Fall 2018 Safety Training Letter for Parents

Palos Verdes Intermediate School

Dear Parent(s) or Guardian(s):

In PVPUSD, student and staff safety is a top priority. For this reason, in partnership with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department all staff have been trained on how to appropriately respond to an active shooter situation should it occur on one of our campuses. Given active shooter events that have occurred nationally, during October and November we will train our students on the “Run, Hide, Fight” (RHF) protocol. In 2012, the Department of Justice, led by the FBI, was tasked with training law enforcement agencies across the country in order to protect schools, workplaces, places of worship, public gathering sites and communities. The FBI developed the RHF protocol so law enforcement agencies could effectively and consistently train civilians in their community.

We have been fortunate to work with the Redondo Beach Unified School District to utilize their curriculum that has been delivered at every school site in RBUSD. The RHF protocol has been modified to support student safety and level of maturity. TK-3 students will receive typical lockdown training that reminds them to listen to their teacher for direction in unusual circumstances. Grades 4-12 will receive a formal training on “Run, Hide, Distract” and the training is slightly different at middle and high levels. In addition, staff will modify the training to meet the individualized needs of students, as necessary.

This letter is to notify you that we will be instructing students on this topic through PE classes. The presentation schedule is as follows:

November 9th – 8th grade classes

November 13th – 7th grade classes

November 14th – 6th grade classes

You can preview the curriculum (specific for particular grade levels) and the video that will be shown in classes for grades 4 – 12 on the page at www.pvpusd.net/safetynews/. We understand the sensitivity of this topic, and we encourage you to engage in a discussion with your child(ren) about school safety, as you are their first teacher. Like with fire and earthquake drills, we know from experience that the more we discuss and practice our safety protocols, the more natural our responses will become.

If you do not want your student to receive this instruction, please complete the attached form and return it to your student’s PE teacher before the presentation day. Keeping our students safe on and off campus is a team effort, and we sincerely appreciate your support with this important safety topic. Should you have any questions, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Dr. Trista Ramirez

Principal