With the school year fast approaching the Hamilton School Resource Officers would like everyone to have a safe and enjoyable school year. The following tips are provided to assist both students and parents to achieve that goal.

• get to know the school’s policies and procedures on things such as dress code and student code of conduct
• familarize yourself with the services the school provides, such as school resource officer, public health nurse, social worker
• get to know the staff at the school—your child’s teachers, school principal, and vice principal. Often times your child will be assigned a particular vice-principal or guidance counselor
• keep up to date on  notes/letters that are sent home. This will help keep track of important dates in the school year or things like an early dismissal day, or policy changes
• have a communication system set up with your child to talk about various events at school such as any problems they may be having with school work or other students. An open line of communication can help prevent problems before they get too big
• familiarize yourself with your child’s schedule. When their classes are, when school starts and finishes, do they have any breaks/spares. This will also help so that you know when they are suppose to be at school, in class, and when they are suppose to be home
• make sure the emergency contact information is up to date with the school. All work, home, cell phones, pagers and other contact numbers are in place in case of an emergency
• know the school's name, phone number, address in case of an emergency arises and you need to contact the school. The point above about knowing your child’s schedule will also be crucial for this
• have a plan around bringing valuables to school such as walkmans, jewelry, money. Are their locked areas to put them in, know the serial numbers, make, model of the items that are brought to school in case they are lost or stolen
• know the way your child is getting to and from school, such as bus, walking, or car pool. If walking talk about reporting any strange events that take place such as strangers following students. Maybe even have a buddy system in place so that no one is walking alone. Go over the route taken so that parents are familiar with it and the safest route to the school is chosen
• try to get to know your child’s friends, who they are hanging out with. This is especially true in a new school or high school environment
• what is your child doing during the lunch hour? School resource officers' experience shows that the lunch hour is when most fights, drug use, and thefts take place.