It’s the robocall no parent ever wants to answer.

It’s also the robocall no school administrator ever wants to consider, let alone make.

On Friday, parents and guardians of Moniteau School District’s 1,300 students received a robocall and email informing them of an exterior school lockdown stemming from a potentially dangerous situation unfolding in the vicinity of the school. Not only did they receive one call, parents received multiple calls relaying information and updates, as well as a letter from the district superintendent that was also posted on the school website.

Thank you Sean Arney for keeping families in the loop about the potentially dangerous situation and subsequent arrest of William Russell. Kudos to the school police who spotted the suspicious minivan reported earlier on school grounds parked in a nearby cemetery. And a shout-out to that teacher who wasn’t afraid to speak up after seeing something that didn’t seem right.

School police officers contacted state police after spying Russell’s minivan. They were alerted about the minivan by a teacher who — instead of just walking by — approached Russell earlier in the day to question him about why he was in the school parking lot. At the time, Russell said he was there to pick up his child. With 1,300 students, that would seem a legit reason to be in the school parking lot. Right?

Russell’s reason didn’t sit well with the teacher, whose awareness was heightened. This individual made the right decision to report the suspicious minivan and its “parent” driver to the school police. It wasn’t until later that school police officers saw the minivan parked not far from school grounds in a cemetery and called state police. The district immediately initiated an exterior lockdown requiring students remain in the building with outside access blocked.

As part of its safety plan, school officials contacted parents via robocall and email to alert them of the situation, assure them their children were safe and set their minds at ease. But Moniteau took this sense of community and transparency to the next level by contacting parents later in the day after everything was over and Russell was in handcuffs. This second alert updated families about the situation, shared with them what information school officials had been given by authorities and again assured them and set their minds at ease.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is what it means to truly act like a village raising not one child, but 1,300. It’s that sense of “What if?” that none of us ever wants to think about. It’s planning for a worst-case scenario instead of complacently thinking “Such bad, bad things could not, would not happen here. Not here in rural Pennsylvania.”

Surely the 1,300 schools affected by school shootings since 1970 thought the same way at one time or another. Praise to the Moniteau School District for enacting its safety plan quickly, efficiently and successfully. Administration, school police — even that first teacher who tipped off school personnel simply because something seemed amiss with the guy in the minivan — all took the threat seriously. Not only did they take it seriously, they acted swiftly and without second-guessing themselves or worrying about backlash if something turned out to be nothing.

Furthermore, the district honored its own values of sharing responsibility of helping educate and empower the next generation of community leaders by genuinely partnering with parents. The district went beyond basic information, a true and genuine sign of what it means for schools, parents and communities to act more like villages when it comes to not only educating children, but protecting them as well.