Visitors to Newberg schools will find changes right at the front door.

When school is in session, visitors will be asked to request entry to school through a new video and door-bell system installed at all elementary and middle schools. A press of the button on the exterior “doorbell” immediately connects visitors to the school secretary.  The secretary will buzz visitors in and ask them to come to the office.  This allows the school office to know who is in the school building and control in and out traffic. The main school entrance, along with all other exterior doors,  will remain locked during school hours.

If visitors come to school to visit or volunteer in a classroom, they will be asked to present their driver's license or other state or federal-issued identification to be scanned into the new Raptor system. The individual’s identification is instantly screened against federal and 50 state databases for crimes against children. When a visitor is cleared, a badge featuring the visitor's name, photo, date and time, and destination is printed. The badge is turned into the office before leaving the school to record that the visitor has left the building.

If a visitor only has business in the school office, they are not required to produce identification. 

School volunteers, who must pass a confidential criminal background check, will still need to check in at the office for the school secretary to log them into the new system.

“This will mean a new way of doing things for all of us,” said Dundee Elementary School secretary Shelley Thomas.

Thomas hopes parents and school visitors will not mind a little inconvenience to increase safety at school.