“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark than alone in the light.” — Helen Keller
I regularly have the opportunity to visit other schools. It is a wonderful professional development opportunity to learn and keep fresh perspectives. More often than not, I walk away from these experiences more grateful for the James River community. It is easy to take for granted the work that we do, and seeing how it is done in other places leaves me in awe of the tremendous work we do as a community. One aspect of the James River culture that consistently impresses me is our commitment to honoring each stage of child development, ensuring that our students have time to play and be kids while also engaging in serious academic work. I am fortunate to lead such a fantastic team, dedicated to the whole child. Thank you to all the JRDS faculty and staff for consistently bringing joy to my days.
On a more serious note, we will conduct a shelter-in-place drill soon. This drill serves two purposes: 1) We practice our lockdown procedures for a variety of emergencies that require staying in the classroom for safety, and 2) we test our emergency communication system. We will NOT role-play or simulate a violent incident. Numerous studies have shown those drills to be more harmful than helpful. Instead, we will focus on the procedures of locking down, so that both teachers and students will practice and learn a calm and deliberate way of handling a lockdown. We will send an alert to parents prior to the drill and after it is complete.
The emergency communication alerts will be sent to parents via text message. Not only does this help provide parents with notification of shelter-in-place warnings or other lockdowns, it is also the same alert system we use to notify parents of inclement weather conditions (i.e., SNOW DAYS!!).
Let’s Fly!
Jenn
In the photo above: Congrats to this mother-daughter pair who co-authored a book together! They recently shared the book, "I am Nerv-Cited," with the 3rd grade.