To better enforce security on Hockaday’s campus, a guard shack was opened on Rosie Mae Bell Lane on Sept. 28. It serves as a checkpoint, allowing security to identify any campus visitors.
“What we have is that when you have a flow of traffic going down Rosie Mae Bell, no one is stopping them, and they can come all the way back to Penson Gym, go all the way back to the fields, and we don’t know who they are,” Director of Safety and Security Karyn McCoy said.
Middle School carpool will follow the same route as before by entering through Rosie Mae Bell Lane and will not be delayed by the new addition of the shack.
“It will take us more time [to get on campus], but I think it is a good solution,” said Jill Callahan, mother to first-grader Annabel and fifth-grader Emilia.
However, the shack’s installation brings changes to visitors’ driving route onto campus. The flow of traffic now enters on Rosie Mae Bell Lane instead of the former main entrance that leads to Hoak Portico, but will still exit through the horseshoe. Guests are stopped at the shack for a “meet and greet” with a Hockaday security officer before heading to other parts of the campus, said McCoy. During the day, the horseshoe gates will be closed, removing entry points near the science portables off of Welch Road and making them more secure.
The checkpoint not only ensures students’ safety but also helps direct visitors to their intended destinations.
Anyone making deliveries will be identified and run through the Raptor system, which conducts limited background checks in order to identify potential offenders, so that they do not need to stop every time and can proceed without delay.
Miguel Celestinos is one of the guards who operates the shack. He said that it benefits Hockaday’s security system because it “will be more accurate as far as keeping track of who comes in and who goes out.”
The security team began placing guards in the shack after the Centennial celebration, and so far, McCoy said, it “has been really successful.”
– Megan Philips
