Announcements

I light of our country’s current state of alert, I’d like to share some information with you regarding our policies and procedures in a state of emergency.

It is our policy to obey any directives passed down by the Emergency Control Center of Allegheny County and the Oakmont Police. Whatever they tell us to do, we will do. We will trust that they have more information than we do, know the dangers and risks better than we do, and have more control over the big picture than we do. In a meeting last year, the Center gave us some insights in handling community emergencies in our buildings. These are some of the possibilities.

1. If there is a community emergency that would necessitate a community wide evacuation, our school students would be transported to schools in the Plum school district. Parents would be contacted to come for their children.
2. If there is a community danger that requires a ‘lock down’, our building will be locked down. Depending on the nature of the outside situation, students may be moved to the Fellowship Hall. It is possible that in a lock down situation that no one will be permitted in or out of the building. It will be necessary for me to evaluate the information given by our local authorities and decide how best to protect our students.
3. If there is a chemical spill, and the authorities have determined it would be more harmful to leave the building and go outside, the building will be ‘locked down’ and the students would be moved to the Fellowship Hall. The ventilation system will be turned off, and no drinking water will be used. We have several areas in the building we can go if we need to that have no windows.
4. We have food supplies and drinks (other than water) for a few days. We are also blessed to have 2 staff members with a medical background for medical emergencies. We have a least 2 cell phones in the building at all times. We have candles and flashlights. And most of all, we have the protection of the Lord.

You can be sure that your child/ren will be in very loving hands while they are in our care. We will watch over them as we do everyday. If ever there comes a need for us to have your child/ren for a longer than usual time, know that we will be praying for you as well as ourselves and our families. We will be singing, reading, playing games and diverting attention. The Lord will be here as He always is.

There is one more thing we need to do to make sure the lines of communication are open, and that is set up a phone tree. I have already spoken with one of our parents who is home during the day to be the start-up person for emergency communications. I am going to set up several family groupings. The coordinator will call one number in each grouping until they speak to someone. That person will be responsible for calling the remaining families in their group. I am going to ask that you keep your group’s phone numbers in several places, home, work, and in the car for cell users. We cannot leave anyone out of the phone tree. Everyone must be sure to make the contacts needed to pass pertinent information along. I will take 3 phone numbers from each family’s emergency card; home phone, work phone & cell phone. If there is no cell phone, I will take 2 work phones. If you want to change your emergency numbers, you must contact the

school office by 2/17. I want to put this tree into place immediately. Once the phone tree is developed, copies of group names and numbers will be distributed to each family.

We hope these precautions will not be necessary, but we want to insure safety for our students, and peace of mind for their parents. Thank you for your cooperation.

Serving the God of the Universe,