The National Center for Educational Statistics 1998 Report stated that one in ten schools in their sample reported at least one violent crime over the past year. To promote school safety, educators have used traditional law enforcement methods that rely heavily on surveillance, penalties, and punishment. These methods applied to schools can be effective but they carry major negative side effects, including a large financial burden. This digest represents an alternative approach to creating and maintaining safe schools. The approach, known as Invitational Education, provides a framework for making schools more exciting, satisfying, and enriching. Invitational Education centers on four guiding principles of respect, trust, optimism, and intentionality. The Five P's of the concept, people, places, policies, programs, and processes, provide the means to address the global nature and symbolic structure of schools. It expands the education process by applying steady and continuous pressure from a number of points. Rather than relying on one program, one policy, or one process, Invitational Learning addresses the total spirit within a school. It is concerned with more than grades, attendance, academic achievement, discipline, and test scores. It is concerned with the skills of becoming a decent and productive citizen in a democratic society. (JDM)