Emergency Preparedness at Cherry Crest

Overview

What we do

  • We have an emergency plan, supplies and staff with assigned roles.
  • We evacuate to the track or, if we need to leave the grounds, to Cherry Crest Mini Park (2532 127th Avenue)
  • We only release children to parents or registered contacts after we have accounted for all children.

What we need from you

  • Fill out your emergency contact form at the start of the school year and keep it up to date. On this form provide names of people who may pick up your children in an emergency. If your information changes during the year be sure to let the Cherry Crest office know so your child's information is up to date.
  • Fill out a district volunteer form now if there's any chance you'd be able to volunteer in an emergency. Copies of this form are available in the main office.
  • During an emergency, park off school grounds and walk to the PARENT CHECK-IN booth. Be patient if asked to wait while we finish ensuring children are safe and accounted for.

Detailed Emergency Preparedness Information for Parents

Cherry Crest has an Emergency Response Plan (see below). Every teacher has a job assignment. Your school's principal, faculty and PTA emergency committee have worked hard and continue to work so that we can care for students effectively following a disaster --- even when some parents may be unable to arrive for hours or days. For our plan to work well parents must know their role in the school response procedures.

Make sure at the beginning of every school year you immediately fill out the emergency release form. This form asks you to list several people who may pick up your child in an emergency if you are unable to do so. Select people who live a short driving/walking distance from the school. Inform people that they are on your list! Keep your form current, and fill out a new one if contacts move. Forms are always available in the main office.

Parent Responsibilities After An Emergency

  1. Park off campus and walk onto school grounds. We need to keep the driveway clear for emergency vehicles. In addition, trees may be down in the drive and the parking lot may be needed by school personnel for emergency stations.
  2. Proceed to the table for "PARENT CHECK-IN" (see below).
  3. Remain calm! Follow directions given by faculty and emergency personnel. Do not try to enter the building and/or call the office. We will need our phone lines open to reach emergency personnel and to contact parents of injured children.

Parent Check-in and Student Pick-up Procedures

Student pick-up procedures will be put into effect when a major event such as an earthquake, fire or other crisis has resulted in students being evacuated from the building, and it is deemed that the building is unsafe to re-enter. In addition, at the elementary school level, student release procedures may be used any time the principal needs to make the "GO-HOME" announcement before the end of the regular school day.

A lockdown that continues past the end of the school day will also mean that release procedures are necessary. A lockdown is a situation where all staff and students must stay in their classrooms and/or offices for any safety reason (intruders, chemical spills, gas leaks or disasters close to school grounds) until an "all-clear" message is given by trained staff.

In any of these situations . . .

  1. Proceed to the "PARENT CHECK-IN" table which will be clearly marked in front of the school.
  2. You will be asked to sign a RELEASE FORM. We will only allow your children to go with you or the persons you have designated on the emergency form you returned to the school at the beginning of the year.
  3. Parents who have checked in will then be directed to a "Student Release" area. Children will be under supervision on the school track and will be delivered to their parent/guardian at the clearly labeled "Student-Release" area by a runner once the release form is signed.
  4. Parents who would like to volunteer (e.g. doctors, nurses, counselors, CERT trained, etc.) should notify the staff at the check-in table. Staff will assign you a job and give you a special armband. If you might be able help, please fill out the Bellevue School District Volunteer Application available in the main office NOW!

It will take some time -- expect at least an hour -- before all arrangements are in place to begin releasing children. As parents, we understand this will be frustrating. We want to see our children and feel reassured immediately. But please be patient. We need to account for all the children so that we can initiate fast search and rescue for any who may be missing. We need to identify and help injured children quickly. If the track is overrun by panicked parents, the safety of the students will be compromised. It will be too chaotic for staff to perform their jobs.

Be assured that if we have children who need their parents immediately due to extreme stress or medical injuries, we will make our best effort to send a runner out to the waiting parents.

Alternative Off-Site Evacuation Location

Although the school track is our primary evacuation location, Cherry Crest Mini Park (2532 127th Avenue) is our off-site evacuation spot. This is several blocks from the school and children would walk to this location.

Emergency Response Plan Document

Cherry Crest has a documented emergency response plan for disasters. The documented plan covers the following topics:

  • Campus Command Chart
  • Evacuation Routes, Line-up & Supplies
  • Team/Responsibilities for Emergency Evacuations
    • Incident Commander
    • Operations Team Leader
    • Security/Damage Assessment
    • Search and Rescue
    • Etc.
  • Emergency Action Plan
    • Types of Emergencies
    • Emergency Action Announcements
  • Crisis Intervention Plan (e.g. sudden student or staff death)

Emergency Alerts and Notifications

Various resources will be used, if possible, to provide information in the event of the Emergency plan being activated. They include:

SchoolMessenger System

This system is used by the school to send phone and email announcements. Visit the site at https://contactme.schoolmessenger.com/index.php?u=bsd405 to ensure that your contact information is up to date for the system.

schoolreport.org

This website is used by a number of local schools to announce closures. There's no need to sign up; simply visit the web page http://www.schoolreport.org/ to see a summary of school closures in the greater Puget Sound Region (including many private schools and preschools).

RPIN

RPIN (http://www.rpin.org/rpinweb/) keeps the public informed about street and highway closures, weather, major transit disruptions, and provides updates on what agencies are doing to respond to emergencies and incidents. You can sign up to receive e-mail alerts and pager headlines from RPIN partners and get helpful tips to prepare for emergencies.

Public Health Information

In the event of a widespread local disaster, there are public health risks. King County has produced a number of flyers in various languages addressing these. They are available at: http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/preparedness/disaster.aspx.

PTA Emergency Preparedness Committee

A team of parent and staff volunteers work diligently to ensure that emergency supplies are available and that parents are informed about and involved with Cherry Crest Emergency plans, as well as helping to provide training to empower our teachers and children in the event of an emergency The chair of the committee is Krista Hammer. If you are interested in assisting the team, please contact her at emprep@cherrycrest-ptsa.org

The committee works to maintain key emergency supplies, many of which expire and must be periodically replenished. Below are commonly needed items:

  • lightsticks
  • batteries (AA and AAA)
  • soap towelette packets
  • wool blankets
  • Costco boxes of Nitrile gloves
  • Costco boxes of instant handwarmers
  • bandaids
  • used wool socks (to be used as mittens)
  • used wool or fleece hats