Families of Longfellow Elementary,
I’d like to start today with my sincerest gratitude to all families for working with Longfellow Elementary on Monday as we worked with Salida Police on our reunification drill. Reunification is the process in which an event has happened and we as a school work to ensure that each student is reunited with the ones they love. It is often a slow process as we cross reference the photo ID of the person picking up the child with the information in our student database. I spoke with a parent who has been a part of an unplanned reunification process at a different school in the past. They shared that it took over 8 hours to have the students reunified with the parents and were grateful that we are practicing so if we were ever forced into a real reunification it would be smooth and efficient.
We started with a lockdown drill for the entire school. Then, we released 1st through 4th grades and began the reunification process for our kindergarteners. We were able to reunify the entire kindergarten with their guardians in approximately 45 minutes. Obviously, if we were in a situation where we had to reunify the entire school, it would take much longer.
Patience is key in these situations. As a school, we can’t make a mistake when reunifying students with their trusted adults. Once all students were reunified, the staff met with Salida Police and personnel from the district office to debrief the drill and identify areas for improvement. The drill gave all staff the opportunity to experience what it would be like if the school were in a real scenario and also allowed our kindergarten families to know what to expect as they worked through the process. Our goal is to continue this as part of our annual routine. A year from now, most of the parents in our building will have participated in a reunification drill.
I’d like to thank Salida Police and the district administration for helping us constantly improve. More than anything, I’d like to thank all of our families. I know these disruptions in routines can be difficult on families and want you to know I appreciate all you do. Thank you for trusting your children with us.
On the issue of safety, you may have noticed a few parents on the playground in the morning during student drop-off. These parents are part of our Trusted Adult Program. They have gone through a background check, and are there to provide an extra set of eyes for our students. If you are here regularly in the morning or afternoons and would like to be a part of our program, please see Mrs.Gary in the main office. The background check is a short form and is usually back to us within a week. I can’t say how thankful I am for our current volunteers. I truly appreciate the time and care they give to make sure our students are safe.
On another note, I’m excited to announce the return of the Salida Regional Library’s Bookmobile on Thursday, September 4th. You can visit the bookmobile from 3:15 to 4:15 and pick up a book for your child and yourself. Lifelong reading creates lifelong learners.
I’d like to end this week with a thank you to all for a great start of the year. We’re off and running and will continually work to make Longfellow Elementary a warm and welcoming place for all our students.
Thank you
Cory Scheffel
Longfellow Principal
Notes:
-No School Monday (Labor Day)
-Boys and Girls Club closed September 1 (Labor Day) and September 3rd