Rockport Police Chief John Horvath, center, accepts the Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth’s 2024 Dr. Patrick A. Schettini Jr. Memorial Award, alongside Rockport Town Administrator Mitchell Vieira, left, and Manchester by-the-Sea Police Department Chief Todd Fitzgerald, who nominated Chief Horvath, at the MPY conference on Tuesday, Nov. 19. (Photo courtesy Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth)

WAKEFIELD — Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth (MPY) is pleased to announce that Rockport Police Chief John Horvath has been awarded the 2024 Dr. Patrick A. Schettini Jr. Memorial Award.

Chief Horvath was presented with the award on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at MPY’s Liability and Fidelity in School Threat Assessment conference at Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School.

Chief Horvath was nominated for the award by Manchester by-the-Sea Police Department Chief Todd Fitzgerald.

“Throughout his tenure, Chief Horvath has implemented various initiatives to promote safe environments for young people, including community outreach programs that focus on substance abuse, bullying prevention, and mental health awareness,” Chief Fitzgerald said in his nomination letter. “Chief Horvath was also instrumental in the publication of the Mass Chief of Police Association School Security and Best Practices Guide that was distributed to schools across the Commonwealth in October of 2023.”

The Dr. Patrick A. Schettini Jr. Memorial Award is presented to an active school superintendent, police chief, or fire chief from an MPY member district. Dr. Schettini was a teacher, administrator, and superintendent who displayed leadership and compassion toward his students and worked tirelessly to improve education through his efforts at the local, state, and federal levels. Nominees for this award exemplify Dr. Schettini’s commitment to the health and safety of students while dealing with the complexities of the 21st century.

Chief Horvath is the chairperson for the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association’s (MCOPA) School Safety and Security Committee, where he leads a team of police chiefs and school superintendent representatives in identifying and leveraging best practices for safe schools. He also leads the MCOPA Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management | Violence Risk Assessment Committee, composed of more than 30 members from local, state, federal, international, and nonprofit partners. Members build awareness and capacity for addressing threats and managing risk proactively for the safety of our communities.

Chief Horvath is a leader in school safety and an advocate for interdisciplinary and diverse partnerships within his work. He promotes the comprehensive integration of mental health clinical training and professional development of all team members, as well as the use of complementary law enforcement to ensure school and community safety.

Several former Dr. Schettini Award winners attended Tuesday’s conference, including Sudbury Police Chief Scott Nix (2014), former Municipal Police Training Committee Executive Director Robert Ferullo (2018), and former Woburn Police Chief and former Executive Director of the Massachusetts Police Training Committee and Woburn School Superintendent Matthew Crowley (2023).

About the Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth, Inc.

Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides training, fosters collaboration, and develops programming to increase the health and safety of students. MPY is committed to bringing cutting-edge information and high-quality trainings to constituents and endeavors to provide solution-oriented, community-based, multi-disciplinary approaches to reducing and ideally eliminating risky behaviors for youth. MPY programming reaches nearly 6,000 educators per year in Massachusetts, spread across approximately 300 districts, with more than 150 webinars and over a dozen conferences.

Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth is governed by a Board of Directors made up of school superintendents, police and fire chiefs, and other community leaders who work closely with MPY staff to deliver this mission. To learn more, visit: https://massachusettspartnershipsforyouth.com/.

From left, former Rockport Public Schools Director Of Student Services Martha Robinson, who now serves as the Interim Director of Special Education and Student Services for Amesbury Public Schools; Rockport Town Administrator Mitchell Vieira; Rockport Police Chief John Horvath; and Rockport Police Lt. Michael Marino, after Chief Horvath was presented with the Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth’s 2024 Dr. Patrick A. Schettini Jr. Memorial Award. (Photo courtesy Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth)