Question for any school employee

[CEDmom]

I'm really surprised at the number of school that let everyone know about the drills. I can see doing the 1st one that way so all the kids know what to do but after that it really defeats the purpose.

In our old district the principal had been in disaster recovery and mgmt for a number of years so he took things to the next level. He implemented "code red apple" where the teachers locked the doors and took the kids to a safe part of the classroom that couldn't be seen from any window when the words "red apple" came over the PA system. Amazingly the kids all remained calm during this because they had practiced a few times. The principal and some key admin walked the building looking in every door and window and honestly could see or hear any children.

He also practiced evacuating the entire school up to the middle school gym which had been deemed a safe haven in the event of a problem inside the building.

I hope and pray none of these measures has to be put into effect but it's comforting on some level to know they're in place.

 

[kbkids]

In our school, we've got fire drills, tornado drills, and lockdown drills. The teachers don't know about the fire drills or the tornado drills. They are given a little pre-warning on the lockdown drills - as in sometime this morning you might want to be prepared for a lockdown drill. The kids don't know though.

 

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

In our kids' old school, the first couple drills of the year, everyone knew about them, mainly so the younger kids wouldn't be afraid of the noise. Each of the classes practiced what to do before the actual drill. After that the principal would do some surprise ones, some where the teachers knew they were coming. After the first couple, the kids were never informed. A couple times/year the fire trucks would come to the school and the firemen would come, in full turn-out gear, and talk with the K-2 classes about fire safety. All the drills were coordinated with the fire department (the fire alarms are wired to the fire station so they can respond immediately). The principal always knew they were coming as did the fire department and head custodian, unless some kid pulled the alarm, only happened once in the 9 years we were at the school.

The schools around here do similar things. Fire drills are always planned. The elementary school kids were informed about the drill so that they wouldn't be scared and so they could be taught what to do. Also the firemen would come to the school for a day and have a lesson in fire safety. The trucks and an ambulence were at the school for the kids to explore.

The middle school and high school teachers knew about the drills but they never told the students. At that point the students were assumed to know how to handle the situation. The only fire drills the students were ever told about were the school bus fire drills.

 

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

I'm really surprised at the number of school that let everyone know about the drills. I can see doing the 1st one that way so all the kids know what to do but after that it really defeats the purpose.

I also think it defeats the purpose. But in the high schools there are so many unplanned fire alarms. The students and teachers do have experience in a real fire alarm. I remember one time there really was a fire.

The schools here also do a drill to evacuate all the students to one centralized place, usually the gym. The students are told about it ahead of time because it takes place during the last 10 minutes of the last period of the day and it could last awhile. The fire and police dept come and inspect the schools to see that everyone is evacuated. The principal is in contact with them the entire time. Sometimes it takes 10 minutes, sometimes longer. So students are told ahead of time so they don't have parents complaining over the fact that their kids got out 30 minutes late.

 

[paigevz]

Our AP, Principal, secretaries and counselor station themselves around different areas with walkie talkies so they can "observe and report" during a fire drill.

None of the rest of us know it's coming. In fact, in Pre-K, I had to pull kids off the toilet more than once!

We also have lockdown and tornado drills, and don't know those are coming, either.

 

[teacherforhi]

In NC, schools are required to have one fire drill a month as well as having two in the first ten days of school. Usually, my principal forgets about doing them and the alarm gets pulled on the 30th or 31st of the month.

 

[MrsPete]

Yes, we teachers know when they're coming -- sometimes we know that it'll be Thursday 2nd period, other times we know it'll be sometime Thursday. The students, however, do NOT know in advance.

We have to have one per month, so we usually have them on one of the last days of the month. One of the assistant principals is in charge of this task, and he is always careful to watch the weather and if rain's coming he gets us out a couple days early.

They take fire drills very seriously. An assistant principal (or other administrator) is stationed at each of the exit doors, and they time us from the moment the bell goes off to the time the last student clears the door.

 

[nja33]

I don't remember knowing before hand in elementary school but in high school we almost always knew. The teachers would know and be talking about it then a student would ask and by the time you got to the period it was going to happen everyone knew. It was actually a good thing to know in high school because a lot of the times it would happen on presentation days and with the teacher knowing what time it would happen (always about 10 minutes before the end of the period) they could stop early so a student wasn't in the middle of their report.

