On October 12, 11 of Choice’s academies were awarded the MI HEARTSafe School designation out of 105 schools statewide.
Of our schools who received this recognition, Benton Harbor Charter School Academy and Morey Montessori Public School Academy are the only schools in their counties to receive this award.
The MI HEARTSafe School designation recognizes schools who have taken the steps above and beyond to prepare and respond in the event of a cardiac emergency, and is awarded for a period of three years. In order for a school to receive a MI HEARTSafe School designation, it must perform at least one cardiac emergency response drill per year; have a written medical emergency response plan and team; have a current CPR/AED certificate of at least 10 percent of staff, 100 percent of head varsity coaches, and 50 percent of P.E. staff; have accessible, properly maintained and inspected AEDs with signs identifying their location; and ensured pre-participation sports screenings of all student athletes using current physical and history forms endorsed by the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
The following Choice schools have received the MI HEARTSafe certification:
- Battle Creek Montessori Academy
- Benton Harbor Charter School Academy
- Bradford Academy
- Creative Montessori Academy
- Dove Academy
- Four Corners Montessori Academy
- Morey Montessori Public School Academy
- Muskegon Montessori Academy for Environmental Change
- New Branches Public School Academy
- Three Oaks Public School Academy
- West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science
Macomb Montessori Academy recently received an AED and will receive their MI HEARTSafe certification next fall.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“This certification is important to our schools because it gives our parents and school community more assurance that we have the plans and equipment in place and staff trained to handle emergencies at our school,” said Ron Wiens, Chief Strategic Operations Officer.[/perfectpullquote]“There are stories from across the state where students have gone into sudden cardiac arrest with no prior knowledge of a heart condition and their schools were unprepared. We’re leading the way for other schools. It’s just one more way to support our students.”