In the aftermath of recent tragedies across the country, Nashoba Regional High School held ALICE (Alert Lockdown Inform Counter Evacuation) seminars in school on Monday October 9th for grades 9 through 12.

ALICE training is a new popular safety procedure schools across the nation are implementing in place of the former one-dimensional lock down. ALICE acknowledges that each scenario is different, and therefore students and teachers should be flexible in response.

When discussing faculty confidence in new procedures, Mr. Di Domenico referenced “positive feedback from staff” and that the “staff is feeling much more prepared.”

Even though ALICE training promotes individual thinking and decision making during the training, Mr. Di Domenico said that students should “follow the lead of [their] teachers” who received hands on mock-situation training prior to the student seminars. In the event of a lockdown, teachers would be responsible for organizing students, fortifying the room, and planning for a safe evacuation if possible.

Old procedures, which were deemed insufficient by parents and faculty alike in preventing aggression, have been replaced with new options and rules such as barricading, fleeing, countering, and opening doors for no one. Also, if students need to evacuate, they have been told to follow their teachers to undisclosed “rally points” which act as a safe haven for them until the situation can be diffused. Once confidence is assured in the absolute safety of the school, students will be directed to a new reunification site where they can meet with their parents and go home. Senior Sammy Murphy said she “feels much more prepared in the event of an emergency.”

School administration has been making strong efforts over the past year to update emergency protocol so that students and teachers feel more safe at school. The old single option strategy has been made obsolete by the new ALICE training, and it is certainly a step in the right direction for student safety.