Mapping my school
The Laggard High School is located between the central avenue and the Washington Avenue. It is bounded by the ivy-league university like the Baylor’s University. It has a main entrance and another entrance opposite to the fire service which is on the other side of the street. The overall atmosphere of the school is calm. The Laggard High School is bounded on north by the ivy college.
The Laggard Middle School is located by the side of the High school and the Laggard Elementary School is behind the High School. The front end classrooms are built in buildings which are L- shaped with the main entrance between them. The remaining classrooms are in a C-shaped building. Behind these classrooms is located a cafeteria. The school playground and gym are behind the cafeteria.
The Baylor University located opposite to the school has some influence on the students of the Laggard High School. As the high school students can observe the university students, they will have an idea on the university life. They will also have an idea about the future courses available to them from the universities after study in high school. The Baylor’s University leaves a complete educational environment to the Laggard High School. The students develop an enthusiasm to reach the University for pursuing the courses of their interest. One of the reasons for this is the location of the Baylor’s University.
When we discuss about safety in the school, the first thing that comes into mind is the fire service which is located on the opposite side of the street. Whenever there is an untoward incident like fire accident, there is no worry as the fire service is available at the minimum time. In general, the school as a whole is very safe place. As the school is located facing the street, traffic might be a problem when safety is considered. The main entrance, which faces the street, is a dangerous spot in busy hours like 08:30 AM.
The students and the staff are in a hurry in the morning, due to which there might be chance of accidents. The car parking which lies just beside the main entrance creates inconvenience to those who go in and out of the school by walk. Car parking at the other entrance is restricted only to staff. One of the solutions that I feel suggestible is that employing a guard at the main entrance to guide the incoming and outgoing vehicles in the busy hours to avoid accidents. This will also fill confidence in the students and staff who walk by the main entrance.
Another unsafe area to be considered in the campus is the cafeteria. Yes, the cafeteria is definitely an unsafe place as there is no proper monitoring. There are no enough emergency exits. Since there is no good monitoring, there are more chances of disputes. Any disputes or fights between students cannot be controlled easily. And another disadvantage is that there are no emergency exits in case of fire accidents.
And we all know that, cafeteria has the highest scope for fire accident compare to any other place in the school campus. Moreover, the cafeteria is situated far from the entrance due to which more time is wasted before the fire service reaches the cafeteria crossing the staff car parking lot. I feel providing enough emergency exits to the cafeteria immediately and monitoring of the cafeteria would provide safety. The monitoring can be done indirectly by placing closed circuit cameras in the cafeteria and monitoring it from the main school building. Any disturbances in the cafeteria can be easily recognized from the main building and necessary actions can be taken.
The playground and the gym are located far from the main building. In case, if there is a severe injury to any student in the ground, it is difficult to provide medical facility immediately. This problem can be overcome by placing a first aid and emergency medical aid unit in the gymnasium.
The traffic outside the campus is also a problem, as the school is situated in a very busy center of the city. The traffic on both the sides i.e. at the Washington Avenue as well as the Central Avenue is crowded at the end of the day. All the vehicles of the students as well as the staff come out of the school at the same time creating traffic problems. To solve this problem, it is better that a guard is employed at both the entrances who will guide the vehicles going out at the time of heavy traffic though the street.
All these safety issues are a great disturbance for the parents. By employing the suggested solutions it will be a relief to the students, staff and parents too. These are the safe and unsafe areas that I feel considering my school and its surroundings.
