Farrell B. Howell ECE-8 School
Fire Drill (3/24)
07/18/22, 4:48 PM
Dear Families,
Thank you for choosing Denver Public Schools to provide educational services to your child. We are proud to be able to serve you and your children and we will continually strive to provide a safe learning environment for them.
The safety of your child and all children in our schools as well as the safety of the school staff and support personnel is very important to us. In order to maintain a safe environment for our children to study and learn, it is necessary that we practice our emergency and crisis-response plans by having drills designed to exercise our procedures.
We will be conducting various drills throughout the school year. This letter is to help you understand the importance of this as well as to understand each type of drill.
The students and staff at your school will be practicing three primary emergency drills each year. They are fire drills, lockdown drills and shelter-in-place drills. Today we conducted an unannounced fire drill. Each type of drill is explained below.
FIRE DRILLS: The school will conduct a fire drill each month that school is in session. This is a Fire Code requirement as well as a requirement by Denver Public Schools. We want each student to understand and be aware of the importance of this drill and not be afraid when the fire alarm is sounded. By practicing, they will know what to do and how to do it.
LOCKDOWN DRILLS: The school will conduct one lockdown drill each semester of the school year. This type of drill will secure the school building and safely shelter all students, staff and visitors inside the building. The purpose of this drill is to keep the students safe from any danger outside or inside the building. During a lockdown drill, all of the perimeter doors to the school building will be locked and will remain locked until the danger or issue outside or inside the building is removed. To ensure safety, no one will be allowed to enter or exit the building until the authorities authorize such a release.
SHELTER DRILLS: The shelter drill will be conducted once a semester each school year. The purpose of this drill is to be prepared to move to a safe location within the building in case of severe weather or tornados.
Please remember that these safety-practice drills are done to help maintain our schools as a safe place to learn and work.
If you have questions regarding any of these safety drills or other safety concerns, please contact our school office at 720-424-2740.
Sincerely,
Rachel Massey
Principal, Farrell B. Howell ECE-8 School
