AF Amistad High School Family Handbook 2017-2018 | 23 Emergencies In case of an emergency, parents or guardians should contact the school either by phone or in person. Under no circumstance should parents or guardians contact scholars in their classrooms, including after school, or attempt to withdraw scholars from the building without notifying and receiving permission from staff members in the school office. Evacuation and Emergency Procedures The safety of our school community is the utmost priority. Accordingly, evacuation routes are posted in each classroom and common area, and emergency exits clearly identified. In addition, emergency procedures to be carried out in the case of internal or external threats to our school community (such as intruders, police reports of criminals in area, etc.) are posted in each classroom and common area. These procedures are reviewed during scholar orientation and practiced on a monthly basis. If a scholar or staff member sees fire or smells smoke, he or she should close the door and notify an administrator. Upon hearing an alarm, school staff will assemble scholars in their rooms and proceed out of the building according to the fire evacuation plan posted in each room. Scholars should follow the direction of staff members who will verify the safety of the stairwells and lead scholars outside the building to the designated locations, where school staff will line up scholars by class and take attendance. Whenever possible, parents/guardians will be notified of emergency evacuations or implementation of emergency procedures. Please note, some procedures may change once the school year has officially begun. Scholars will be notified of and trained in any significant changes. Nursing Services and Medication AFAHS has a resident School Nurse to assist scholars with their medical needs, and ensure compliance with state student health guidelines. In addition, all scholars need to have a primary medical provider or health center. The School Nurse is responsible for checking all health records to be certain that each scholar is properly immunized. AFAHS is required by law to have a valid health form on file for every scholar within 14 days of a child attending our school. Failure to submit a valid health form may result in your child being prohibited from attending school until the health form is received. The health form documents the vaccinations that a child has received to date. If you have not received this form from the school, please contact the School Nurse immediately. In most cases, AFAHS scholars receive annual physicals due to their participation in athletics, summer programs, internships, etc. Scholars without valid physicals may be prohibited from attending school.