A School Community Responds – December, 2007
The snowstorm that closed schools early last month was a surprise to all of us. However, the way our community responded was not a surprise. The spirit of community that characterizes Hardy School was evident in our parent community and within our school as well. The events of that morning provide a reassuring picture of how we, as a community, respond when the unexpected happens.
Once we received the call from the superintendent’s office that school would close early, our morning’s work was to prepare our staff and children in a way that was organized and calm. We wanted the school day to continue uninterrupted for as long as possible, giving each teacher the ability to decide when and how to tell the children about the shortened day.
The first step was to notify parents. We did this from the office by activating the Crisis Parent Phone Chain we have in place in case of emergencies. Our office assistant and our secretary phoned each Crisis Parent. The phone lines were busy for quite a while as each Crisis Parent was tracked down, either at work or at home or, in several cases, out running errands. Meanwhile, the business of teaching and learning continued unaffected.
The stories we heard about what happened on the parent end of these calls are worth retelling! This was mid-December, a time when many families were using every spare minute preparing for the holidays at hand. One Crisis Parent was reached at the mall. She did not have her phone chain with her, of course. So she phoned her mother who retrieved the numbers from her daughter’s desk. She read the names and numbers to her daughter so the calls could be made. Some parents came directly to the school when they got the call to see how they could help. We put these folks to work at the phones, tracking down parents whose machines had picked up. We wanted to be as certain as possible that an actual person had been reached on the other end.
In order to fit all three lunches in before the dismissal, lunch times had to be shortened. Our kitchen staff and lunchroom monitors prepared for the necessary changes without missing a beat.
Now was the time to notify teachers. Through a notice that was handed to each adult in the building, our teaching staff was told of the shortened school day. All teachers were directed to walk their children out to the playground at 12:30 and dismiss each one to a responsible adult. Any children who were not picked up would come to the cafeteria where they would be supervised until a parent could be reached. Teachers were told to notify their children in a way that made sense to them. There would be no general announcements.
As teachers heard of the early dismissal, several came to the office on their break to lend a hand. The Hardy After School Program’s director, whose After School Program was also cancelled, came in early to notify his families. These staff members became the team who tracked down our “walkers”, making sure we obtained their parents’ permission to send them home early.
As 12:30 approached, the first flakes of snow appeared. Groups of adults had begun to arrive on the playground. Then the school doors opened, and classes of children, shepherded by their teachers, began to emerge. The Hardy Community was in full swing! Teachers stayed with their children until every one had been accounted for. Parents collected their own children and, in many cases, the children of several other families. There was a feeling of everyone taking care of everyone. No child was going to be left unattended, uncomforted, unsupervised. Tears of confusion were quickly comforted. Messages from parents were relayed and last-minute play dates were planned. Groups of children and adults formed and dispersed, trailing off in all directions across our playground, now dusted white with falling snow.
By 1:00, every child had been collected.
Later that evening, as I shoveled my driveway, my neighbors emerged to do the same. One of them teaches in a neighboring town. She remarked that her system had not closed early enough to avoid the storm. “I was at the school until 4:00 helping to supervise kids who had not been picked up,” she told me. “As far as I know, my principal is still there!”
Our school knows how to respond when the welfare of children is at stake. That’s what community is all about.
Deborah D’Amico