Elephant’s Fork Elementary School’s partner in education paid a visit Friday to help make the ending a happy one in the event any student goes missing.

The Suffolk Sheriff’s Office set up its EZ Child Identification Program in the front foyer, collecting fingerprints, addresses and other information from students.

According to Maj. E.C. Harris, who was there with Deputy Eddie Harville and Civil Enforcement Secretary Katie Jones, the exercise could prove inestimably valuable.

All the information is given back to the parents, Harris said. The department keeps none of it.

Parents are also instructed on how to take a DNA sample from their child.

“Heaven forbid, if the child goes missing, they are able to provide the information to the police department right away,” Harris said.

It gives police a head start on any investigation, he said.

The Sheriff’s Department has only begun as Elephant’s Fork’s partner in education this year.

“We used to do it at Mt. Zion,” Harris said. “We started back this year at Elephant’s Fork.”

Department staffers also attend the school to read to students and serve as “lunchroom buddies.”

They do bus stop duty, and Harris said they may also — pending School Board approval — start riding buses serving Elephant’s Fork in the afternoon.

“We provide a valuable service to the parents and we are able to mentor these young people,” Harris said.

While middle and high schools have school resource officers, it’s somewhat rare for an elementary school to have such as opportunity to develop a positive relationship with law enforcement.

It’s a way of earning students’ trust while they’re still adolescents, Harris said.

“We try to get up here as much as we possibly can,” he said.

Harris and the others planned to run the identification program at Elephant’s Fork for eight hours Friday.

Thirty-eight students had participated after five hours.

“I was on the police department for a long time,” Harris said. “Unfortunately, when the young ones come up missing, moms and dads are frantic.

“It answers so many questions right away.”