The Keystone Oaks School District is excited to offer the D.A.R.E. Program to all 5th and 6th grade students beginning in January 2024. 

The D.A.R.E. program will be taught by three certified instructors - Keystone Oaks School Police Chief Ron Porupsky, Keystone Oaks School Police Officer Shane McGrath, and Officers Christine Platt and Alexa Siweckyj from the Castle Shannon Police Department. All four individuals have completed the rigorous 80-hour training program and meet the requirements to be a certified D.A.R.E. instructor. 

These instructors will follow D.A.R.E.’s elementary school keepin’ it REAL curriculum, which, as explained on D.A.R.E.’s website, “teaches the foundational skills that youth need to be safe, healthy, and responsible in leading drug-free lives.” The curriculum is designed for students in 5th and 6th grades. 

About D.A.R.E. at Keystone Oaks

Officer McGrath will deliver the D.A.R.E. curriculum to 5th grade students at Fred L. Aiken and Dormont Elementary Schools. Officer Platt and Officer Siweckyj will teach the program at Myrtle Avenue Elementary School. Chief Porupsky will deliver the middle school curriculum to all 6th grade students. 

Lessons are 45 minutes each and will be delivered weekly over a 10-week period. 

What topics are covered in the D.A.R.E. curriculum? 

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Program is designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge they need to resist pressures that may influence them to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Students will also be introduced to the D.A.R.E. Decision Making Model that will assist them in problem solving, being a good citizen, and helping them make smart decisions.

What is the D.A.R.E. Program?

Founded in 1983 by the Los Angeles Police Department, D.A.R.E. is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives.