With student welfare an ever-present concern among the nation’s parents and educators, Hosanna Christian Academy becomes the latest school to rely on Athena Security for campus safety. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana school, which serves children in grades Pre-K through 8th grade, has installed Athena Security’s Weapons Detection System to detect guns and weapons.
Athena Security’s frictionless detection systems have a slim footprint for screening as people enter the building. Traffic flow can continue as normal, without troublesome delays, for known adults and students.
Adults and older children are the primary focus of detection on campus through a single point of entrance in the school’s front office. The campus is surrounded by 6’ chain-link perimeter fencing along with 2’ of barbed wire on it and all walk/traffic gates.
The system uses high definition metal detection combined with other sensors to understand the type, shape, and size of metal in transit through the system to identify metallic threats immediately. This ‘next generation’ of weapons screening can spot the difference between innocuous items (e.g., keys, phones, metal water bottles) and legitimate hazards. Staff will be alerted if a potential threat has been detected.
“We wanted a system that passed the government standard for weapons detection, software to help our operations, and Athena was it,” said school Executive Director, Russell Marino. “Athena was also very helpful in getting the system set up and our staff trained on the supporting software.”
When leaders at Hosanna Christian Academy first began exploring a new safety system, they knew they wanted a high level of threat detection without making students feel as if they were entering a high-risk area. They found that with Athena. “Parent feedback has been overwhelmingly supportive,” said Marino. “This is not your grandma’s metal detector.
Parents like the system’s low profile, but more importantly they like that it’s a proactive solution to create a safe, friendly learning environment for their kids.”
