If the siren sounds for real, Bountiful Elementary will be ready.
Principal Ross Quist wanted to try a different approach to the school's annual evacuation drill with a goal of having 90-95 percent of the students delivered to their parents in less than two hours. His method: use and share the cell phones students and teachers already have to contact parents. An additional twist: the school would not involve any outside help from the PTA.
"I think it went really smooth. I liked how organized it was," said parent Marla Keller. "When the real thing's going to happen, we'll know what to do and it's not mass chaos."
The evacuation started with a standard fire drill. All students and faculty evacuated to the field behind the school. Immediately, the school district's All Call system contacted parents at home to let them know the drill was in progress and to pick up their children.
Students then moved in rows to a nearby tennis court. In conjunction with the All Call, students began making phone calls to their parent's cell and work phones to help speed up the response time.
Parents signed in at the north gate of the tennis court and then picked up their children at the south gate. The process helped teachers keep track of each student in their class.
Following the drill, Quist said his expectations were exceeded as 95 percent of the students were evacuated within the first hour.
"Above everything else, we have to keep parents feeling secure that their kids are safe regardless of what happens at school," Quist said.