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 Skyward Family Access. Regularly check both your contact information and your emergency contacts in Skyward Family Access. 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. 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. 
   
   
3. In 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.
   
   
4. In 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 15 will provide regular updates to families and the community via social media, website, and the mass notification system.
   
   
5. Do not call or text your child. It is important during an emergency that students pay attention and/or listen to the staff. If they are distracted by calls and texts to their phones, students may not be able to follow key instructions for their safety.
   
   
6. 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.

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