Health & Safe Environment

The Office of Schools oversees policies and procedures that ensure the health and safety of all of the chldren under our school's care in the diocese. Below are policies of which parents should be aware. 

Starting Age:
* The Diocese of Kalamazoo schools require all enrolling Kindergarten students to be at least five years of age on or before September 1 in the year of enrollment. Waivers are not accepted. 

Compliance:
* Michigan law requires all schools to conduct a set number of fire, tornado and lockdown drills. Each school must maintain records of all drills. A record of completed drills are available on each school’s website.

Medical Health & Wellness:
* All students enrolled in a school within the Diocese of Kalamazoo must be in compliance with the immunization schedule as required by the Michigan Public Health Code or have a waiver. 

* All principals and school staff who deal with the distribution of medication to students must attend mandated training on the subject. 

* Emergency medical authorization forms must be completed annually by parents or guardians for each student.

* Parents are required to work in cooperation with the school and report any communicable diseases that their child may contract. 

Safe Environment:
*The VIRTUS™ program “Protecting God’s Children for Adults” is used to train employees and volunteers to prevent child sexual abuse. The three-hour session covers the scope and nature of child sexual abuse.  It gives five specific steps adults can take to protect children.

Every person who wants to volunteer or work in our schools in any capacity must be VIRTUS trained. Those who need to be VIRTUS trained may attend at any location, but you must be registered in advance. Registration is done through the diocesan Safe Environment Office. 

For more information, visit https://virtusonline.org/virtus/

*In addition to required VIRTUS-Protecting God's Children training, all volunteers and staff within each school must pass background checks on the State and National level. 

The Diocese of Kalamazoo is committed to creating safe environments in our parishes and schools. To learn more about safe environment policies visit our Office of Safe Environment.