Communities that enjoy a safe school work hard to inform themselves about what it might look and feel like, how a safe school sounds. They work hard to identify the elements of policy, school community involvement, professional development, curriculum, instruction, school and classroom management, and support and referral that comprise the infrastructure of a discipline system and healthy school climate. Communities that enjoy a safe school learn about leadership, collaboration, and how the process of change operates. Reaching out to the research base in this way is a labor intensive endeavor and takes a long time. But it is worth it. Safe schools do more than earn their money's worth. A safe school returns a sense of connection, competence, autonomy, and altruism to all those it touches. And as a result, it is where people want to live and work and where small and large businesses like to locate. A wide range of research and best practices inform the development of positive school climates. The author provides a tool for exploring important factors which underlay safe and effective schools.