Emergencies are unexpected, unpredictable and can take many forms. Emergencies can vary in severity and whether they directly or indirectly impact students and their schools. Emergencies can happen before, during or after school and either on or off campus. There are many examples of emergencies which are a serious concern for a school. Here are some examples of community emergencies which can have a major impact on our school: Natural disasters, such as earthquakes, fires, floods and severe thunderstorms can strike a community with little or no advanced warning. Other emergencies, such as a chemical or hazardous material release in an adjoining community, may pose a threat to our school and may continue to escalate over the course of several hours or days. Medical emergencies involving students or school staff can have a tremendous impact on the entire school community. Catastrophic events including acts of terror or war, bomb threats and school shootings are extremely traumatic events for all children. The impact of media reporting for these catastrophic events on children’s understanding is profound. As communities across our country work to increase safety and security, we need to remember the needs of children to feel safe, secure and protected by their families, school staff and other adults in their lives.

Emergency response plans need to address a range of events and hazards created by nature and/or people. Each of us who works at Newbury Elementary School and in the Town of Newbury Police, Fire and Emergency Management Departments needs to prepare for the possibility of an emergency well in advance of an actual emergency.

What has Newbury Elementary School done to increase safety and security for students, employees and school visitors?

Several years ago, our school began meeting regularly with members of the Town of Newbury Police, Fire and Emergency Management staff. We developed “emergency response plans” to help us determine in advance how to manage emergencies. Under the leadership of Police Chief/Emergency Management Director Roger Merry and Byfield Fire Chief Bill Pearson, a Newbury Elementary School “School Safety Committee” was formed. The goal of this committee was to strengthen school safety and security on the entire Newbury Elementary School campus. This committee has met regularly to determine how a core team of Newbury Elementary School staff will work with police, fire and emergency management personnel to manage and respond to a variety of school emergencies.

Since its inception, members of the Newbury Elementary School “School Safety Committee” have continued to meet regularly. We have implemented many new safety and security procedures at our school. Members of our School Safety Committee have participated in comprehensive school emergency management training programs led by national school safety experts, most recently from the I Love U Guys Foundation on Standard Response Protocol. We have trained all of our school staff on the Standard Response Protocol, which is a set of emergency response routines designed to respond to a variety of emergency situations. As we transition to these updated protocols, School Safety Committee will be training and implementing “mock drills” involving staff and students based on various scenarios, just as we have with previous protocols. Our school district has expanded our communication network capabilities throughout our school campus and within our regional school district to increase inter-operability to rapidly respond to a school emergency.

• Access Control – All after school and evening use of our school building is coordinated through a building use process. Unless there is a specific prescheduled program, our school building is locked during evening and weekend hours to prevent any unauthorized access.
• Building Access – Our Main Entrances are monitored during school hours. All other outside perimeter doors are kept locked during school hours to prevent unauthorized entry into our school building. Outside perimeter doors are regularly checked throughout the school day and after hours to make sure they are not left open.
• Identification Badges – All Newbury Elementary School staff have employee identification badges. In addition, school volunteers, substitute teachers and contract service providers are issued visitor badges. All visitors are directed to the main entrance where they sign in and receive their badge. School staff have been instructed to report anyone in the school building who does not follow these procedures.
• Staff Training – All staff have participated in School Safety Procedures training. All newly hired school employees are required to participate in this training. Additional training on safety procedures has been provided to members of the School Safety Committee, all teaching staff, custodial staff and cafeteria staff.

The Standard Response Protocol:

As a district, we have shifted to the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) to organize our coordinated response to any and all emergency situations. The SRP is a uniform, planned, and practiced response to any incident that is action-based, flexible, and easy to learn. It rationally organizes tactics for response to weather events, fires, accidents, intruders, and other threats to personal safety. The implementation is being coordinated

The SRP’s development is ever-evolving, created with extensive collaboration between experts such as first responders, public safety, school, districts, and communities. Its tactics are data-driven, researched, and based on experience and contemporary practices.

Everyone On the Same Page:

The benefits of SRP become quickly apparent. By standardizing the vocabulary, all stakeholders can understand the response and status of the event. For students, this provides continuity of expectations and actions throughout their educational career. For teachers, this becomes a simpler process to train and drill. For communities, it leverages the growing adoption of the protocols from residents of all ages. For first responders, the common vocabulary and protocols establish a greater predictability that persists through the duration of an incident. People easily understand the practices and can reinforce the protocol. Additionally, this protocol enables rapid response determination when an unforeseen event occurs.

SRP is Action Based:

The Standard Response Protocol (SRP) is based on the response to any given situation not on individual scenarios. Like the Incident Command System (ICS), SRP demands a specific vocabulary but also allows for great flexibility. The premise is simple - these five specific actions that can be performed during an incident. When communicating these, the action is labeled with a "Term of Art" and is then followed by a "Directive."

• Hold is followed by the Directive: "In Your Room or Area" and is the protocol used when hallways need to kept clear of occupants
• Secure is followed by the Directive: "Get Inside. Lock Outside Doors" and is the protocol used to safeguard people within the building
• Lockdown is followed by "Locks, Lights, Out of Sight" and is the protocol used to secure individual rooms and keep occupants quiet and in place
• Evacuate may be followed by a location, and is used to move people from one location to a different location in or out of the building
• Shelter is used for hazards like a tornado, hazmat, or other natural disaster, and would be followed by additional instructions on how to protect from the hazard in play

Download the parent handout in English, Spanish, or Portugese​

For those interested in exploring, you can find more information about the Standard Response Protocol HERE.