Hard Lockdown Drill on Tuesday, October 4
You send your children to us every day with the expectation that we will not only teach them, but also keep them safe. I can assure you that this is a trust that District 54 does not take lightly.
As required by the Illinois School Code, our schools participate in fire, severe weather, bus evacuation and emergency response drills to ensure our students and employees know what to do should an emergency occur.
On Tuesday, October 4, our school will participate in a hard lockdown drill. Our past experience in conducting drills has shown us that most students are able to participate with the understanding that it is just a drill. However, we do allow parents/guardians to exempt a child from the drill. Should you feel this situation would be too traumatic for your child or should you want more information about the drills, please contact me at 847-357-5289. Under state law, schools must still provide alternative safety education related to an active threat to students who do not participate in the lockdown drill.
Each year the entire District 54 staff is trained on our crisis prevention and response plan, which was developed in coordination with our local police and fire departments. We review these plans annually with all of the fire and police departments that serve our schools because we work cooperatively to keep students safe. After each drill, we reflect as a staff and with local emergency responders to determine if there are any procedures we might need to review with the staff and students.
We also focus on prevention by forming relationships with our students to provide support when they need it, and so that they feel comfortable reporting to us when they hear or see concerning behaviors. Please reinforce this with your children at home. Let them know that they can also come to you when they feel unsafe and remind them that they should report any suspicions and concerns about school safety.
If it was a real emergency, and not a drill, every phone number associated with your child’s record will be called using our notification system. We will also text and email parents/guardians and provide information on our website. We appreciate your cooperation and promise to communicate with you as soon as possible. Please be patient as our first priority will be the safety of our students and staff.
While your natural instinct as a parent in an emergency is to go to your child’s school or to call the school office in an emergency, please understand that doing so may significantly impede the response capabilities of our local emergency responders. In addition, it is sometimes necessary to evacuate students to another location.
The safety of your children is very important to our staff. Should you have any questions about this drill, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Link Elementary