Year round students are forced to endure inconvenient weather, hot or cold, when an alarm or announcement prompts a school evacuation. Every school year is marked with the vivid memories of bomb squad trucks pulling up to the school, or the barking of dogs that echoes throughout the halls. There are also the lock downs, leaving you stranded in an academic class when you could be in study. And then finally the fire drills; where teachers hush the rowdy as students hustle out the building. During our 2011-2012 school year, we have not had a single bomb threat or lockdown. So what exactly happened to these consistent occurrences?

     Fire drills usually occur at the beginning of the year and stop when students get situated into their schedules. To remind students again of the precautions they must take, there are usually a few coupled at the end of the year.

     “The fire department works with us so that they don’t interrupt any mandated testing, whether it’s midterm exams, MCAS, or AP exams,” said Assistant Principal Ms. Grindle.  

     In one instance at the beginning of the school year 850 students were evacuated and moved to the gymnasium as ordered by the fire department. Fewer fire drills during the winter allow students to stay busy indoors, during one of the hardest terms, and keep warm on frigid days.

    Juniors and seniors can most likely recall a time where there were at least three bomb threats in one year. One instance in particular forced students out into freezing temperatures during lunch until the end of the school day. As students began to feel the cold, teachers allowed certain students to retreat to the safety and warmth of their own cars.  

     “They used to be awful; we literally had three [bomb threats] in one month. They were extremely inconvenient, but now I believe people get the message that it’s not a good thing to do,” said junior Madelyn Anthony.

     Although the weather has not been as cold as recent years, students and teachers alike can be grateful for less classroom interruptions.

    The lack of fire drills, lock-downs, and bomb threats this school year reveals a certain rank of maturity among students. This is not grade school, and most students are able to grasp the seriousness of either situation, remaining quiet and well-behaved in the hallways or classrooms when a drill is in session.

    “Our students are vigilant, they do pay attention whether it’s a report on the bathroom wall or piece of paper, and we take all of those threats seriously,” said Ms. Grindle. Just because there haven’t been many drills, students should always keep in mind the strict rules that will ensure a better and safer education for all.