The shootings at Columbine High School in April 1999 focused national attention on the problem of school violence and sent many districts scrambling for ways to upgrade their school safety programs. The Cherry Creek District in Englewood, CO, already had a set of strategies to promote school safety that included its own anti-bullying program, which has become a national model. In the aftermath of Columbine, Cherry Creek school psychologist Larry Epstein heard one of his elementary school students saying, "What happened at Columbine couldn't happen here, because everyone has a friend." To Epstein, that student's perception of security—and her indirect reference to the school's effort to build caring relationships—was the best endorsement the Cherry Creek program could have.

At a time when many schools have answered concerns about school violence with metal detectors and zero-tolerance policies, most experts agree that, although get-tough measures are sometimes warranted, the best approach to dealing with violence is the kind Cherry Creek is taking: to promote mental health and solid skills—academic and social—and to provide early intervention for students who are struggling in those areas.