Important Announcement

On Friday, September 19, if you see lines of students walking across the street heading to the Teen Center, do not panic. We will be holding our annual mandated emergency evacuation drill.

The Department requires all schools to hold emergency drills at least once a month.  Most of the time, we have fire drills, but we are also mandated to have an emergency evacuation drill and a shelter-in-place drill at least once during the school year.

US Army Garrison personnel provides oversight for our emergency evacuation drill. Afterwards, we convene for an After-Action Review, and everyone present shares their observations and makes recommendations for future evacuations.  Please know that we take these monthly drills seriously, are required to submit data at the end of the year and revise our emergency plans accordingly.

Parents have asked if they can walk with their child. Because this is a drill and practice for an actual emergency, we ask that unless you normally volunteer on Fridays, do not plan on accompanying your child.  We need to know that our teachers and students know what to do in case of an emergency.

You will be getting a mass message on your primary phone number when the drill begins and after the drill is over. The message will be sent to your voice mail if you do not pick up the call.  Please do not call the school; no one will answer because all of us will be participating in the drill.  The drill requires us to have a plan at the evacuation site when parents come to pick up their children. This is an important part of what the Army personnel will be observing.

We will remind you of the drill prior to Friday. We always recommend that students dress comfortably for school and bring a container of water. This will be especially true on Friday when students will walk approximately 1/2 mile to the Teen Center. We have had flip-flops break along the way as well as blisters on girls who were wearing shoes more appropriate for parties than for school.

Every year, the Army observers praise our students for their behavior during this drill. This is a direct reflection on our staff who stress the expectations for all emergency drills.

We will notify you if the emergency evacuation drill will be rescheduled due to inclement weather or some other unforeseen circumstances. Additionally, if your primary phone number has changed, please let the school know so we can change our records.

We hope that we never have an actual emergency requiring evacuation, but if we do, we will at least know that we are prepared.