EVACUATION PROCEDURE

 

Exit building using Fire Drill Plan and bring the following:

    •  Emergency Medical Release Forms
    •  Emergency Contact Information
    •  Instructions for changing answering machine message
    •  Ready Kit/First Aid Kit
    •  Keys to school/Emergency Radio/Light
    •  Cell phone (Eileen’s cell 718.612.0511)

Notify the 76th precinct (718.834.3211) that the school is being evacuated.

  • Report missing children and staff to emergency personnel.

If necessary, proceed to Evacuation Site –The Brooklyn Heights Montessori School corner of Court and Bergen Streets 718.858.5100.

    • Begin telephoning Emergency Contacts
    • Leave messages on telephone answering machine

Release children to parents or caregivers

  • Staff will record time and person picking up each child
  • Parents will not come into a room to pick up their child. Their child will be brought to them to minimize the effect on remaining children.

Group remaining children

    • Consolidate groups so that teachers can get breaks and /or communicate with their own families.
    • Continue telephoning designated emergency contacts for those children still remaining.
    • Staff will care for children until they are picked up.

In cases of severe illness or injury, Emergency Medical Release procedures will be followed. Emergency supplies will be stocked at all times.

 

GUIDELINES FOR CHAPERONES ON FIELD TRIPS

 

To help parents and caretakers better understand and participate in our school trips we have put together this little outline that we hope will be helpful.  We have found that it is always helpful to have expectations spelled out on our trips so that we can ensure the safety and fun for everyone.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Chaperones need to share their time and attention with a number of children.  Chaperones will be assigned a small group by teachers prior to a trip. Responsibilities for this group will include:

  •          Helping to tie laces and zipper jackets.
  •          Assisting with lunch needs.
  •          Buckling seat safety belts.
  •          Escorting to and from bathroom trips.
  •          Monitoring when crossing streets.
  •          Keeping a head count and general awareness of their group.

 

SELECTION PROCESS

We would like all parents interested in joining their child’s class to have an equal opportunity to do so.  Therefore, first time trip volunteers will be given preference.

EXCEPTIONS

This policy may be adjusted in the case where limited space on a bus or at a trip site dictates we control the total number of participants for that occasion.

CHILD SAFETY PROCEDURES AT SCHOOL AND ON FIELD TRIPS

Lost/Missing Child Protocol

 

Keeping Children safe requires planning and training. In a missing child situation it is important to always remain professional, calm, and reassuring. All staff members are responsible for following all procedures.

On the School Premises:

  • Greet and inspect each child each morning
  • Know and keep the required child/staff ratio
  • Room arrangements must allow for all children to remain within sight at all times
  • No child may leave the classroom/playground without an adult escort
  • No guest shall enter the classroom without notifying the administration
  • Children may not use the adult bathrooms
  • Know all the adults authorized to pick-up a child. Do not let any adult, even a parent, pick-up a child unless they are the approved pick up list. When in doubt have an administrator call.

On Field Trips

  • All trips need to be approved by the administration.
  • Trip information/contact numbers must be given to the administration
  • Bring First Aid Kit and Emergency Contact Numbers/Release Forms/Photos
  • Children must wear seatbelts whenever they are on a school bus
  • Make a head count before you leave Open House and every time you change location (ex. one room to another room in a museum)
  • Bring appropriate chaperones for each setting (1 adult/2 children is ideal for most settings)
  • Instruct chaperones in their responsibilities
  • Inspect the bus before allowing it to leave

 

Lost/Missing Child Protocol

 

A child is missing or lost if he/she is not with an approved adult.

You must:

  • Alert the front desk and administration at school or security when on a field trip –they can call 911
  • Scan the immediate area
  • Monitor the entrance and exits
  • Keep calm and regroup remaining children in a safe area
  • If more then one adult is available retrace steps for the last five minutes.
  • Be ready to give a description and a photo of the child

How to give a description of a missing person:

Know the following:

Name

Sex

Age

Adult child was last seen with

Location the child was last seen

Physical Description from top to bottom

Height

Body Build

Hair (Color/Style/Hat)

Shirt/Jacket (Color/Logo/Style)

Pants/Shorts/Skirt (Color/Style)

Shoes (Color/Brand/Style)

Anything else that would be helpful

 

AMBER Alert

The AMBER Alert™ Program is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies, and the wireless industry, to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. The goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and the safe recovery of the child.

Guidelines for Issuing AMBER Alerts

Every successful AMBER plan contains clearly defined activation criteria. The following guidance is designed to achieve a uniform, interoperable network of plans across the country, and to minimize potentially deadly delays because of confusion among varying jurisdictions. The following are criteria recommendations:

Law Enforcement Confirms Abduction

AMBER plans require law enforcement to confirm abduction prior to issuing an alert. This is essential when determining the level of risk to the child. Clearly, stranger abductions are the most dangerous for children and thus are primary to the mission of an AMBER Alert. To allow activations in the absence of significant information that an abduction has occurred could lead to abuse of the system and ultimately weaken its effectiveness. At the same time, each case must be appraised on its own merits and a judgment call made quickly. Law enforcement must understand that a “best judgment” approach, based on the evidence, is appropriate and necessary.

Risk of Serious Bodily Injury or Death

Plans require a child be at risk for serious bodily harm or death before an alert can be issued. This element is clearly related to law enforcement’s recognition that stranger abductions represent the greatest danger to children. The need for timely, accurate information based on strict and clearly understood criteria is critical, again keeping in mind the “best judgment” approach.

Sufficient Descriptive Information

For an AMBER Alert to be effective in recovering a missing child, the law enforcement agency must have enough information to believe that an immediate broadcast to the public will enhance the efforts of law enforcement to locate the child and apprehend the suspect. This element requires as much descriptive information as possible about the abducted child and the abduction, as well as descriptive information about the suspect and the suspect’s vehicle. Issuing alerts in the absence of significant information that an abduction has occurred could lead to abuse of the system and ultimately weaken its effectiveness.

Age of Child

Every state adopt the “17 years of age or younger” standard; or, at a minimum, agree to honor the request of any other state to issue an AMBER Alert, even if the case does not meet the responding state’s age criterion, as long as it meets the age criterion of the requesting state. Most AMBER plans call for activation of the alert for children under a certain age. The problem is that age can vary—some plans specify 10, some 12, some 14, 15, and 16. Differences in age requirements create confusion when an activation requires multiple alerts across states and jurisdictions. Overuse of the AMBER Alert system will undermine its effectiveness as a tool for recovering abducted children.

NCIC Data Entry

Immediately enter AMBER Alert data into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.  Text information describing the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the child should be entered, and the case flagged as a Child Abduction. Many plans do not mandate entry of the data into NCIC, but this omission undermines the entire mission of the AMBER Alert initiative. The notation on the entry should be sufficient to explain the circumstances of the disappearance of the child. Entry of the alert data into NCIC expands the search for an abducted child from the local, state, or regional level to the national. This is a critical element of any effective AMBER Alert plan.

Summary of Department of Justice Recommended Criteria

There is reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred.

The law enforcement agency believes that the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death.

There is enough descriptive information about the victim and the abduction for law enforcement to issue an AMBER    Alert to assist in the recovery of the child.

The abduction is of a child aged 17 years or younger.

The child’s name and other critical data elements, including the Child Abduction flag, have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.

Child Protection Division     Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

U.S. Department of Justice 810 Seventh Street, NW. 
Washington, DC 20531

202–616–3637
202–307–2819 (Fax)             www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ojjdp