Lakeside School

As part of providing a safe environment for our students and employees, all people visiting Lakeside Middle School and Upper School campuses, Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., are required to check in at the campus’s main office with an approved government ID.

Starting in December 2025, Lakeside School transitioned to using the Verkada Guest visitor management system. This new system replaced the Raptor visitor management system. Beta-testing of the Verkada Guest system took place over the past few months, and both staff and visitors provided positive feedback.

The Verkada Guest visitor management system scans visitor drivers’ licenses (or other approved government IDs) and compares information to a sex offender public records database. The system does not perform any other type of background check. Once cleared through the system, a visitor receives a badge that includes their name, photo, and date. Part of keeping everyone safe is knowing who is in our buildings at all times and the Verkada Guest system allows us to do that.

All visitors to campus should do the following:

• Upon arriving on campus, all visitors need to check in with the main office with an approved government ID. Please remember to check in at least a few minutes before your meeting to allow time for this process. At the Upper School, check in at the main office of Bliss Hall. In the Middle School, the main office is next to the front door off of 137th Street; please ring the Middle School front office via the video intercom system to the right of the front doors.
• All visitors will be asked to scan their government ID (such as a driver’s license) into the visitor kiosk. If a visitor does not have a government-issued ID, they will enter their own information but will need to verify their date of birth with office staff to complete the process and print their badge.
• The visitor's full name, date of birth, and picture are sent to Verkada’s third-party vendor for the search. The system searches across comprehensive state registries, including all 50 states and territories such as Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Employees review any potential matches by comparing the visitor's ID against returned records, then confirm or dismiss the results. The third-party provider deletes search information within 24 hours for privacy protection.
• Once the entry is approved, the office staff will print a badge that identifies the visitor and the date.

Parents and guardians should check in with the main office when they are visiting Lakeside’s campuses between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. They do not need to check in when attending a scheduled event hosted by Lakeside or the Parents and Guardians Association. If you are not sure if you need to check in, please contact the main office at 206-368-3600.

Thank you for your support in implementing school safety protocols!
 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Who needs to check in when arriving on campus?

A: All visitors to campus when school is in session, including alums and parents and guardians of current students, need to check in between the hours of 7:30 a.m and 4 p.m. Check-in occurs at the main office of each campus. Prospective families will be checked in at the admissions office.

Parents and guardians of current students need to check in if they are visiting campus for an individual meeting; they do not need to check in when attending a scheduled event hosted by Lakeside or the Parents and Guardians Association.

The following groups do not need to check in: Lakeside School students, employees, and trustees.

Q: How does the Verkada Guest visitor management system work?

A: Verkada Pass compares state-issued ID information to a database that contains registered sex offenders from 50 states. In the event of a match, Verkada alerts designated school officials.

Q: What is the purpose of the Verkada Guest system?

A: Verkada Guest helps schools keep unwanted visitors out and account for visitors that have been allowed in. By proactively alerting personnel to certain potential threats, Verkada allows schools to take appropriate steps to keep the students, employees, and visitors safe. For valid visitors, the system also quickly prints visitor badges that include the visitor’s name, photo and date.

Q: Why is Lakeside School using this system?

A: The safety of our students is our highest priority. Verkada Guest provides a consistent system to track visitors while keeping away people who present a danger to students.

Q: Did something happen that caused us to adopt this practice?

A: This check-in procedure was not created in reaction to any incident. It was developed in 2023, and updated in 2025, as part of the continual evolution of our procedures to meet best practices.

Q: Does Lakeside School have the right to require visitors, even parents and guardians, to produce identification before entering the school?

A: Yes. School administrators need to know who is in our buildings and why they are there.

Q: What types of IDs will work in Verkada Guest?

A: The scanner is able to scan the following:

• U.S. driver's licenses.
• U.S. state issued ID cards.
• Mexican Consular cards.
• U.S. passport books.
• U.S. green cards.
• U.S. work permits.

Q: What other information is the school taking from driver’s licenses?

A: Verkada Guest is only scanning the visitor’s name, date of birth, and photo for comparison with a national database of registered sex offenders and any private alerts at the school.

Q: Is an ID card scan necessary each time a person comes into the building?

A: ID scanning isn't required on every visit. Most of the security screening information will be saved for 90 days after the initial scan. Visitors returning within this time frame can return to a faster check-in by entering their mobile number or guest pass QR code into the kiosk . After 90 days, visitors must rescan their ID.

Q: What is the checkout process for visitors leaving the building?

A: Using their mobile phone number or email, visitors can sign out remotely using the link provided at the time of their check-in.

Q: Will the Verkada Guest system be used for after-school activities?

A: The system is only used between 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Q: What are the privacy protocols for this information?

All data is encrypted both in transit and at rest within the Verkada system. Data is not shared across different organizations. Each school or organization's visitor data is isolated. Data scanned by the third-party vendor is deleted within 24 hours.