Student Well-Being and Safety

Catlin Gabel has a full-time Campus Health Coordinator who supports the overall health and wellness of our community through education, training, communication, and partnerships with employees and families. 

Catlin Gabel’s curriculum includes age-appropriate discussions, beginning in preschool, about sound decision-making, healthy relationships, safety, and respect. Student forums cover such topics as affirmative consent, sexual misconduct and assault, bystander intervention, the consequences of such actions, and ways for students to get help.

The school produces a Catlin Gabel Family Handbook, which is updated annually and provides a wide range of information regarding school policies. We expect all community members to follow our protocols and expectations. The school also produces a guide for Middle and Upper School students that includes detailed information on support and resources for sexual assault and misconduct, which is available on the school’s portal to students and families.

Catlin Gabel has partnered with Vector Solutions to allow community members (students, parents/guardians, employees) to anonymously report their concerns, including boundary violations, misconduct, bullying, equity and inclusion issues, harassment, drugs, threats of violence or abuse. The tip line alerts the head of school, assistant head of school, director of human resources, and audit committee chair of the board of trustees. To make a report go to catlin-or.safeschoolsalert.com, email 1832@alert1.us, or call or text (971) 351-1754. Catlin Gabel’s identification code for reporting is 1832. 
 
Reports can also be sent to any member of Catlin Gabel’s Response Team. Team members are: Head of School, Tim Bazemore (bazemoret@catlin.edu), Assistant Head of School, Kama Bruce (brucek@catlin.edu) and Director of Human Resources, Interim, Eunice Scotto (scottoe@catlin.edu).

RAINN operates The National Sexual Assault Hotline at (800) 656-HOPE or hotline.rainn.org, which can be used to access confidential and anonymous immediate support services—including crisis intervention, information, and resources—24/7, in both English and Spanish.

Catlin Gabel has one primary safety committee to oversee all aspects of campus safety, the Risk Management Committee, with several subcommittees or task forces. This structure is designed to help ensure information is consistent across groups. Risk Management oversees emergency preparedness, safety policies, crisis communications, and employee training. The two primary subcommittees are Campus Health, which oversees general health policies and counseling; and Safety, which oversees OSHA requirements, as well as campus conditions and audits.

The school consistently practices secure, lockdown, fire, and earthquake drills. The school partners with the Washington County Sheriff’s School Resource Officer, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue leadership, inspectors, and crews, and Providence St. Vincent Hospital.

Buildings are secured through a card reader system and a remote camera system is employed. 
 
For emergency communications, the school uses Ruvna for emails and texts as needed to communicate with employees, families, and Upper School students. The school also has a campus-wide PA system to broadcast messages and handheld radios for when our phone system is not operable. 

Employees are required to complete background and fingerprint checks before working on campus. When at Catlin Gabel, employees are expected to wear school-issued ID badges or name tags. Full-time faculty and staff are required to attend an annual, in-person training session, as well as complete online training sessions related to understanding and reporting sexual misconduct.

The school prohibits and does not tolerate child abuse, sexual misconduct, sexual harassment, or boundary violations. All employees are required to immediately report any concerns about adult-student boundary violations, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, or child abuse to the Head of School, Assistant Head of School, or Director of Human Resources. If the conduct rises to the level of child abuse, the employee is also required to report to Child Protective Services, known as DHS. The school will investigate (or refer to local law enforcement to investigate) any reports brought to our attention. More information is available in our Adult-Student Standards of Behavior Guide.

Keeping students safe is our top priority. To ensure the safety of our students all volunteers are required to complete the Parent Volunteer Form affirming they have reviewed the Family Handbook and Communicable Disease Manual, a background check (every 2 years), and fingerprinting if they plan to go on a field trip. For those wishing to volunteer, more information can be found on Catlin Gabel’s myCG Parent portal.

Catlin Gabel has four school counselors on-staff: a counselor in the Beginning and Lower School, a counselor in the Middle School, and two counselors in the Upper School. Our counselors provide individual and family support, and host seminars and workshops throughout the year. Learn more about the Catlin Gabel Counseling Program.

We have two college counselors who guide Upper School students through all aspects of the college admission process. To see the timeline as to the ways in which they connect with students beginning in 9th grade, please see details on our College Counseling page.

Catlin Gabel has three learning specialists, one in each division, who work collaboratively with teachers, students, and families to develop individualized support in the classroom and at home. They also can help determine if supports outside the school may be needed. Further details as to their work within each division can be found on our Learning Center page.