D.A.R.E

Drug Abuse Resistance Education
The Ipswich Police Department D.A.R.E. Program is a cooperative effort between the Ipswich Police Department and the Ipswich Public Schools to educate our youth in the classroom in order to prevent drug abuse and violence among children in grades K-6. Currently, the Ipswich Police Department offers D.A.R.E. to the Kindergarten, 4th, and 6th grade classes. The core curriculum is 10 weeks in length taught to the 6th grade class by sworn police officers certified by D.A.R.E. America under direction of the 6th Grade Team. The core curriculum focuses on students making the right decisions and resisting the pressures that may influence them to get involved with alcohol, drugs, and violence. The Ipswich Police D.A.R.E. Program was established in 1990 taught by Officer Donald Cole and continues to be a collaborative effort by certified police officers, educators, students, parents, and the community to offer an educational program to prevent drug abuse and violence among our youth.
D.A.R.E
D.A.R.E. Officers
In order to be considered to be a D.A.R.E. Officer
  • An Officer 1st has to be selected by his/her Chief and submit an application to the New Hampshire State Police D.A.R.E. Regional Coordinators Office approved by both the Officer’s Chief and Principal of the Ipswich Middle School.
  • Then, the officer is scheduled for an oral board interview before a panel of Regional D.A.R.E. Mentors and Coordinators.
  • If the officer successfully completes the interview he/she is selected to attend a Regional D.A.R.E. Officer Training Class which are held only twice a year and limited to only 20 officers.
  • The Officer then has to complete an intense 2-week course in order to become familiar with the D.A.R.E. curriculum, learning modalities and difficulties, drug classifications, trends, etc.
    • Prospective D.A.R.E. officers are assigned homework every night
    • Have to complete written exams
    • Have to prepare lessons
    • Give several oral presentations
  • In between classes and at night, prospective D.A.R.E. officers have to work in small groups on daily skits, role-playing, and constantly speaking in front of the group.
  • Prospective D.A.R.E. officers are evaluated on their ability to teach the lesson plans in class by a D.A.R.E. mentor and educator prior to graduation.
D.A.R.E In the Ipswich Schools
Over the past 2 decades, thousands of children have been through the D.A.R.E. Program here in Ipswich. Uniformed D.A.R.E. Officers have served as role-models to our youth in which they have developed a positive attitude towards the Police Department and gained a greater respect for their job and the law. The D.A.R.E. Officers in Ipswich have accompanied the students on several school field trips over the years.

We would like to thank
For their continued support of the D.A.R.E. Program in the Ipswich Public Schools.