Secure School at St. Patrick's Intermediate

We would like to inform our parent/guardian community that there was a “secure school” situation called at St. Patrick’s Intermediate at approximately 11:30 am this morning (Sept. 11th).  Ottawa Police contacted us to indicate that there was a concern in the community and we were asked to go into “secure school”  as a precaution.   Within a few minutes, a school resource officer presented himself at the school and suggested, based on additional information, that we move from a “secure school” to “shelter in place” designation.  “Shelter in place” indicates that students can move within the building, however, they remain inside the school.

At this point, staff began accompanying students to the washrooms, as well as lockers to retrieve their lunches and to the cafeteria to purchase food.  Just before 1:00 pm, Ottawa Police contacted us to indicate that there was no longer a concern in the community, and the “shelter in place” condition had ended.

I want to thank our students who were extremely patient and cooperative throughout the entire situation.  A thank you to our student services staff who assisted with releasing classrooms of students to go to the washroom and to their lockers.  We appreciate the support of our school resource officer and Ottawa Police who were very helpful throughout the process.  We will spend time this year reviewing safety measures and protocol with students, however, their reaction in this case was excellent.

Please contact me at the school if you have any concerns.