Following the Nov. 27 accidental lockdown prompted by human error, the scheduled lockdown occurred Dec. 6 as planned. 

For some students and adults on campus, the unexpected lockdown simulated a real-life situation, preparing students and faculty for the planned one and exposing possible concerns about future lockdown drill procedures.

When the accidental lockdown alarm sounded on Nov. 27, junior Juliana Walker was in the bathroom. She had been aware that a scheduled lockdown drill was approaching, but still thought the accidental lockdown was a real situation. 

Juliana said she felt more comfortable with the scheduled drill because of the accidental one.

“I felt really prepared for the drill,” she said. “Our teacher was going over our strategies, and I was a lot more calm today for sure.”

Juliana said students know to stay in the classroom in a planned lockdown drill, but in an actual crisis, they might be outside the classroom in places such as the hallway or bathroom. Juliana said she was planning to run, but a teacher saw her and welcomed her into a classroom. 

She said there should be more instruction on what to do in these situations.

History teacher Christine Fojtik said the accidental lockdown felt like a “practice for the practice.” 

“People were much more prepared to do what they were supposed to do,” Ms. Fojtik said, “which speaks back to the fact that there is a lot of value in doing these practices in the first place.”

“If you’re in a classroom, your teacher or adviser would tell you what to do. ‘Hide in behind this closet, turn off your phones.’ But if you’re in the hallway, you don’t have that guidance and would be left not knowing what to do,” Juliana said. “There should be more instruction because you could be in so many different situations and not know what to do.”

Similarly, ninth grader Giovanni Nicolai said the “run, hide, fight” instruction could be clarified, although he understands the unpredictability of these situations.

He said, “The accidental lockdown kind of showed me that no one knows what is going on, but the planned one went more smoothly, and I think expectations were clear.” 

Juliana said it would also be helpful if the lockdown drill had occurred earlier in the school year because a situation could arise at any point in the school year. 

Foreign language Xiaoli Zhou’s foreign language advisory and AP Chinese class is in a classroom with a door that does not lock. Although she was not in the room during the accidental lockdown, she said it prepared her for the upcoming drill. 

According to Ms. Zhou, the door is in the process of being replaced with a lock.

Ms. Zhou said, “I knew it was going to be replaced, so I just put two desks against the door.”