The new Be Safe Virginia program focuses on educating students pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Virginia’s public schools. The program and curriculum’s goals are to educate our youngest community members on important public safety topics in an age-appropriate manner. Themes range from learning about the role of community helpers, to how to stay safe during in-person and online interactions, as well as understanding the impacts of substance abuse and bullying.
Originally known as STEPP (Success Through Education and Proactive Policing), this program was first developed through a partnership between the Chesterfield County Police Department and Chesterfield County Public Schools, where it had been taught since 1998. Be Safe Virginia is an updated version of STEPP, developed by James Madison University and the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services’ Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety, in collaboration with the Virginia Office of the Attorney General and the Virginia Department of Education.
The lessons and materials were developed by licensed teachers and early childhood specialists, and all lessons correlate to the Virginia Standards of Learning. The program is intended to be taught primarily by school resource officers and school security officers in Virginia elementary schools familiar to their students but may also be taught by Pre-K–5 staff, substitute teachers, or school volunteers.
