SAFETY & SECURITY

For over 40 years, Close Up Foundation has provided the highest quality hands-on educational program in the country. From the moment they arrive in DC until they return home, we are committed to providing a safe, secure and memorable experience for students. All Close Up activities are designed with your student’s safety in mind, and our unsurpassed record on student safety demonstrates that your child’s safety and security is our top priority.

Safety and Security Measures

• Upon arrival, participants are greeted by a Close Up staff member at the airport/train station who will escort the group to a Close Up chartered bus that will take them to their respective hotels.* Once participants arrive at their hotel, a Close Up Concierge will greet the group and answer any questions regarding the program.
• Male and female participants will be separated and housed on separate floors at each hotel. Close Up’s professional security staff will monitor hotel rooms and hallways each night from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
• Each hotel will have a program staff member who will reside at the hotel during the program. Close Up staff is available in case of an emergency and all students and teachers are provided with the Close Up staff room number and contact information.
• All students are accounted for at all times via roll calls at all Close Up-led activities from breakfast through nightly room check 7:00 a.m. through 11:00 p.m., upon arrival through departure. Close Up participants and staff wear their Close Up name tags at all times. The Close Up emergency number—703-706-3505—is listed on the back of each nametag and on all student and teacher daily schedules.
• Students are chaperoned at all times during program-led activities by their teachers and/or Close Up’s professional male and female staff.
• As always, Close Up’s student and teacher program supervisors and bus drivers have cell phone availability to allow efficient communications between the Close Up headquarters and program participants at all times.
• Local and national news and government reports regarding security conditions in the city, site locations on Capitol Hill, and all transportation systems are monitored round-the-clock by Close Up administrative staff. Relevant news alerts and instructions will immediately be communicated to program staff at all times of the day and night.
• All Close Up staff, comprised of both male and female instructors, is professionally trained to respond quickly and effectively in the event an emergency situation arises. All our staff master evacuation procedures and routes from all Close Up activity locations. Additionally, all our staff members working with students have undergone criminal background checks and are trained in CPR, AED and First Aid.
• Close Up partners with several leading health care providers, including Georgetown University Children’s Medical Center (GUCMC), to ensure that students have access to quality health care should they need medical attention while on program. 9-1-1 emergency services are available around the clock – from when our program starts until it ends. We also maintain a dedicated staffer on each program to assist students who are ill, and GUCMC maintains a pediatric doctor on-call who will assist and make appropriate referrals if needed. Typically, the Close Up staffer will assist with accompanying students when they’re taken for medical treatment, waiting with them at the facility while they’re being treated, and accompanying them back to the hotel as well. Close Up, along with your teachers, will work together to ensure that students get timely access to quality health care should the need arise while on program. We also have dedicated staff members to supervise any students that are not able to participate on program.

^{*For Close Up participants that have elected Close Up’s group transportation package}