Last year we had the Massachusetts Freemasons come into our Elementary and Middle Schools with the CHIP program (Child Identification Program). This was FREE to all children (permission slip had to be signed) and was done during the school day.

The Freemasons came in and took:

1. Videotapes ~ Each child stood in front of a wall that showed their height in the background and were asked simple questions like your name, address etc. They also had the children stand to the side for a profile shot and to the back. Also noted any distinguishing marks like a birthmark (asked on permission slip)

2. Fingerprints

3. Toothprints ~ The toothprint impression was quick and easy and was done by local dentists ~ also inmportant because the childs DNA is also on the impression.

Everything was done on the spot and sent home with the kids in a big envelope that day. If parents wanted to be there, they could.

Parents volunteered their time to man the video camera and transport the kids to and from their classrooms. We also allowed a time period for parents with smaller children to attend.

Please go to www.mychip.org for more information. I don't know if the Freemasons are in other states but is worth looking into.

It was a HUGE success.

Does Life Touch do the cards for your school for free? We use them for class pictures in the fall and spring, and it would be nice to have.

Sorry this is late I haven't had any time to check the postings, If you are looking for Id cards for the echildren I would check with the company you use for school photos, many of them are offering this free service to keep business since compitition is getting tough, give it a try. We use LifeTouch and have been very pleased

Update---our cards did come in, finally, a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, they lost half of them. The cards we did get are nice, but we were disappointed; we don't really think they'll be very useful. They also came with a sales pitch so you can upgrade the card with a new picture and information within the next year.

I suppose it's better than nothing, but we wouldn't bother doing this again. And I don't think my answer would be any different if they had not lost half our cards.

Yes, one ID card really is free. The turnaround time is supposed to be 8-10 weeks. We sent ours in at the end of October, so they should be getting returned to us any time now.....

Originally posted by Michelle B:
Hi Patty, Kidz Idz are not free to every school. I only know that they are free to schools that are members of the organizations that they are working with like PTA.

If you need something to show your superintendent or principal (and since you specifically asked for information regarding this, it should be okay to post)
www.2stepstosafety.com/pta/

Pretty sure they'll give same deal to any parent group.

Here's a url for PTOs. It's exactly the same offer.

www.2stepstosafety.com/pto/

Tim