How We Deal With Emergencies

Dear Parent/Guardian:

We want you to be aware that The Pre-tech Preschool has made many preparations to deal effectively with emergency situations that could occur in or around the school, both during the school day and during after hours activities. While we hope that a natural disaster or other serious incident never occurs, our goal is to be prepared for any potential emergency. At all times, our first priority is to protect all students, staff, and guests from harm.

In order for our emergency response plans to be effective we depend on the cooperation and assistance of many people such as law enforcement, the emergency management agency, and the hospital. We will be conducting Emergency Response Drills in cooperation with these agencies so that we will be even more prepared in the event of an emergency. We also depend on you, as parents, to support our disaster-response efforts. Your cooperation is vital to helping us protect the safety and welfare of all children and school employees. Therefore, we ask parents to observe the following procedures:

In The Event of an Emergency

1. Do not telephone the school. We understand and respect your concern, but it is essential that the telephone system is available for emergency communications.
2. Make sure that we have emergency contact information for each of your children at all times. We must be able to contact you or your designated representative in an emergency.
3. Go to our website at www.thepretechpreschool.com for emergency announcements and status reports. In the event of an evacuation you will receive instructions on where you should go and how/when you may be able to pick up your children. Our school emergency plan includes evacuation procedures with an alternative destination. When appropriate and safe, students may be released to their parents/guardians from these shelter locations. Under those circumstances, we will be prepared to implement procedures for confirming the identity of individuals who arrive to pick-up each child. When arriving to pick up your children, please make sure that you have with you your driver’s license or government issued picture identification.
4. Do not come to the school until instructed to do so. It may be necessary to keep the streets and parking lot clear for emergency vehicles. If evacuation is required, students may be transported to a location away from the school. You will be notified of this through phone messages, the PTPS website, and media bulletins.
5. Talk to your children and emphasize how important it is for them to follow instructions from their teachers and school officials during any emergency.
6. Parents and other adults must stay calm and focused in an emergency, mindful that their actions and comments will be the example that, to a great extent, determines the children’s response.
7. Carefully read all information you receive from the school. You may receive updates about our safety procedures from time to time.
8. When your child is at home following an emergency, try to keep your child away from news being broadcast over the various media. Have an emergency plan at home. Decide on a telephone number to call outside our community or a place to rendezvous if separated. Keep a “disaster supplies kit” containing drinking water, nonperishable food, batteries, flashlight, radio, medication, toothbrushes, etc. (www.redcross.org).

We are proud of these efforts to keep our school safe and are doing everything possible to ensure the continued safety of our students and staff. We appreciate your cooperation and support.

Sincerely,
Eric Dewayne, Headmaster