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Pages > Industries We Serve > Private & Independent Schools
Independent Schools Parochial Schools Boarding & Day

A board decides, donors fund it, and the campus is a hundred years old

Independent and parochial schools carry the same duty of care as a district with none of the same machinery. No bond referendum, no public bid, no district IT standard — a head of school and a board make the call, and often on a campus of historic buildings that resist modern wiring. DWG helps schools get it right without a district's budget or staff.

Old buildings, small staff, high expectations

Parents at an independent school expect visible care about safety and no sense of a hardened building. Meeting both, in structures that predate the technology, is the actual design problem.

We help scope coverage and entry control to how the campus is really used — chapel, dining hall, dorms, athletics, arts — specify equipment that installs into historic construction without destroying it, phase the work across fiscal years or donor gifts, and keep it operable by a small facilities team. How the work gets done is shaped around you: we can coordinate with the integrator or contractor you already use, bring the right integration and field resources in ourselves, or anything in between — whatever the project needs.

How we engage

The greatest opportunity to improve a project exists before anything is purchased. We support every phase — the earlier we're involved, the more value we add.

1. Plan

Campus walk, how buildings are actually used, budget and gift timing.

2. Evaluate

Options compared plainly, including what installs cleanly in older construction.

3. Specify

Equipment list scoped to the campus, with phases defined.

4. Procure

Quoting, availability, lead times against the summer or term break.

5. Deploy

Phased delivery by building; integrator introductions for installation.

6. Support

Technical support, spares, and equipment a small team can run.

Core capabilities

Enterprise physical security infrastructure across every major discipline.

Video surveillance

  • IP camera systems
  • Video management systems (VMS)
  • Network video recorders
  • Edge, cloud and enterprise storage

AI & video analytics

  • Object and behaviour detection
  • License plate recognition
  • Search and forensic review tools
  • Operational and business insight

Access control & identity

  • Enterprise access control platforms
  • Smart and mobile credentials
  • Door hardware and locking
  • Authentication and biometrics

Visitor management

  • Visitor registration and badging
  • Watch list and screening
  • Contractor and vendor check-in
  • Real-time on-site awareness

Intercom & entry communication

  • IP intercom systems
  • Video entry stations
  • Emergency call stations
  • Two-way communication at entry points

Emergency notification

  • Mass notification systems
  • Public address and paging
  • Multi-channel alerting
  • Campus and site-wide communication

Lockdown systems

  • Coordinated building-wide lockdown
  • Single-action activation
  • Integration with access control
  • Notification tied to activation

Fire & life safety

  • Fire alarm control panels
  • Smoke, heat, CO and duct detection
  • Notification appliances
  • Alarm communications and monitoring

Intrusion detection

  • Enterprise intrusion systems
  • Perimeter detection
  • Sensors and detection technologies
  • Alarm communications

Mobile & temporary surveillance

  • Mobile surveillance trailers
  • Rapid-deployment camera systems
  • Remote and off-grid power
  • Construction, event and temporary sites

Network & infrastructure

  • PoE switching and fiber optics
  • Structured cabling and wireless
  • UPS and power systems
  • Cabinets, racks and enclosures

Engineering & procurement services

  • Product evaluation and solution design
  • Multi-manufacturer comparisons
  • Bill of materials review and value engineering
  • Lifecycle planning and technical consultation

Questions we help you answer

Most suppliers focus on selling products. We focus on helping you make an informed decision — and these are the questions worth settling first.

  • How do we secure the campus without it feeling like one?
  • Can this be installed in buildings we can't cut into?
  • What do we do first if the gift only covers one phase?
  • How do we handle visitors, parents and after-hours events?
  • Can a small facilities team maintain it?
  • How do dorms and boarding areas differ from academic buildings?
  • What do we tell parents about what's recorded and who sees it?

Answered early, these prevent the expensive corrections that surface once equipment is on site.

Vendor-neutral technical expertise

DWG works across a broad portfolio of leading security manufacturers. Rather than promoting a single product line, we help you evaluate qualified solutions on the criteria that matter.

Technical criteria

  • Technical requirements and objectives
  • Performance and interoperability
  • Standards compliance
  • Cybersecurity considerations

Commercial criteria

  • Availability and lead time
  • Lifecycle cost
  • Budget alignment
  • Future scalability

Resource coordination

  • Work with the integrator or contractor you already use
  • Bring in integration, field and engineering resources where you need them
  • Product, engineering and deployment coordinated as one project
  • Shaped around what the end user needs, not a fixed model

Who we work with

Schools

  • Independent day schools
  • Parochial and diocesan schools
  • Boarding schools
  • Montessori and specialty schools
  • Preparatory academies
  • Faith-affiliated academies

Project types

  • Campus security assessment
  • Entry and visitor control
  • Camera coverage for grounds
  • Dormitory and residential life
  • Phased donor-funded projects
  • Historic building retrofits

Project teams

  • Heads of school and business officers
  • Boards and trustees
  • Facilities directors
  • Technology directors
  • Architects and engineers
  • Systems integrators

Walk the campus with us before you commit a gift

There is no cost to have our specialists review a specification, a bill of materials, or a quote.

DWG — Digital Watchguard Inc. · 800 Shames Drive, Westbury, NY 11590 · 516-933-4900


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