 Emergency
March 17, 2008
Dear Parents and Guardians:
I am writing to provide you with information regarding our
emergency and evacuation procedures. The school safety committee
reviews these procedures annually and teachers are informed of these
procedures through memos, the faculty handbook and through practice
with our students.
Fire safety: PS 163 has a comprehensive fire drill procedure and we
conduct practice drills with our entire school at least eight times
in the fall and four more times in the Spring. Teachers have
written copies of the plan and exit routes are posted in the
classroom.
Evacuation procedures: The evacuation procedures are similar to the
fire drill procedures. Students and teachers will exit the building
in the same way they do during a fire drill. However, depending on
the nature of the emergency, we will leave the vicinity of the
school and proceed to the evacuation location at PS 75 located at
96th Street and West End Avenue or Joan of Arc Complex located at 93
Street off of Amsterdam Avenue. We do have a distant safety
location at MS. 54 located on Columbus Avenue and 108 Street.
Teachers will have their class lists so they can monitor each
student's attendance and make contact with families as necessary. A
member of the administrative team will accompany students and
teachers to the evacuation site and, to whatever extent it is deemed
safe to do so, an administrator will stay at the school to direct
families and work with officials to address the emergency
condition. As soon as the children arrive at the emergency
location, the parent coordinator will post a message to his phone
(347.563.5230) and to the list serve and PTA web site to notify you
of the status of the situation.
Internal emergency alert: In the event of an internal emergency,
the administration will announce a password which will signal
teachers to lock their classrooms and monitor their students.
Teachers will phone the office to notify us of any students out of
the classroom and we will send floor monitors to identify the
location of the children and return them to classrooms.
Just a few reminders about safety as students walk to and from
school. Please train your children to walk to and from school using
the safest routes and streets. Practice with your children so they
know how to cross streets in safely. Parents should be mindful of
the extensive construction around the school and direct their
children to use the safest routes. Please provide your children
with guidance on how to walk through the streets and what to do in
the event a stranger approaches them. There are several web sites
that provide information on individuals who have posed threats to
children.
Things you can do in the event of an emergency:
* Make sure you have a current phone number on file with the
school so we can contact you in the event of an emergency
* Do not call the school in the event of an emergency. All
phones and personnel will be needed to tend to the children and
maintain contact with safety officials
* Do not call the evacuation site since we will be attending
to the children and the evacuation site will not have any
information. You may come to the evacuation site and we will
dismiss students in an orderly way. You will be required to sign
your child out and to show identification. We will only dismiss to
those individuals listed on the emergency card.
* Check the school website for information and emergency
directions or call 347.563.5230.
* There are a number of websites where you can obtain
information regarding individuals who may pose a threat to children:
This letter has been written not to alarm you but to assure that we
plan in the best way possible for your children's safety that is the
#1 priority for our community.
Sincerely,
Virginia Pepe, Ed.D.
Principal
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