Elementary School Newsletter 11.14.2022

Nov 14

Written By PCS

Last Thursday was a wonderful time to give thanks to our veterans. We had another great Veterans Day assembly and the turnout was fantastic. I am so appreciative of our community when we come together to celebrate our families. In this case, we took time to honor those close to us that served our country. We look forward to more events like that in the future.

Safety Protocol Update:
We are continuously working to ensure the safety of our campus for our students, staff and our families. Although our courtyard is enclosed by a locked fence, we have decided to take the additional precaution of keeping all building doors that exit into the courtyard locked at all times during the day. As a result, we need to adjust some arrival and dismissal procedures.

Since the courtyard doors are now locked all day, if you are dropping children off after 8:15 am, please drop them off at the front door of their own school building if you have children in multiple buildings. We will have staff on duty in the courtyard between 8:00-8:15 am, but once the courtyard gate is closed, children will not be able to enter their building via the courtyard doors.

Additionally please remember that we do not start letting students into the buildings until 8:00 am. We ask that you do not drop off until that time, as arrival supervision begins at 8:00 am.

During the school day, most transitions between buildings will be done as a whole class and supervised by a teacher. There are some cases where individual students may need to transition between buildings during the day. All classes will be having class meetings regarding the appropriate procedures to follow when transitioning between buildings.

Lastly, please make sure you are allowing for extra time for early pick-ups if you have children in multiple buildings. All children will need to be picked up from their respective buildings, since children will no longer be able to gain access to a sibling’s building through the courtyard for pick up. You will still be able to sign out all children from one building office, but you will need to pick up each child from his or her building. We understand that any procedure change requires adjustments on the part of our students and families. We appreciate your cooperation with these revised procedures, and your ongoing partnership as we continually work to ensure that the safety of all members of the PCS community are our highest priority.

Intruder Drill:

As you are likely aware, PCS has regularly-scheduled intruder drills throughout the school year to assist in preparation in case of an emergency at our school. During these drills, students and staff practice our intruder procedures which include notification of a threat, locking down all buildings and classrooms, communicating status and whereabouts of all students and staff through our Emergency Management System, and building evacuation and reunification when necessary. These procedures were developed in partnership with the St. Louis Metro Police Department and Tier One Tactical Solutions. Although drills can potentially be frightening, it is critical that students and staff practice these skills under the guidance of administration and our Crisis Team. Drills also allow us the opportunity to troubleshoot procedures and make revisions as needed. Our intention is never to frighten, but instead to stress the importance of preparation IF a situation occurs.

On Thursday, November 17th, we will be holding one of these drills. We will clearly communicate that we are doing a drill, which will include practicing how to lock down the building and report status and whereabouts quickly and safely.

While this drill was scheduled prior to the tragic incident at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, we acknowledge an added layer of importance due to those recent events. We also want to assure our families that we understand that this drill may be triggering for students and staff in light of having been on external lockdown on October 24th. This drill will be handled calmly and reassuringly and counselors are prepared to assist should students or staff need additional support before, during or after the drill.

Please feel free to talk to your student about this upcoming drill. As always, we appreciate your help in reinforcing the role students have in maintaining safe schools by following our safety guidelines and reporting anything that may appear out of the ordinary. As always, please reach out to your child's teacher, principal or counselor if the need arises as we all try to support one another in this extremely difficult time.

Thank you for your continued partnership as we work to keep safety at Premier at top of mind.

News from the Library:

Free Internet Access Through St. Louis City Public Library!

The St. Louis Public Library is lending out long-term hotspots. You must be a city resident to check out a hotspot. You also need a St. Louis Public Library card to check one out. Even if your library card is blocked, you can still get a long-term hotspot. Long-term hotspots are checked out until September 30th 2023