HOUSTON, Texas — The Village School in west Houston is a global destination that serves some 1500 pre-K through 12th-grade students.
"Very international with 80 countries represented here at school,” said Director of Health & Safety Jeff Bond.
It’s Bond’s job to make sure students, faculty and staff remain safe.
"While I think that we do a phenomenal job with everything we do here at The Village School, I am always looking at ways to improve and be better,” Bond said.
Public streets run through the multi-building campus and either security guards or extra-duty HPD officers watch every gate.
Each building entrance has controlled access and once inside visitors get a badge if there are no red flags.
Meanwhile, officers keep an eye on an array of surveillance cameras that correspond to a clickable desktop map.
It’s all part of a layered approach that also includes strategically placed panic buttons and other measures.
"But more critical than the software, hardware, things like that are the people that we have," Bond said. "So that’s why training and making sure our staff is comfortable with what to do if a crisis occurs, that’s huge.”
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Many public schools have poured millions into beefing up security in the wake of incidents like Uvalde.
Bond says as a private school with less bureaucracy, he’s never told no when it comes to security.
“We’re beyond the days of saying I just hope that doesn’t happen,” Bond said.
Most private schools we asked about security preferred not to share information.
The Awty International School sent this statement:
The safety and security of our students, faculty, staff, and families is of utmost importance to us – and it is especially top of mind in light of recent tragedies in Texas and throughout the nation. As such, we refrain from publicly sharing the details of our security measures and plans, in our best effort to limit the potential for compromising those systems.