ALICE Training
In January 2019, the Upper St. Clair School Board approved a three-year partnership with the ALICE Training Institute. Through this partnership staff and students will receiving training on research-based protocols/responses in the unlikely event of a violent critical incident.
Schools across the country, including Upper St. Clair, have been practicing lockdown drills for many years. Participation in ALICE training will enhance those lockdown procedures.
ALICE is an acronym for:
A – Alert: This is your first notification of danger. It is recognizing the signs of danger and receiving information about danger from others.
L – Lockdown: If evacuation is not a safe option, you would barricade entry points into your room in an effort to create a semi-secure starting point.
I – Inform: If it is safe to do so, communicate real time information on the location of the violent critical incident. Use clear and direct language using any communication means possible.
C – Counter: As a last resort, create noise, movement, distance and distraction with the intent of reducing an individual’s ability to cause harm.
E - Evacuate: When safe to do so, run from danger using non-traditional exits if necessary. Rally points should be predetermined.
Staff training began in the spring of 2019 and will continue throughout the next three years. Age and developmentally appropriate student training will begin in the 2019-20 school year.
All ALICE practice drills will be announced to students, staff and parents, and will only occur after students have received instruction in what to do. The focus of these drills will always be on preparation, not frightening simulations, so be assured that no gunfire simulations or other scare tactics will be used at any grade level.
Families who have questions/concerns and/or would like to discuss their child's needs are encouraged to contact their child's building principal.