by Lauren Hesse ’19

In the wake of the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, many secondary school systems, including MCPS, decided to implement new procedures and measures designed to protect students and faculty from outside threats.

Starting this year, students and staff at Sherwood will participate in active shooting drills. The drill will consist of “a ‘scripted event’, however, it will not include noises to simulate gunshots,” according to Assistant School Administrator Stephanie Gelfand. Before the first drill, teachers will receive additional training at an upcoming staff meeting, and administrators will share pertinent information about the drill with the Sherwood community.

While no one can ever be truly prepared to respond in the event of an active shooting, if “students are listening to teachers’ directions during drills and treating the drill as if it were a real situation,” the addition of active shooting drills will “further improve our ability as a school, not just staff, to respond to a threat,” according to Glenn Gerhardt, an AP Physics teacher.

As many students and parents have noticed, there is a new security entrance, which is still in the final phase of construction. Visitors cannot enter the school through the main entrance without participating in a new sign-in process, which involves demonstrating their identity by logging in using a driver’s license. All staff members and visitors are expected to display their identity in an outward manner by wearing a badge for staff or computer-generated sticker for parents and other visitors.

At the end of last year, classroom doors were fitted with magnetic strips that, if pulled, will cause the door to lock, preventing anyone intending to do harm from entering a classroom.

This year, administrators are strictly enforcing all previously determined procedures. Outer doors have always been locked at the time school begins. “Students who arrive after 8:00 must enter through the main entrance,” said Gelfand.

Students may have noticed that staff no longer open outer doors for students who wish to return to the building after choosing to go outside during lunch. Anyone who leaves the building at any point during the school day is expected to re-enter through the main entrance.

Security is continuing to patrol the campus and monitor closed-circuit cameras in order to ensure students are safe throughout the day.

No matter what precautionary measures administrators and staff take, there might be a time when our school is not secure. If a threat presents itself, Sherwood students and staff can rest assured that there is a plan in place that is designed to protect their safety.