Quaker Valley School District- Pittsburgh, PA
Combined to form the acronym ALICE, these terms outline a strategy to prepare students, staff and officials for the possibility of an active shooter situation. Following a string of recent shootings at schools and on college campuses, many districts and universities are looking to implement programs like ALICE. Aaron Vanatta is a school police officer in the Quaker Valley School District as well as an ALICE trainer. He says the traditional approach of hiding and locking doors hasn’t proven effective and has been teaching faculty and students throughout Pennsylvania what precautionary measures they can apply to a potential shooter situation.“It’s muscle memory,” Vanatta explained. “It’s common sense, it’s just not common knowledge.” Vanatta teaches the approach differently depending on the grade and age of the student. He says for older children, the ALICE methods are more accessible, but for Kindergartners and younger he encourages a “when and then” evacuation technique. Read more
