Meet Saratoga’s new School Resource Officer, Mark Vanderploeg

MORRIS — Saratoga Elementary School has welcomed its first school resource officer this year, after months of negotiations between the school board, the city of Morris, and concerned parents.

Officer Mark Vanderploeg, from the Morris Police Department, is serving as the new School Resource Officer. He was hired full-time and will be responsible for the students attending Saratoga Elementary School.

School resource officers are known for providing safety and security for students and staff members; however, Vanderploeg said his job extends to other duties other than maintaining safety.

“Building relationships with the kids is extremely important. When I started working here, I started talking to as many kids as I could. I walk the halls, I go outside for recess, I’m in the lunch room, and I try to interact with the children during pickups and drop-offs,” Vanderploeg said.

“It’s important to have a rapport with children, so they have a place to come if they need it,” he said.

Over the past 10 years, Vanderploeg has been a K-9 patrol officer with his partner K-9 Niko. His experience on patrol and working at Benedictine University as a college police officer has provided him with the ability to use proactive measures to maintain safety and security.

In his short time at Saratoga, Vanderploeg has already begun bonding with the kids, playing Gaga ball with a group of fourth graders. Gaga ball is a variant of dodgeball, played in a pit. The games include striking, running, and jumping.

“I was playing with fourth graders — they asked me to play. There were like 30 kids in this pit and they were psyched about it and it was great. You know, just building a rapport with these children and, just laughing is the best,” Vanderploeg said.

Students of every age group have embraced the new addition to the Saratoga family, giving him the nickname, “Officer V.”

“He is so good. We call him Officer V and he has a puppy. I really like him. He’s really nice and he showed us his taser!” Richard Van Yperen, 3rd grade, said.

“You know why he is nice? He wants to make sure everything is okay. That’s why he is at our school,” Viviana Van Yperen, a kindergartener, said.

As Vanderploeg has had time to adapt to his new role, his partner, K-9 Niko, just started with Saratoga this week.

Niko has been a member of the Morris Police Department for six years as a drug dog, but that will not be his role at Saratoga.

“He will not be a working dog, while at the school. His role here is peer support. He’s completely out of work mode. He can turn it on and turn it off. Like, I have three kids at home, my youngest being eight and he has never bitten anyone. He’s amazing,” Vanderploeg said.

Outside of school, Niko is in full work mode with his partner Vanderploeg.

Both Vanderploeg and Niko have the support of parents, who say that the addition of an SRO at Saratoga has brought them “peace of mind” and feel having an SRO has a positive impact on their children.

“As a parent, I have peace of mind knowing an SRO has been added to the team at Saratoga. We see Officer Vanderploeg outside with the teachers at morning drop-off. He interacts with the students naturally and it’s evident they embrace him already. Niko adds an element of intrigue for the kids and is an additional resource for safety and support. We can’t fully appreciate the value they’ll add together over the next several years,” Julie Wilkinson, a parent, said.