By Amy White
The Texas Catholic
Thanks to a grant from The Catholic Foundation and an outpouring of generosity from the local community, Mary Immaculate Catholic School has completed several safety upgrades to its campus over the past year.
The projects follow a 2023 evaluation of the campus by certified protection professional Jack Ternan that had been requested by the school in order to bolster its security.
“They published a report,” Father Alfonse Nazzaro, Mary Immaculate pastoral administrator, said. “The school advisory council examined it, looked over it; and then Sister Mary Anne and I decided what we would prioritize.”
In the spring of 2024, the school began pursuing the chosen improvements, initiating the installation of bullet resistant film on all exterior doors of the school. A grant of more than $50,000 from The Catholic Foundation funded the project.
The school also took steps to increase police presence on campus. Previously, the school had one off-duty police officer on campus to monitor the school and conduct walk throughs of the campus. At the beginning of the school year, the school enlisted an additional police officer.
“They’re Farmers Branch officers… Our students know them,” Sister Mary Anne Zuberbueler, O.P., school principal, explained. “They are members of the community that help us stay safe and secure.”
The school was able to further expand its security resources following an exceptionally successful North Texas Giving Day in September 2024, during which the school raised more than $800,000, a portion of which was allocated to security improvements.
The most visible of these projects was the construction of a nearly 900-foot-long, six-foot-high fence around the school’s perimeter. The fence was built to be strong and durable, with three-inch-thick iron posts spaced five inches apart and topped with pressed spear pockets. The fence includes three manual gates and two electronic gates; the main entry is equipped with a Pal gate system.
“It’s a device that operates via cellular network for us to—just with a click of a button on an iPad—open and close the gates,” Chase Sanders, Mary Immaculate’s director of development and facilities, said. Visitors can gain access by using the system to communicate with the school’s secretary, who can monitor them via a camera at the gate.
Aside from providing protection, the structure is also aesthetically pleasing, Sister Zuberbueler said.
“The first thing that people notice is it’s beautiful,” she shared. “It has beautified our campus and set us apart.”
Over Christmas break, December 2024, Mary Immaculate undertook another largescale security project: the installation of bullet resistant windows. Following the example of some other diocesan schools, the school installed 3M Ultra 800 safety film on all windows deemed potential access points.
“Where this product really shines is that if someone were to fire shots through a window, instead of the window completely shattering and allowing very easy access for a potential intruder, this minimizes the penetration of the bullet to one single hole,” Sanders explained. “With this model, we’re buying… several minutes in a situation where seconds matter.”
Reflecting on the progress made to campus security so far, Sanders remarked that Mary Immaculate students feel safe on campus and are proud to be students at the school. Father Nazzaro said the response from parents has also been positive.
“The school parents have been absolutely thrilled,” he said. “The parish and the school parents came together, realized that this is something that they would like to see, and they had confidence that we were going to get it done quickly and get it done well.”
As the school continues to prioritize the safety of its students, it looks toward future improvements. One project around the bend is the hiring of a school director of security.
“The safety of the children comes first,” Father Nazzaro said. “We’re very fortunate that we have a community that allowed us to fulfill this commitment that we have.”
Cutline for featured image: Mary Immaculate Catholic School students stand in front of the school’s perimeter fence, one of several security projects completed at the school over the past year. From left, Bo Hill, Addie Hill, Ava Grygar, Vivi Grygar, and Joe Hill. (Mary Immaculate Catholic School photo)
