We had an unannounced fire drill today. Your wildcat did a great job of listening to the teacher and exiting the building quietly.
Towards the end of the month, we will have a lockdown drill as delineated in the School, Safety Drill Act. We practice two kinds of drills. One is when there is some kind of danger outside the building. This has happened before with severe weather or an environmental danger. Once we account for all students, they continue with their day , but remain inside the building. We also do not allow anyone from outside the building to enter until we have been given an all clear.
The other kind of drill is what we would use is if there were a danger inside the building. We work with the Homewood Police Department for guidance on this. Given the age of our students, we want to be careful not to traumatize them, but also enforce how to be safe. You can help at home by reinforcing that if their teacher tells him/her/them to stop and listen, that he/she/they need to do so immediately and then follow the directions. When the police assist us in this drill, they are in regular uniform. This is not a practice for them, so they do not come in full gear. Once halls, rooms, and common areas are checked we will resume our regular day.
