By the time the board of education is finished, Oxford Schools will have some well-protected students.

Last month, staff from the district’s five elementary schools received  ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate) Training.

ALICE encourages teachers to proactively evacuate and defend their students using things around them.

The training was well-received by elementary school staff, and the district is looking forward to equipping the rest of its teachers this month.

“The middle school staff has been trained… and the high school will be taking ALICE training and live scenario drills on Wednesday, Sept. 19,” said Sam Barna, Oxford’s assistant superintendent of business and operations, during the school board’s Sept. 11 meeting. “We’re looking forward to that.”

The district is also looking at ways to equip young students with the tools they need to be safe, considering  ideas such as picture books that will teach students about those hard to talk about situations in an age-appropriate way.

Because of the growing number of mass shootings and ALICE’s smart training techniques, parents in the audience were visibly happy to know that their children’s teachers will be well-equipped to defend and help students.

“(My wife) took the training and thought that it was fantastic, so thank you very much for providing that to our educators.” said one man in the audience. “She thought it was a (great) class and got a lot out of it.”