11/6 TLMHS Family Update and Information; photos visible if opened up

In a conversation with a parent this week the discussion turned to school safety and something that had happened on Wednesday with our hold in place.

As the 410 students passed out the front doors that day, I knew the parent was looking for assurance that the children were going to be safe in our hands the next day.

Along with wearing my “Principal” hat, I am also a member of the District’s Safety Team and a community member. I know what the school and district routinely does to assure that all our students remain safe, but it was never something that we routinely shared with parents. When parents send their children to school, or drop them off in front of the building, you are entrusting your most special possession into our hands.

Not only is it our responsibility to provide a learning environment in which they develop and grow their academic skills, but of equal, if not more importance, a safe environment for this to happen.

Although the most observable safety activity that we do at school is a fire drill (which we are required to complete eight times before December 31) it is only one small part of student safety.

• Each school building is required to complete "Fire Drills" annually. The goal of a fire drill is to safely and quickly evacuate all students and staff out of the building. Exiting students out of the building is only one half of the process. Once outside, the important task is to then communicate to the many locations outside of the building to account for all students and staff members.
• A "Hold in Place" occurs if we need to limit movement of students and staff while dealing with short-term emergencies (example: cleaning up a mess in the hall). 
• A "Shelter-in-Place" is used to shelter students and staff inside the building (examples: serious weather)
• A “Lockout” procedure is used when there exists a harm in the outside vicinity of the school. All exterior doors remain locked and no entrance or exit is allowed until we are assured that no danger exists (example: escaped inmate).
• A "Lockdown" procedure is used to secure all occupants of the building if there is potentially an immediate threat of violence within the school. We are required to practice this drill four times each year. Parents should be reassured that, within a matter of seconds, teachers have a routine to secure their students.
• Evacuation drills are conducted to assure that the school can quickly and safely move everyone to an alternate site if necessary.

I am sharing this information with you now because of that conversation with that parent. I also hope that I have been able to provide you with more insight about what we do in school and how seriously we take school safety.