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Parent Safety Tips

The school administration’s priority is to handle the immediate emergency at hand, including engaging with law enforcement, the fire department or other medical personnel. Parents/guardians can assist both before and during an emergency by adhering to the following: 

  1. Keep contact information up-to-date in the Parent Portal. Regularly check both your contact information and your emergency contacts in the Parent Portal. Having up-to-date contact information and not opting out of district messages will ensure that you receive messages from the district in the case of an emergency.
  2. Adhere to visitor protocols. All visitors and volunteers must undergo a background check and wear a lanyard when visiting the school. Schools may create additional protocols for safety and convenience (i.e., drop-off bins outside the school for forgotten items). By limiting unnecessary visits inside the school during busy times of the day, such as arrival, midday and dismissal, office staff can remain focused on the immediate needs of students and their building.
  3. Monitor your email and phone. Parents will be communicated with regularly in the event of an emergency. If it is necessary for students to leave the school and be transferred to another location to be reunified with parents, a notification about the pick-up location (reunification site) will be sent to families.
  4. If there is an emergency at the school, please do not come to the school. While it is natural for parents and guardians to want to go to their child’s school in the event of an emergency, doing so may actually be counterproductive to emergency response measures. Additional traffic and/or visitors may prevent emergency vehicles from being able to access and/or leave the school property.
  5. If there is an emergency at the school, please do not contact the school. Parents/guardians are discouraged from calling the school, as phone lines need to be open for communication and office staff may be needed for emergency response efforts. Throughout the crisis, District 63 will provide regular updates to families and the community via the mass notification system (email, phone and text).
  6. Do not call or text your child. It is important during an emergency that students pay attention and listen to the adults in charge. If they are distracted by calls and texts to their phones, students may miss instructions key to their safety.
  7. Do not post pictures or information on social media. During emergencies, it is important that the proper authorities serve as the primary communicators of what is/has occurred and provide the facts. Posting on social media may only cause confusion and/or the spread of misinformation, putting people at risk and/or causing harm.