The Safety First Project, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education: Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, was designed to assess and improve the readiness of the Berkeley County, West Virginia Schools and the local community to respond, post 9/11, to emergencies and manage crises. Rockman et al, in partnership with The EdVenture Group, created checklists and inventories to review existing school plans, emergency equipment, and communication trees. REA also created baseline surveys to determine whether school personnel were familiar with the plans, equipment, and communication systems, and follow-up surveys to see how readiness and awareness changed after school updates and training. In addition, evaluators reviewed data from school-administered Pride surveys to explore students' perceptions of safety within their school and community.