Your Invitation: Join Us for the International Summit on Threat Assessment for K-12 Schools

Your Invitation: Join Us for the International Summit on Threat Assessment for K-12 Schools 

As we wrap up another year of meaningful work and powerful moments with the Safe and Sound community, I find myself reflecting on what is possible when we bring the right people together in the same room.  

Our Summits across the country this year have been a testament to this truth. We saw, in real time, how collaboration can spark new ideas, strengthen old ones, and open entirely new pathways for protecting our schools. They reminded me that the school safety field moves forward fastest when we learn with one another and build bridges between disciplines, models, and communities.  

This January, we have an opportunity to do that again.  

I am thrilled to invite our Safe and Sound community to the International Summit on Threat Assessment for K-12 Schools, a gathering intentionally created to bring together the founders, builders, and leading practitioners of the most widely used school-based behavioral threat assessment models in the world.  

From the pre-conference Digital Threat Assessment® training to two full days of summit sessions, this event is packed with valuable information on hot topics in the field. 

This is more than another training event — it is a moment of collective learning, shared purpose, and practical application for every school safety team doing the important, preventative work of threat assessment.  

Why This Summit Matters Now 

For more than a decade, Safe and Sound Schools has worked to support teams in understanding, implementing, and improving behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) practices. Again and again, we hear the same questions: 

“Which model should we use?” 

“How do we adapt a model to fit our district?” 

“How can threat assessment help identify students at-risk for suicide and self-harm?” 

“What legal considerations do we need to take into account?” 

“How do we consider and support special populations in our threat assessment process?” 

The truth is: every school community looks different, and so does every threat assessment case. 

That’s why gathering the principal authors, architects, and leaders from multiple school-based threat assessment models in one place is so powerful. This unprecedented opportunity allows attendees to see not just one perspective, but many vantage points rooted in decades of research, fieldwork, and lived experience.  

And when these leaders come together, the message becomes clear: the goal is not choosing “the right” model. It’s building the right team, the right process, and the right culture for your community.  

This summit is designed to help you do exactly that.  

Meet the Experts Joining Us 

We are honored to welcome an extraordinary lineup of presenters; many of whom helped develop the foundational frameworks that schools and safety agencies rely on around the world.  

You’ll learn from leaders who shaped the field, including: 

• Dr. Dewey Cornell – Principal Author of the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) & Professor of Education, University of Virginia 

• Dr. Marisa Randazzo – Behavioral Threat Assessment Expert, Executive Director of Threat Assessment Raptor Technologies 

• John Van Dreal – Principal Author and Architect of the Salem-Keizer Cascade Model for Preventive Behavioral Threat Assessment, Chief Architect, Violence Prevention Solutions Public Consulting Group 

• Theresa Campbell – Digital Threat Assessment Expert, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Safer Schools Together 

• Dr. Melissa Reeves – Past NASP President and leading author on school-based threat assessment 

• Dr. Frank Straub – Senior Director of Violence Prevention Research and Programs, Safe and Sound Schools 

• Dr. Kelsey Morris – Education Program Specialist, U.S. Secret Service, National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) 

  
  

This summit brings together different perspectives that normally appear separately—at different conferences, in different publications, or as part of different training opportunities.  

Bringing them all into one place means that every attendee will leave with: 

• A deeper understanding of why these models work 

• A clearer sense of how to adapt and apply them 

• Practical, real-world insights grounded in experience, not theory 

• Connections to the people driving this work globally 

  
  

This event is a can’t-miss opportunity for learning, community transformation, and collaboration. I hope you’ll join us.  

Learn more and register today: International Summit on Threat Assessment For K-12 Schools. 

With gratitude,  

Michele