Dear Room 105 families:
Today we talked about our ALICE procedure and what to do. Mrs. Murray was able to join us and the conversation went very well! Consistently throughout, the three teachers reiterated the most important rule which is to listen to the teacher.
The discussion started by giving the students a compliment for being excellent direction followers! We talked about different kinds of drills including fire drills and bus evacuation drills (and even power drills!). One kind of drill that we practice at school is an ALICE drill. Since we have a friend in our class named Alice, it was important to me that they understood ALICE stands for different words, so we briefly talked about acronyms. I explained that each letter stands for a direction that teachers need to follow, but I did not tell them what each letter in ALICE stands for, and no students asked.
The next part of the conversation was discussing what an intruder is, and we explained it in a very developmentally appropriate way that an intruder is someone who is uninvited- including someone's pet dog on the playground, a bumblebee in the classroom, and even a person who is uninvited in Claypit Hill school and who may unsafe. As I said, the most important message we reiterated was that students need to listen to the teacher for directions if they hear someone say, "ALICE, ALICE, ALICE" and that may be to run out of the building.
Questions that came up from students included:
- "What if the intruder was outside our classroom, on the outside of the building?"
- "What if the intruder was a robber?"
- "What if the intruder stole someone's key card to get into the school?"
- "What if the intruder got in through the window?"
- "What if the intruder was someone we know?"
All of these questions were answered by the three teachers with the response that we are here to keep them safe and protected, and we will know what to do and tell them where to go. We talked about if you are alone, in the bathroom for example, you should go away from unexpected noises and/or find a teacher to help you. Students appeared to accept these answers with confidence. At the end of the conversation, we put on our coats and practiced running outside as we will do in the drill, and all students did a wonderful job following directions!
I am so proud of your children. I am here to support you if you have any follow up questions or concerns. Please don't hesitate to reach out.