The practice of lockdown and secure school protocol is mandatory as part of the Safe Schools legislation throughout the province of Ontario. Similar to fire drills, we are required to practice these emergency procedures throughout the school year. This Friday, November 12th, at approximately 9:00 am we will be practicing a lockdown drill with our students. We are requesting that any students signing in or out of our building please make arrangements to do so prior to or at the end of our practice drill. Our external doors to the school will be locked at this time preventing access to our building.
Our lockdown practice will take approximately thirty minutes and should be finished by 9:30am. Our School Resource Officer, Constable Sherry Jordan, as well as two additional Ottawa Police Officers will be present for the lockdown drill. Expectations for the drill have been reviewed with our staff and both students and staff will be notified over the PA system that this is a practice drilll. If your child has any special needs that need to be addressed throughout the practice drill, I urge you to bring these to the attention of his/her teachers and/or administration.
We are requesting that you take some time to review this information with your child, as it is important for him/her to remain calm and understand the purpose of the drill. Our staff has been instructed to leave classroom lights on for the practice drill but this would not be the situation if it were an actual emergency. Please also encourage your child to refrain from using his/her cell phone during such emergencies. We understand this is a natural reaction when children find themselves in an emergency situation but often false information is relayed that can cause unnecessary panic.
Thanks very much for your assistance with this matter. We continue to do our best to provide all our students with a safe learning environment. Please do not hesitate to contact the school should you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Norma McDonald
Principal
Mother Teresa High School
Sincerely,
Mrs. Norma McDonald
Principal
Mother Teresa High School