James Russell Lowell Elementary School

175 Orchard Street WATERTOWN  SCHOOLS

  Watertown, Massachusetts

     Phone: (617) 926-7770    Fax: (617) 926-2676                 

Stacy A. Phelan  

October 20, 2017

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We will be holding an emergency drill on Monday, October 23rd, 2017, using the principles outlined in the A.L.I.C.E. Program brought to us by Sgt. Demos Watertown Police Department.  A.L.I.C.E. stands for ALERT, LOCKDOWN, INFORM, COUNTER AND EVACUATE. This drill prepares staff and students for an incident involving an intruder at the Lowell school.

Students will be provided with the particulars of the drill.  Here is an outline of the information students are being given:

• We will be practicing a drill to keep you safe in the event that an intruder enters the Lowell School.
• This procedure, called ALICE, has been in place across Watertown School District.
• This way of responding to threats gives our teachers choices about how best to keep our children safe based on how close they are to the threat.
• Monday, teachers will have two choices: lockdown or evacuate.
• If the teacher chooses to lockdown, he/she will turn off the lights and lock the door. They may also barricade the door as necessary. They will move students away from the door and out of sight, but the students and teacher will remain prepared to evacuate should the situation change.
• If the teacher chooses to evacuate, students will follow their teacher swiftly and silently to the nearest exit. Teachers and other staff will be positioned around the outside of the  building, and students will proceed directly to them and wait for the all clear to return to the building.
• During this drill, students must follow the directions of their teacher throughout the drill.

All school personnel and students will participate in the A.L.I.C.E. Drill.  When the drill begins, classroom teachers will make a decision based on the proximity of the would-be intruder and students will be asked to follow that direction, whether the decision is to lockdown and barricade in the classroom, or evacuate the building if it is safe to do so.

After, we practice the ALICE drill we will practice an Off Site Evacuation. In the event of an emergency we have may need to relocate to an alternative site. Our secondary site is the Watertown Department of Public Works facility.

There will be Watertown Police present on Monday to assess our performance and to provide helpful feedback to our staff.  Preparing students and staff by running drills of all types during the school year, including fire drills, medical drills and bus evacuation drills, is a necessary part of our safety and security program at Lowell.  

Thank you in advance for your attention and cooperation, and communication with your child around this important drill. If you have any questions or concerns please contact Hope, Veronica, or me directly.

Sincerely,

Stacy A. Phelan

Principal