The other reason we always knew or at least had an idea was because we were required to have 1 or 2 a month (I can't remember) and by the end of the month when we didn't have one we knew it would happen. Plus they'd cancel them due to weather if necessary. We also always knew when it was a pulled alarm and just a drill. Drills were short, pulled alarms were not.

 

[TinkNH]

I have taught at 3 different schools, all with different 'plans'
The special education school I taught at would tell the teachers ahead of time. We would know the day, sometimes if it was going to be before or after lunch, and sometimes the exact time.
The public school I taught at in NH, the first drill was announced, the second the teachers only knew the day..and the others were surprises. We also practiced lock downs, and those followed the same pattern so we could get the children to know what to expect before they were a surprise.
The preschool I taught at, we had to do a drill every month, but these were planned by me the classroom teacher, and I told the children the first one in morning circle there would be one and what to expect (me annoncing 'fire drill fire drill") but the months after that I didnot tell them.

 

[The_Horned_King]

In my building the principal is the one that decideds when to do them. Somtimes we are told , sometimes we are not.

 

[aprilgail2]

They have a few a school year here. They told the kindergarten kids each time it was going to happen. In my daughters preschool class they had fire drills and some kids were so upset by them the parents couldnt' get them to go to school for 2 weeks after the drills so after that happened even the preschool would warn the day in advance and the 2 kids that were realy upset by them would not come to school th e day of the drill.

 

[pigletz]

We're always told about the first one. The eighth grade is located in a modular unit (trailer). We don't have a parking lot to line the kids up in so getting the kids to a safe place in an orderly fashion can be difficult the first time. If we don't prepare the kids the first time they just go wherever their friends are the first time. After the first time we're usually not told. The only times we might know are when the principal decides to have a fire drill dismissal. She usually does this the day before a break. The kids get their stuff before ninth period and then about ten minutes before the end of the day there is a fire drill and we dismiss the kids from there.

One year we ended up with a list of all the fire drills because some kids were pulling the alarm several times a day. This way we knew when to go outside and when not to. In a bigger building this would be a problem but since we only have one hallway with about 20 classrooms it's pretty easy to tell if there is actually a fire or if someone just pulled the alarm. Things got so bad that year that after the alarm went off the principal and security guard had to go to every classroom with a blacklight and check all of the kids hands. We had some very angry parents that year that had to pay the fire departments bill after their kid pulled the alarm. Some of the kids weren't to bright though. Even after kids got caught, they kept pulling the alarm.

 

[monsterkitty]

More specifically, my question is more aimed toward the PRINCIPAL knowing that a drill will happen.

We have two kinds of drills:

1. We have fire drills that are planned by the principal. She knows about it and we know about it. We do not tell the kids about the drill.

2. The fire department will also plan drills at various schools during the year. These are not even known to the principal. During the drill, a fireman or firewoman, will pull a kid aside and take them to another location. The purpose of this drill is test that teachers and staff know exactly where kids are at all times.

If the fire alarm goes off and we don't know about it, that means that a kid pulled it or there is a need for the alarm going off.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I haven't read all the responses, but...

In our school, they're planned. Sometimes the teachers are told before hand. In our school, if the classroom has a child with special needs who may be extra sensitive to sound or ******* (sensory probs, autism, etc), the teacher will be told before hand and may take the child out before the alarm goes off.

 

[Debi]

In our district we have 2 drills a month. The principal and key staff know when they're coming but not the teachers. They purposely don't tell them and also schedule the drills at all different times in order to really test the process.

This is how my district runs also.

 

[Alice28]

They were planned, but often only administration knew about it. They had to be once a month. Sometimes the principal would note in her weekly staff email to 'expect a fire drill sometime later this week.'

There was also an 'emergency drill' that was different than a fire drill. This was a lock down type drill in case of an intruder in the building. That was scary to do- had to quickly lock your door, pull drapes in classroom and around door (we had glass around door), get kids into a certain space in the classroom and be quiet until the all clear. Oh, and turn off the lights. These were also done about once a month. And when they first were done, even the parents were notified, so they knew what was going on as well.

 

[CajunDixie]

Our schools usually have 3-4 fire drills a year, 2 tornado drills, and 1 lockdown. And the bus drivers do 1 fire drill and combine it usually with a tornado drill the same day. The whole county does the one tornado drill so everyone knows about it. Our principal and teachers know about the fire drills a week ahead of time. Some teachers will suggest the students dress warmly the day before a drill ("just in case we have to go outside") in the winter.

Anyone else curious why the OP wants to know if the principal knows ahead of time?