How Relationships Make Schools Safer, Dr. Beth J Sanborn

My work has always lived at the intersection of school safety, student well-being, and relationships. As a former police officer and School Resource Officer, I spent years inside schools not just responding to incidents, but building trust with students, supporting families, and helping educators navigate behavior, trauma, and crisis. What I saw, over and over, was a gap in understanding. Schools didn’t always know how to fully use their SRO as a resource, parents were unsure what an SRO’s role truly was, and officers themselves were rarely trained in the educational environment they were stepping into.

That lived experience became the foundation for my work today and ultimately led to my two best-selling books, The Missing Piece and Piecing It Together. Both books were written to translate school safety into human terms. They focus on relationships first, student rights, development, and the idea that safety is built long before a crisis ever occurs. My goal was never to write from an ivory tower, but from the hallway, the cafeteria, the counseling office, and the countless conversations with kids who just needed one adult to see them.

Those books opened doors to national speaking, training, and advocacy, allowing me to work with schools, law enforcement, legislators, and families across the country. At the heart of my business is a simple belief. When we align safety, education, and empathy, we create schools where students can thrive and adults can truly make a difference.