Montessori School Advances Education with Axis and Milestone Video

Dancing Moose Montessori School, in Salt Lake City, Utah, has developed a unique way to increase parents’ participation in their children’s schooling, improve teacher evaluations without disturbing class, and expand overall school security. Milestone XProtect Express video management software (VMS) and network cameras from Axis Communications help oversee daily operations at the school’s locations to deliver a high degree of security and provide parents with a window into their children’s learning.

“The Axis-Milestone solution has become a huge selling point for our school,” said Jennifer Duffield, executive director, Dancing Moose Montessori School. “Parents love the ability to drop off their children, who may be crying and suffering from separation anxiety, and check in after five minutes to see that their child is happy and engaged in the classroom. It’s really powerful.”

Dancing Moose Montessori School offers parents and students an unmatched learning experience with programs that have unique environments, are professional and safe, with processes that are transparent. Safety was naturally a key consideration, but the school wanted an effective security system that also allows parents to remotely monitor their children without interrupting class.

Milestone XProtect Express IP video management software (VMS), 40 Axis network cameras and a pair of 42-inch monitors comprise the monitoring system that allows parents and school administrators to observe students and teachers without interfering in classroom activities. Monitors are in the lobby with cameras set up throughout the school, and the system is custom-integrated with S2 Extreme access control - thanks to the Milestone open platform architecture.

Parents have live access to their child’s classrooms without the distraction that their presence in the room would create. They can quickly and easily observe how their child learns and interacts with classmates and teachers. For administrators, the ability to monitor classrooms remotely means that teacher evaluations are no longer a distraction to students or the teacher. The integration of the video system with access control provides efficient management of safety matters in the school.

A Total Learning Experience in a Safe Environment

Dancing Moose Montessori School of West Valley City, Utah, focuses on the total learning experience, providing engaging activities and specialized programs tailored to each class. The learning environment has bright, airy designs in multiple zones, open spaces full of greenery, a large gym and a specialized outdoor program. The schools are newly built, around 20,000 square feet, hosting 200 students in 12 classrooms with two teachers assigned to each room. 

Peace of mind for parents, students, teachers and staff is a priority, and the state-of-the-art, integrated monitoring and security system goes a long way toward providing just that. The system, installed by Stone Security of Salt Lake City, is networked through Milestone XProtect Express VMS, Axis network cameras and an S2 Extreme audio/visual access control system. A 4U BCD Video tower server is powered by HP with Netgear 24-port POE switches and a DMP intrusion system.

Visitors, parents, staff, and teachers use unique access codes to enter the system, but only after verbal and visual confirmation. Once inside the facility, parents have permissions-based virtual access to the preschool, with views of authorized classrooms and outdoor areas. The Milestone XProtect Smart Client interface displays different images on the monitors simultaneously being configured for as many as six camera feeds to be displayed on each screen.

“Parents can walk up to our monitoring stations with no experience in professional video systems and the intuitive Milestone software provides easy and secure access to live video — including control over camera angles,” said Duffield. “They flock to the monitors to observe their children learning, playing, eating and interacting with teachers and fellow students.”

“The IP-based Milestone system paired with Axis network cameras is easy to use and provides clear, high-resolution images to both managers and parents at Dancing Moose Montessori School,” said Andy Schreyer, Stone Security. “Since Milestone and Axis operate as open platform technology, we can provide the flexibility to grow the system to future schools and add new integrations over time, creating equity in the system – in this case, access control. Milestone updates features and supports new Axis camera releases, eliminating the need for system replacement - it never becomes obsolete.”

Effective Learning through Observation

Monitors in the lobby of the School let parents see their child at any point during the day without being a distraction in the classroom, which could cause their child to act differently. Parents and school administrators are equally interested in educators’ teaching methods, if the pupils are actively participating in the activities and verifying that students are playing safely and eating well. 

“Parents can be interested in seeing what the teacher is teaching, if their child is engaged in the lesson, or how well the student is eating at lunchtime,” said Duffield. “This gives reassurance and a sense of security. Classroom images on the screen help us track the teachers’ lessons or see if students are behaving well. What’s great is that the technology allows us to observe without disturbing the lesson flow and to see behavior during normal interactions.”

The video solution has surpassed Duffield’s expectations.

“We are proud to offer this to the families of our pupils and are thrilled with its positive effect on our program.”

Featured

  • Allegion, Comfort Technologies Implement Mobile Credentials at the Artisan Apartment Homes in Florida

    Artisan Apartment Homes, a luxury apartment complex in Dunedin, Florida, recently transitioned from mechanical keys to electronic locks and centralized system software with support from Allegion US, a leading provider of security solutions, technology and services, and Florida-based Comfort Technologies, which specializes in deploying multifamily access control, IoT devices and software management solutions. Read Now

  • Mall of America Deploys AI-Powered Analytics to Enhance Parking Intelligence

    Mall of America®, the largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America, announced an expansion of its ongoing partnership with Axis Communications to deploy cutting-edge car-counting video analytics across more than a dozen locations. With this expansion, Mall of America (MOA) has boosted operational efficiency, improved safety and security, and enabled more informed decision-making around employee scheduling and streamlining transportation for large events. Read Now

  • Security Industry Association Launches New “askSIA” AI Tool

    The Security Industry Association (SIA) has unveiled a brand-new SIA member benefit – askSIA, a conversational AI agent designed to help users get the most out of their SIA membership, easily access SIA resources and find the latest information on SIA’s training and courses, reports and publications, events, certification offerings and more. SIA members can easily find askSIA by visiting the SIA homepage or looking for the askSIA icon in the top left of webpages. Read Now

    • Industry Events
  • Industry Embraces Mobile Access, Biometrics and AI

    A combination of evolving workplace dynamics, technology innovation and new user expectations is changing how people enter and interact with physical spaces. Access control is at the heart of these changes. Combined with biometrics and AI, mobile access control has become increasingly crucial for deploying entry solutions that are seamless, secure and adaptive to user needs. Read Now

  • Sustainable Video Solution Delivered for Landmark City of London Office Development

    An advanced, end-to-end video solution from IDIS, with a focus on reducing waste and costs, has helped a major office development in the City of London align its security with sustainability objectives. Read Now

New Products

  • Camden CM-221 Series Switches

    Camden CM-221 Series Switches

    Camden Door Controls is pleased to announce that, in response to soaring customer demand, it has expanded its range of ValueWave™ no-touch switches to include a narrow (slimline) version with manual override. This override button is designed to provide additional assurance that the request to exit switch will open a door, even if the no-touch sensor fails to operate. This new slimline switch also features a heavy gauge stainless steel faceplate, a red/green illuminated light ring, and is IP65 rated, making it ideal for indoor or outdoor use as part of an automatic door or access control system. ValueWave™ no-touch switches are designed for easy installation and trouble-free service in high traffic applications. In addition to this narrow version, the CM-221 & CM-222 Series switches are available in a range of other models with single and double gang heavy-gauge stainless steel faceplates and include illuminated light rings.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems, an industry-leading manufacturer of pedestrian and vehicle secure entrance control access systems, is pleased to announce the release of its groundbreaking V07 software. The V07 software update is designed specifically to address cybersecurity concerns and will ensure the integrity and confidentiality of Automatic Systems applications. With the new V07 software, updates will be delivered by means of an encrypted file.