St. Gregory The Great Catholic School: Video & Access Integration

Every school’s security needs are unique and challenging, but this is especially true for schools with cross-campus buildings. Too often, disparate security systems are tasked with enforcing security across buildings. St. Gregory the Great Catholic School contacted Micro Security to implement an access control and video surveillance system for staff and students entering and leaving multiple buildings throughout the campus.

The Challenge

St. Gregory The Great Catholic School is built on a 12-acre site with multiple buildings and dozens of entry and exit points presented a unique challenge to the school. Visibility to students, family, and visitors entering through the doors was extremely limited, and cafeterias, libraries, gymnasium, playground, parking lots and hallways were vulnerable to a great number of security concerns. With school shooting tragedies throughout the country on the rise, the administration at St. Gregory The Great School realized the need for a comprehensive security system.

Integration Solutions

The team at Micro Security met with the administration to assess the campus’ security needs and provided a comprehensive security plan that included an integrated access control and video surveillance system. 12-megapixel indoor cameras and 2- megapixel outdoor cameras with infrared viewing, for a total of 65 AXIS cameras across 4 buildings helping to secure parking lots during pick up and drop off, as well as hallways, libraries, cafeterias and the school office lobby. Exacq NVR’s provide the VMS solution to the video surveillance system which can store recordings for up to 30 days, and can be accessed locally via computer, smartphone, or tablet. In addition, video recorders are equipped with a UPS backup battery to prevent any loss of footage during a power outage.

Every school’s security needs are unique and challenging, but this is especially true for schools with cross-campus buildings.

Three monitoring stations across multiple offices enable administrators remote viewing of all surveilled areas. Two large monitors located in the school office lobby give staff visibility of critical areas that were previously security vulnerabilities. According to the staff at St. Gregory, the additional visibility has been well received by parents, who appreciate the additional visibility and safety that is provided to their children – particularly after the tragic shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School.

A comprehensive access control and video intercom system integrate seamlessly with the video surveillance system, giving staff control of multiple doors throughout the campus that can be instantly locked down at the press of a button in the event of an emergency.

Ongoing Support & Training

After installation, training was essential for everyone on site. It was important for faculty and staff to understand how to use the technology to improve security, and to manage each building as an individual entity, an advantage they lacked before the implementation of a new system. The team at Micro Security conducted initial training for the staff and security team, and continues to provide ongoing 24/7 support. Remote troubleshooting via remote access is another facet of the support from Micro Security that saves the school time and money.

Results

When the administration initially requested proposals from various security firms, Micro Security stood out from its competitors. With a 28 year successful track record for Designing, Building, and Supporting Electronic Security Systems, Micro Security became the obvious choice as the security partner for St. Gregory The Great Catholic School. The administration continues to engage with Micro Security to extend protection to its church facilities, as well as ongoing integration within its school campus.

About St. Gregory The Great Catholic Church and School

St. Gregory School is built on a 12 acre site in the city of Plantation. The school officially opened in September 1960, with three Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. At that time, the school consisted of four grades totaled 143 students with Sister M. Romauld as principal, and Reverend Michael Keller as pastor of St. Gregory Church. The school was the first Catholic School in Broward County to receive the “U.S. Department of Education Excellence Award.” The school is an important part of the parish community of St. Gregory the Great.

About Micro Security

Micro Security is a professionally licensed organization, which is disciplined in the design, installation and support of electronic security systems and technologies. Since our inception in 1990, we have incorporated “best in class” equipment, with factory trained and certified technicians, and professional project management, to provide our customers a seamless process from concept to acceptance.
Our customer-centric approach, and organically grown business model guarantees each project receives the required resources and communications for a successful outcome, and equally as important, the development and trust of a long-term business relationship.