October 18, 2022

Dear Parents:

Yesterday’s unannounced lockdown drill was an overall success. We conduct four lockdown drills a year; each semester has one announced and one unannounced drill. The Oconee County law enforcement officers that evaluated us yesterday were asked to stage outside the school before the drill began to see students' response times on the athletic fields and playgrounds. After that, the deputies moved inside our buildings and evaluated the proficiency of our performance as a team.

The comment from the Oconee County Sherriff James Hale was, "Prince Avenue is the standard that we strive the other schools in Oconee County to achieve." I responded that our performance reflects the quality of our faculty and students, which is accurate. Also in attendance yesterday was the Oconee County Patrol Division Commander, Captain Mark Smith, who provided keen insight into our strengths and challenges during the drill. For your knowledge, the sheriff's office has keys to our school, classrooms, etcetera, and can also see imagery from our campus cameras on their cell phones before arriving on campus. We are blessed to live in a county with such quality law enforcement officers who want to see schools like ours safe against intruders.

We train for a day we pray will never happen, but we will continue to train to ensure your child’s safety. Thank you for your continued partnership in a Christ-centered education amidst a rapidly changing world.