Emergency Procedures Newsletter from Principal: What Families Need to Know

Emergency preparedness communication is one of the most important things a principal does in the newsletter, and one of the most commonly underdone. Families who do not understand what to do when they receive an emergency notification can inadvertently make a school emergency worse by showing up at the school, flooding the main office phone line, or creating confusion at a reunification site.

Clear, calm newsletter communication about emergency procedures is a genuine safety measure, not just an administrative checkbox.

The types of emergencies families need to understand

Schools use different terminology for different emergency protocols. Families who have not been briefed on what each term means cannot respond appropriately. Your newsletter should explain the difference between common alert types used in your school or district:

• Lockdown: Threat inside or immediately outside the building. Students and staff shelter in secured classrooms. Families should not come to school.
• Lockout: Threat outside the building perimeter. School continues with exterior doors locked. Normal school communication continues.
• Evacuation: Students and staff leave the building. A designated reunification site is used. Families who need to pick up students go to the reunification site, not the school.
• Shelter-in-place: Typically used for weather or environmental hazards. Students remain in the building in designated areas.

Explaining these distinctions clearly in the newsletter, once a year, gives families a mental map they can use when they receive an emergency alert.

What families should and should not do during an active emergency

This is where many emergency procedure newsletters stop short. Families need more than an explanation of what the school does. They need to know what they should do.

During a lockdown:

• Do not come to school. Your presence at the building can compromise the emergency response.
• Do not call the main office. Phone lines are needed for emergency responder communication.
• Do not call your student's cell phone if they have one. Your student's phone ringing can compromise their safety.
• Monitor school and district social media for official updates.
• Wait for an official all-clear message before acting.

During an evacuation:

• Go to the designated reunification site, not the school.
• Bring a government-issued ID. Staff cannot release students without identity verification.
• Follow staff directions at the reunification site to keep the process safe and orderly.

How families will receive communication during an emergency

Families need to know in advance how they will hear from you during an active emergency. Name your system: is it a mass notification text, a school app push notification, a robocall, social media? Which comes first? What is the timeline for updates?

"During any significant school emergency, we will send a mass text notification within the first 15 minutes. Updates will follow as we have confirmed information. All emergency communication comes from our school's official accounts. Please do not rely on information from other sources until we have confirmed it."

Families who know how to expect information during an emergency are significantly less likely to panic or take disruptive action.

Post-drill communication

After each drill, a brief mention in the newsletter keeps emergency preparedness normalized:

"We completed our annual lockdown drill last Tuesday. All students and staff performed the procedures smoothly. We have scheduled our fire evacuation drill for November 12. These exercises are how we make sure our community is prepared, and our students handle them with calm and seriousness."

Normalizing drills in newsletter communication reduces the anxiety some families feel when students report drill experiences at home.