This workshop is for a multi-disciplinary team of mental health and educational professionals working at all grade levels in your district, such as administrators, security professionals, counselors, teachers, nurses, and other staff involved in school safety/crisis prevention/crisis preparedness efforts. 

The PREPaRE model, developed by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), teaches participants how to establish and sustain comprehensive school safety efforts that attend to both physical and psychological safety. The workshop addresses critical components needed to develop, exercise, and evaluate safety and crisis teams and plans and conduct building vulnerability assessments. The model also integrates school personnel and community provider roles in providing school-based crisis preparedness and response activities. Additional topics addressed include media/social media, communication, reunification, students with special needs, culture, and memorials. After this workshop, participants will be better prepared to improve their school’s climate, student resilience, and crisis response capabilities of school personnel. 

Workshop 1 goals: acquire the knowledge, skills, and confidence to facilitate crisis preparedness, establish a safe school climate to prevent and protect from crisis incidents, develop an emergency operations plan (EOP) to mitigate traumatic impact and promote recovery. 

Specifically, the PREPaRE model emphasizes that members of a school crisis response team must be involved in the following hierarchical and sequential set of activities:

Prevent and prepare for crisis

Reaffirm physical health and welfare and perceptions of safety and security

Evaluate psychological trauma risk

Provide interventions

and

Respond to mental health needs

Examine the effectiveness of crisis preparedness

Prerequisite: Participants are expected to watch a 15-minute video of foundational information as part of their pre-workshop requirements through NASP. Approximately 2 weeks prior to the start date, participants will receive a code via email that they will use to enroll in the course on the NASP website to access the video and course materials. 

Materials: Materials will be downloadable from the NASP website following completion of pre-workshop requirements (pre-test and video). The materials fee is included in the $350 registration fee.

Supplemental reading (not required): School Crisis Prevention and Intervention: The PREPaRE Model by S. Brock, A.Nickerson,M.Louvar Reeves, C. Conolly, S. Jimerson, R. Pesce, and Be.Lazzaro