As Founder and Chief Financial & Operating Officer of Aspen Academy — a Pre-school through 8th-grade independent school serving 500 students in Metro Denver — Lynda Sailor refused to wait for tragedy to find her campus. She had built this school. She had watched it grow. And she was determined to protect it with everything she had.
So she did something that most administrators don't: she tested every security solution on the market, searching for the power to stop threats before they ever reached her students.
What she found changed everything.
The Wake-Up Call
Lynda looked at Aspen Academy's existing security system and saw what most schools have: a reactive tool. Cameras that recorded footage. Systems that documented what happened after something went wrong. A forensic resource, not a protective one.
That wasn't good enough. Not for the school she'd built. Not for the students she'd watched grow from Pre-school through 8th grade. Not for the families who trusted Aspen Academy with their children every single day.
"I couldn't just hope an incident wouldn't happen here," Lynda explained. "I needed to know, actually know, that we could stop a threat before it reached our kids."
The Search for Real Protection
Lynda didn't take vendor claims at face value. She conducted internal audits using the PASS (Partner Alliance for Safer Schools) checklist. She brought in Brad Stiles, the head of school safety for Colorado, to provide an external audit of their programs. She evaluated every solution she could find.
Her criteria were uncompromising:
Proactive capabilities: She needed detection before incidents, not documentation after
- Cost-effectiveness: As a CFO, she understood the budget realities schools face
- Integration with existing systems: No complete infrastructure overhauls
- Proven performance: Not promises, but demonstrated results
Lynda and her team conducted rigorous reviews of multiple solutions, including VOLT AI, Net Talon, ZeroEyes, and Avigilon. She tested them. She pushed them. She looked for weaknesses.
And then came the moment that made her decision clear.
The Test That Changed Everything
During weapon detection testing with Greenwood Village Police, Lynda experienced something she'd never seen from a security system before.
"I got a weapons notification on my phone before the individual with the weapon even got to the entrance of the school," Lynda recalled. "At that point I knew this was the real deal. This was good."
Read that again: before the person with the weapon reached the entrance.
In school security, seconds matter. The difference between a threat detected at the perimeter versus a threat detected inside the building can be the difference between intervention and tragedy. Lynda had found a system that gave her those precious seconds: time to respond, time to lock down, time to protect.
That's her superpower: Threshold Sense. The ability to detect danger before it reaches the door.
Building the Barrier
Today, Aspen Academy operates with what Lynda calls an even more solid line of defense. Every potential threat is identified and addressed before it can cross the threshold. The system doesn't just watch, it guards.
VOLT AI's rapid detection, combined with human verification through the Security Operations Center, means Lynda's team receives alerts they can trust and act on immediately. No alert fatigue from false positives. No wasted time investigating non-threats. Just reliable, verified notifications when something actually requires attention.
The system has already proven its value in real-world situations. While neither incident involved genuine danger, both demonstrated the system's sensitivity and created unexpected opportunities:
- A student-made 3D-printed pocket knife: The system detected it immediately, allowing staff to intervene and have an educational conversation about school safety policies.
- A Nerf gun brought to school: Again, instant detection, immediate response, and a teachable moment for the student involved.
"These weren't real threats," Lynda acknowledged. "But the fact that we caught them proves the system works. If it can detect a 3D-printed pocket knife, it can detect a real weapon. And we'll know about it before that person ever gets through our door."
Compare VOLT to other AI Security Solutions.
The Business Case for Protection
As a CFO, Lynda approaches everything through a financial lens, and the ROI on VOLT AI exceeded her expectations.
The cost comparison is striking. Hiring a full-time security employee to attempt even a fraction of what VOLT AI provides would cost more than the entire system. When you factor in benefits, training, vacation time, sick days, and the simple human limitation that one person can't watch every camera simultaneously, the math becomes obvious.
"Hiring the equivalent of one full-time security employee to attempt to do even a fraction of what VOLT can, costs more than the VOLT AI system," Lynda explained. "So when you think of it that way, it is a massive cost savings."
But the financial benefits extend beyond direct cost comparison. At a time when most schools experienced roughly 20% increases in their insurance rates, Aspen Academy's rates remained flat, likely in large part due to their implementation of VOLT AI.
The system also scales beautifully. Aspen Academy expanded their campus this summer with a new building for early learning, accommodating an additional 100 students. The VOLT AI system integrated seamlessly into the new space, providing consistent protection as the school grows.
What She Creates, She Protects
There's something particularly powerful about Lynda's story. She didn't inherit Aspen Academy, she built it. She's watched it grow from an idea into a thriving educational community. She knows every corner of that campus, every family that trusts them with their children, every teacher who dedicates themselves to their students.
That's her Builder's Resolve: what she creates, she protects. No exceptions. No compromises.
When Lynda stands at the entrance of Aspen Academy, she knows exactly what she's defending. And she knows that no threat will cross that threshold unchallenged.
"You won't get to the door," her catchphrase declares. "Not here. Not ever."
It's not bravado. It's a promise backed by technology, testing, and an unwavering commitment to the children in her care.
Get answers directly from K-12 Schools who have implemented VOLT.
Advice for Fellow School Leaders
Lynda's journey to confident protection offers a roadmap for other school administrators:
- Do your homework. Don't accept vendor claims without verification. Conduct internal audits using established frameworks like PASS. Bring in external experts to identify vulnerabilities you might miss.
- Test everything. Involve local law enforcement in your evaluation process. Run real scenarios. Push systems to their limits. You need to know what works before you need it to work.
- Think beyond the sticker price. Compare the cost of technology against the cost of equivalent human coverage. Factor in insurance implications, scalability, and the value of your existing camera infrastructure.
- Prioritize proactive over reactive. Documentation after an incident isn't protection, it's evidence. True security means detection and response before situations escalate.
- Don't wait. The time to strengthen your security isn't after something happens. It's now.
Why We're Celebrating Lynda
The Campus Security Heroes series recognizes the real people doing extraordinary work to protect students and staff. Lynda Sailor exemplifies what it means to take responsibility for the safety of an entire community.
She didn't accept "good enough." She didn't hope for the best. She tested every option, demanded proven results, and built a security infrastructure that gives her school something priceless: the confidence that threats will be detected and stopped before they reach the children inside.
Her powers — Threshold Sense, Barrier Projection, Builder's Resolve — aren't fantasy. They're the real capabilities of someone who refused to leave her students' safety to chance.
Today, Aspen Academy stands protected by The Gatekeeper. And no threat gets past her door.
