In an ongoing and continuous effort to maintain a safe learning environment at the Clark and Wilkins Schools, students and staff members practice regularly various drills including standard building evacuation, reverse building evacuation, building lock down, evacuation to alternate site, and response to an intruder. All classrooms maintain safety backpacks that contain a variety of materials to support individuals during unexpected emergencies. All of the backpacks contain a flip chart that details the specific steps adults should take during different types of emergencies. Additional materials include, but are not limited to: class lists, flashlights, batteries, medical supplies, water, pens and pencils, emergency ponchos, and reading materials. Additionally, both schools maintain a large number of two way radios that can be used to communicate in the event of power outages or in situations where the use of phones or intercoms would be potentially unsafe.

     Crisis intervention teams consisting of representatives from both the Clark and Wilkins Schools have attended formal training sessions with representatives from the New Hampshire State Department of Emergency Preparedness to practice various scenarios and to review the procedures outlined in our emergency flip charts. Representatives from the Amherst Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Response Teams also attended the training sessions with school staff members. During any and all emergency procedures we maintain close communication with the Amherst Fire and Police Departments. Practice drills are conducted during a range of times—our most recent “practice session” at Wilkins occurred with hot lunch and recess in progress—to see how children and staff members respond to the unexpected. We recognize that an unexpected emergency could occur at any time and we have planned for a number of scenarios that require different responses.

Global Connect

Dear Families,

All of the schools within SAU#39 will be using a new phone notification system, “Global Connect”, which can be used to inform families about school cancellations, delayed openings, early dismissals, and any emergency situation. This system could have provided a valuable communication tool on August 29, when Wilkins School experienced its fire.

 Please provide us with any feedback you have with regards to this new system. Remember that “Global Connect” will communicate via phone lines—land or cell—but will not access, at this time, email addresses.

Regards,

Gerry St. Amand