Office News
School Safety Procedures: Summary for Parents
As we observe the anniversary of the terrible Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, here is an update on our school safety procedures:
ALICE, Lockdowns, and Safety Drills
1. Nationally, the new preferred paradigm for responding to a violent school intruder is ALICE, an acronym for "Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate."
· At our August staff meeting, the staff reviewed the primary strategies of ALICE.
· In September, Mr. Teller attended a half-day workshop on ALICE sponsored by Cincinnati Public Schools and brought this information back to the GSCM staff at a subsequent staff meeting.
· In January, the entire GSCM staff will work with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department on role-playing several scenarios, to increase our preparedness.
2. Schools are required to conduct annual 'safety drills' with their students, and the Ohio State Legislature has pending legislation that will require multiple safety drills each school year.
· Our staff is carefully considering the best way to prepare our students, taking into account the developmental maturity of each age level, the importance of providing adequate preparation for an unforeseen incident, and the desire to shield children from associating undue fearfulness with the school environment.
· Upon completion of our work with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department, we will plan and implement a safety drill. We will notify parents ahead of time so they can discuss this beforehand with their child.
For more information on ALICE, go to http://www.alicetraining.com
Doors
1. All exterior doors are locked during the school day, including during lunch/recess.
2. Visitors enter only through the front office entry. A surveillance camera and intercom/buzzer system makes guests both visible and audible when buzzing in.
3. Children are not permitted to open entry doors to let people in (including parents, teachers or other children). An adult staff member must admit people to the building.
4. Lower entrance doors are locked at all times.
Visitors
1. Visitors must enter the school through the office entrance. Visitors will buzz in, identify themselves, be admitted by an office staff person, sign in the visitors' log, and obtain a visitor's badge.
· All visitors (including parents) must wear a visitor's badge when in the building.
· When picking up children early, parents should inform office staff, before picking up child(ren) from the classroom. Parents should not go directly to classrooms for early-pickup.
Reminder: Beans Collection Thursday
Please don't forget our collection this Thursday for Inter Parish Ministry's food choice pantry. We're collecting beans of any kind except green beans. You may bring it in early and place it in the box outside the office. If you still happen to forget, you can bring it on Friday.
Thank you for your continued generosity.
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