On February 4th, Charter students and teachers were taken by surprise when the fire alarm started blaring just after 10 a.m., during the second block of an A day. This was not a planned drill, as both teachers and administrators were unaware of its occurrence.

Rumors rapidly spread, from kids saying a microwave caught on fire to a sixth grader pulling the alarm. However, Principal Jodi Robins quickly shut the lies down, coming on the loudspeaker to say some men working on the sprinklers did not inform anyone that they would be testing the fire alarms that morning.

Because most of the teachers and students were confused on the correct procedures for a real fire alarm, some aspects of the evacuation were slightly disorganized. To hopefully prevent this confusion from occuring again, the admin team, including Mrs. Robins and Nicole Luicci, sent out a document containing every official emergency procedure for the teachers to read and explain to students.

The document was in a Question and Answer style, to give responses to the frequently asked questions anyone at Charter may have for any scenario, such as if the alarm goes off during lunch, during a lockdown, or 10-minute break. The PDF also answered questions for just the teachers.

One of the biggest issues Charter has with fire evacuations is the students who do not wear their ID. If you are one of these students, you will be pulled aside by Officer Brian Gasper, properly identified, and given a bright orange identification sticker before you may return to class. In this case, your teacher would have to mark you “Missing” in the system until you return and are marked “Found.”

If you are still unaware or unsure of the procedures, you may ask any staff member for the document or to explain any parts you may not understand. Administration hopes these procedures will prevent so much disorganization and confusion for future fire drills and emergencies.