a relatively secluded area bounded by a city veterans’ monument, a small church, and an expansive private business campus. That means we don’t expect any foot traffic; our visitors arrive by car and only to do business at CA.
Even so, our campus is bustling nearly year-round. Visitors check in at one of three main buildings (Middle School, Upper School, and the Administration/Library building, while contractors and deliveries are made directly via the facilities office. Buildings are locked during evenings and weekends.
The school will sometimes increase its security presence during large events, during the school day, or after hours.
Moving forward, the school is actively exploring ways to tighten access to the core of the campus while still keeping the historically open feel that is a hallmark of the CA experience. We expect that some changes will take place over the next academic year.