Avoca West News
Week of November 6, 2020
Safety at Avoca West
This week we've had an opportunity to focus on some of the more traditional safety measures found in a typical school year -- emergency drills! The added challenge of any of our drills this year is to not intrude on the teaching and learning of those students who are at home learning remotely, so things look a bit different than our typical "all school" drills.
On Thursday, our students on site participated in a lockdown drill with the support of our school resource officer, Officer Detloff from the Glenview Police Department. In order to keep our students still safely socially distant, our teachers reinforced locking doors, covering windows, and staying quiet and ready to hear next directions. Our students and staff did a fantastic job! We followed the drill with a video (see below) recapping the important points and when we might need to stay inside and safe. If your student is a Group B student, we will do our best to practice another drill in the future, but all are encouraged to watch the video below.
Friday was affectionally named "Fire Drill Friday" this week. The most important take away from each and every fire drill is to evacuate at the nearest door quickly, quietly, and to meet at the grade level/teacher meet up spot to listen for directions as teachers take attendance to be sure all students are accounted for. In order to avoid the highly disruptive fire alarm sound for those learning at home, we also reinvented fire drills overall. Our teachers showed a common message/slideshow to students to remind them of the protocol and then played the LOUD video to show what our fire alarm at Avoca West sounds like and "looks" like. Each grade level completed the drill at a time that was conducive to their schedule, also allowing for less traffic in the hallways in a time where we know that's important. We will repeat the drill for our Group A students at another date.
As I shared with our students during both drills, we know that the likelihood of these emergencies actually happening is super small, but we practice nonetheless so that we are prepared in case they do.
Veterans in Our Lives -- Pics, Please!
Please email pictures to Mrs. Hutchison (hutchisonj@avoca37.org) and include the Veteran's Name, Your Name, and how you know one another.
Stay Tuned -- "Amplify Avoca" Coming Soon!
Ms. Michael has been working with some of our AW students to put together a weekly video for our students and staff to watch on Mondays. For students...BY students! I'll be adding them to Google Classroom and Seesaw accounts for our students and sharing out via our school Facebook page as well. SO proud of this reinvented way to amplify student voices!
Need A Smile in Your Day? Follow Us on Social Media!
Questions? Comments?
Website: http://avoca37.org/avocawest/
Location: 235 Beech Drive, Glenview, IL, United States
Phone: 847-724-6800
Twitter: @AvocaWest37