Streamline Emergency Drills, Redefine Dismissal Procedures & Enhance Communication

Like most schools across the country, Monroe Elementary, a dynamic 2nd-6th grade building with over 1,100 students, faced a daily logistical challenge: dismissal. With twice the student population of neighboring schools, staff were overburdened by the cumbersome task of managing dismissal processes manually. The Assistant Principal and secretaries spent countless hours creating spreadsheets ahead of each new school year to track how students were getting home, only to deal with inevitable changes and confusion as soon as school was back in session. 

“I would watch my staff juggle clipboards and spreadsheets, double-checking with kids, ‘Is that mom or dad picking you up?’ It functioned, but it didn’t feel like a great system,” explained Principal and changemaker Joe Ward. 

On top of dismissal challenges, Monroe Elementary had no reliable system for rapid reunification during drills or emergencies, further emphasizing the need for a comprehensive solution. “Rapid dismissals were like an old-time fire drill. In the past, teachers would have their class roster and a card that’s either red or green. They would hold up the card; red meant they’re missing a kid, green, they’ve got everybody. But, there was no system in place for really tracking that, so if we actually had to do a real reunification, where we had to get off-campus and have parents come pick up their kids, that would have been a nightmare.”