Lockdown Drill | September 11

The safety of our students is always a high priority for us. One of the best ways to ensure a safe school environment is to practice our emergency drills and procedures. District of Columbia law requires our school conduct several drills throughout the school year, one of which is a Lockdown Drill. 

A Lockdown Drill is used to secure our school building and campus during incidents that pose an immediate threat of violence in and around the school. During a lockdown, teachers and staff quickly clear hallways and lock or secure classroom doors. Additionally, no one is allowed to enter or exit the building. Parents and/or guardians will not be permitted to enter and should not come to the school during a lockdown. 

We will conduct a Lockdown Drill on September 11 at 10:00 am. This routine exercise protects our school community from potential dangers in the building or campus. Please know that every school in DCPS is required to complete two lockdown drills per year. 

We are sharing the information in advance so families will not be alarmed if they hear about the drill from their student when they come home from school. We encourage you to talk to your child about the exercise and reassure them that this is being done to help keep them safe and that they should not be scared or stressed about practicing these emergency procedures. We hope there will never be a time when we must face an actual emergency. However, by practicing drills, we prepare our students and staff to remain calm and take proper action if an emergency arises. 

The safety of our students is our priority, and drills like this one help our school community prepare in case of an emergency. Please call the Welcome Center if you have any questions at (202) 939-2010 or contact me via email at diedre.neal@k12.dc.gov.