ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — An elementary school in Englewood was closed Monday while police investigated a threat made toward the school.
Charles Hay World School announced that it would be closed Monday after the school was made aware of a threat.
The school is located at 1221 E. Eastman Ave. and is a public International Baccalaureate school that teaches students from kindergarten through sixth grade.
FOX31 spoke to James Ponzi, who is a retired Denver Police lieutenant and professor of criminology, about the closure.
“If they close the school, they can search it. They usually go through the school and search every classroom, closet et cetera,” Ponzi said.
Ponzi said elementary-age kids can be highly susceptible targets for someone wanting to hurt students. He pointed out what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut 10 years ago.
“If there is an active shooter planning to shoot up a school or whatever, they 99% of the time tell somebody. They want to get credit for what they want to do,” Ponzi added.
While Englewood Public Schools decided to close the school for the day, Craig Scott, who survived the Columbine massacre and is now a national speaker, said he has other ways of dealing with threats.
“Even though I survived a school shooting, my focus when I speak at schools is not really trying to stop school shootings. It is starting an atmosphere in a school that is positive,” Scott said.
Scott said students need to feel like they belong and connect with others.
“When people treat each other right at school, you create an atmosphere where disconnection, isolation and bullying don’t have a lot of room,” Scott said.
Safe2Tell reported a 3% increase in reports of possible dangerous situations in October.
The school posted on its website that it was made aware of a threat involving the school overnight and that it is currently working with the Englewood Police Department to investigate the threat.
No other threats have been made toward any other school, according to Charles Hay World.
However, due to the threat, there was increased security present at all Englewood Public Schools. What led to the closure at Charles Hay is still not clear.
Charles Hay World School will reopen Tuesday morning.