Emergency Closing of School
Grace School will follow Montgomery County on all closings and early closings due to inclement weather conditions. If Montgomery County delays opening of school by two (2) hours, Grace School will delay opening by one (1) hour.
If Montgomery County is opening with a one (1) hour delay, Grace School will open at the normal time.
Grace School’s early arrival schedule will be delayed if school is opening late. If Grace School is opening one (1) hour late, early arrival will start one (1) hour later as well.
When Montgomery County closes school of an extended period of time, Grace will re-evaluate our decision to open or to remain closed and post our status on our web site.
If Grace is closed, all scheduled field trips are cancelled. When Montgomery County's after school extracurricular activities are canceled, Grace School's extended day is cancelled as well as extracurricular activities. (After school art class, drama class, science club, chess club, computer class, etc.)
When Montgomery County schools are closed for a holiday when Grace School is not, and weather conditions on that day warrant closing, check Grace’s web site. Grace will also have an announcement on WTOP (103.5 FM) Radio, News 4 TV, Fox 5 WTTGTV and ABC 7 WJLA-TV and News Channel 8.
If there is an electrical power failure Grace will post an announcement on WTOP (103.5 FM) Radio and the Grace web site, if possible.
Emergency Procedures
First Aid Provisions
- Each classroom teacher is equipped with a backpack which contains some first aid supplies, a flashlight, an inflatable blanket (a space blanket which is a thin layer of mylar-like substance preserving body heat) and emergency phone numbers.
- Each campus office is equipped with a rolling suitcase containing all the emergency phone numbers, flashlight, a first aid kit, compact emergency blankets, am/ fm radio, megaphone, walkie-talkies, school floor plan, yellow caution tape, paper/pencils, duct tape, plastic sheeting, class schedule, list of current staff and students.
- Key personnel are trained in first aid and CPR. We update this training yearly.
- Each campus is supplied with two Nextel phones for communication within and between campuses.
- Each campus is supplied with a battery operated TV and radio.
- Each campus is supplied with a First Alert system which should broadcast emergency weather and / or disaster instructions.
Food And Water
- Each campus is supplied with additional drinking water located in the interior strategic locations.
- Extra snack foods are set aside for emergency purposes.
School Emergency Procedures
The faculty and staff of Grace Episcopal Day School are instructed in procedures for these emergency situations
- Code Red (complete lockdown)
- Code Blue (all classes are restricted to indoor activity)
- Fire
- Evacuation
- Tornado or other severe weather related emergency
- Bomb Threat
- Medical Emergency
- Utility failure
- Hazardous Material Spill
Emergency Accommodations
It is possible that in the case of a serious emergency students will not be able to leave either campus and will not be able to travel home safely. If this is the case the school will provide a safe and secure shelter.
We have water and food supplies, duct tape and plastic sheeting on hand. We will be able to supply water for a few days and we keep emergency cereal bars and snacks on hand if we must remain on campus overnight.
Depending on the emergency situation it might be safer for students to remain on campus rather than travel outdoors. Parents will need to listen to emergency broadcasts and follow instructions.
Students at the Silver Spring Campus can be secured into the first floor inner hallway which can be sealed by the classroom doors and inner fire doors. This area is also accessible to the bathrooms next to the Nursery classes. The Multi Purpose room is also a possibility for sealing off a large group of students and teachers. Both areas are accessible to the bathrooms.
At Kensington students are assigned to three different inner, windowless areas. These areas are accessible to bathrooms.
Students and teachers practiced meeting in these areas during our tornado drills.
Who’s in Charge
The person designated to decide whether the school is closed is Carol Franek.
Key Personnel designated to make decisions in case of emergencies are:
At the Silver Spring Campus:
- Primary – Donna Harshman
- Secondary – Andrew LaFleur
- Alternate – Cathy Moore
At the Kensington Campus:
- Primary – Carol Franek
- Secondary – Denise DeBono
- Alternate – Bill Musgrove
The Emergency Response team is comprised of members of the administrative team and faculty members who are not classroom teachers. (Classroom teachers are charged with staying with their children.)
Silver Spring Campus: Donna Harshman, Andrew LaFleur, Cathy Moore, Pat Yankey
Kensington Campus: Carol Franek, Denise DeBono, Leonard Lee, Betty House, Jill Wilson, Erin Kaufman, Bill Musgrove, Judit Szekeres, Joelle Mellon
Plans for Communication
In the case of an emergency at school, a member of the Emergency Response team will try to reach families. Betty House, at Kensington will first try to contact all families by e-mail. We will also use radio station, WTOP 103.5 FM to broadcast up to date information.
If e-mail is not working and if we cannot use the radio broadcast system, WTOP 103.5 FM we will try calling parents. This system is least effective since each family has so many numbers where parents can be reached. We will first try cell phone numbers of one parent.
It is imperative that families give us accurate e-mail addresses and cell phone numbers and keep us up to date with any changes.
Also it is important for families to designate both a local emergency contact and an out-of-town emergency contact. In the event of emergency, we have learned that long distance calls may be possible even when local systems are jammed.
Evacuation Procedures
For a brief evacuation period, such as a fire drill, students at Silver Spring exit away from the building to the sidewalk on Grace Church Road and onto the playground away from the building. At Kensington, students gather on the designated areas of blacktop in the back and to the north of the school building.
If it is necessary to evacuate children from the school premises the first choice for relocation of the Silver Spring campus will be to meet in the Undercroft of Grace Church, Silver Spring. (next door).
If we must evacuate the building at the Kensington Campus for more than an hour, students will be moved to Christ Church, Kensington which is located on the west side of Connecticut Avenue, heading north of the campus, at Connecticut Ave.
Before and After School Care
Teachers and staff at both campuses are trained in the emergency procedures and practice the same drills as mentioned above. Evacuation procedures apply to these programs as well.
In the event that there is an emergency in the early arrival program, the teachers on duty are charged to make decisions as necessary and will inform parents upon arrival.
No child should ever be sent to an early arrival or after care program without permission from the school. Contracted students are expected on the days of their agreement with the school. do not plan to send your child to a drop-in programs without the consent of the program director.
Call Pat Yankey in Silver Spring at 301-585-3513, ext. 14 or Extended Care in Kensington at 301-949-5860 to make plans. We cannot automatically accept drop-in students into the programs as we follow guidelines for a teacher/child ratio.
The Silver Spring director for before care and after school care can be reached at cell phone # 301-512-7470. The cell phone number for the Kensington Director for early arrival (7:35 AM to 8:30 AM) is 301-512-7469. The Kensington Director for after school care can be reached at cell phone # 301-512-7469.
The teachers in the After School Care Program carry walkie-talkies to assist in locating students who move from activity to activity during the session between 3:30 and 6:00 PM and to inform each other as they move through transitions from the outdoors to interior classrooms.
What Parents Can Do
- Update your phone numbers and e-mail addresses with the office and your child's classroom teacher as soon as they change.
- Return emergency information requests promptly.
- Notify your local and out of town emergency contacts of your family’s emergency plan.
- Inform yourself of the suggested preparedness.
- If your child has dietary restrictions, please consider bringing in a zip lock bag(s) with non-perishable foods. Label the bag with your child’s name and present it to the classroom teacher.
- If your child has medicine which can be made available in case of emergency, please label a zip lock bag and give it and directions for administration to Cathy Moore in Silver Spring and Betty House in Kensington.
