Three Gaithersburg schools on lock down today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No news coverage at all!! Just vague principal emails. Is this intentionally being swept under the rug?

I’d guess that in terms of news coverage, gun trumps knife. They went with the one that sounded scariest, because it would generate more clicks and views.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No news coverage at all!! Just vague principal emails. Is this intentionally being swept under the rug?

Happens too frequently. Not news worthy which is really sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quince Orchard high, Lakelands Middle and Rachel Carson elementary all had to lock down today after a student on lunch break brandished a knife during a fight. The school system must do more . It's completely out of hand.

So 3 schools, which aren't even right next to each other, had lockdowns because of one incident? I'm not going to criticize MCPS about this, because as far as I know, they do this at the direction of the police. I guess I also won't criticize the police about this, at least not without knowing more. However, it does seem like the response is the issue here.

[Anonymous]

My dd attends QO and she doesn’t recall a lockdown on Friday. QO did have a shelter in place on Thursday due to a medical emergency that required an ambulance. They sheltered through a decent portion of lunch. I did not receive any notification emails from the principal for Thursday or Friday. There was a Nextdoor post asking about police activity at Lakelands Park yesterday, but nobody replied with any information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quince Orchard high, Lakelands Middle and Rachel Carson elementary all had to lock down today after a student on lunch break brandished a knife during a fight. The school system must do more . It's completely out of hand.

What, specifically, should MCPS do? Metal detectors in every school? Police stationed in every room?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quince Orchard high, Lakelands Middle and Rachel Carson elementary all had to lock down today after a student on lunch break brandished a knife during a fight. The school system must do more . It's completely out of hand.

What, specifically, should MCPS do? Metal detectors in every school? Police stationed in every room?

Metal detectors and increased police presence are two ways to respond, but those don't have to be the only things.

What's the alternative to metal detectors and police involvement? Leaving the status quo? That sounds good to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quince Orchard high, Lakelands Middle and Rachel Carson elementary all had to lock down today after a student on lunch break brandished a knife during a fight. The school system must do more . It's completely out of hand.

What, specifically, should MCPS do? Metal detectors in every school? Police stationed in every room?

Metal detectors and increased police presence are two ways to respond, but those don't have to be the only things.

What's the alternative to metal detectors and police involvement? Leaving the status quo? That sounds good to you?

I'm not calling for changes.

[Anonymous]

My kid from Rachel Carson ES did not say anything, and there is no emails from teacher/principal. So, did that really happen to RCES?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid from Rachel Carson ES did not say anything, and there is no emails from teacher/principal. So, did that really happen to RCES?

They typically lock down nearby schools whenever something like this happens, just as a precaution.

But the other schools may have only had a shelter-in-place, which means the day goes on as usual inside the building, but exterior doors are locked and nobody comes in or goes out. An elementary kid may not have even realized it was happening unless they had to cancel recess (mine wouldn't have!). If that was the case, since nothing happened at the actual school and the educational day wasn't disrupted, they may not have felt it necessary to inform parents.

[Anonymous]

Be careful of misinformation.

OP, do not report things as fact when it is conjecture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Be careful of misinformation.

OP, do not report things as fact when it is conjecture.

This is op. I received emails from principals about the lockdowns.
All 3 schools were locked down. It would behoove the schools or the police department to report the reason for the lockdown other than:police activity " in the area. The poster who said there was no report on NextDoor is incorrect. There were 2 reports of a knife, a student fleeing and a student also reported they were on lock down for 30 minutes.

If schools can't handle communication except to mention our children all had to be in lock down at the same time with no further explanation, there will be conjecture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be careful of misinformation.

OP, do not report things as fact when it is conjecture.

This is op. I received emails from principals about the lockdowns.
All 3 schools were locked down. It would behoove the schools or the police department to report the reason for the lockdown other than:police activity " in the area. The poster who said there was no report on NextDoor is incorrect. There were 2 reports of a knife, a student fleeing and a student also reported they were on lock down for 30 minutes.

If schools can't handle communication except to mention our children all had to be in lock down at the same time with no further explanation, there will be conjecture.

No all 3 schools weren’t on lockdown. There was police activity near the middle school resulting in shelter in place. My child at LPMS didn’t even know about it. They just couldn't leave the school like another poster indicated.
There was no email from QO. Yes I have kids at both schools so I do know.