On a Tuesday morning, the entire student body and staff of NKHS stood in the freezing cold on the softball field, eagerly awaiting the signal to go back inside. The administration had decided to change the fire drill policy. In the new procedure, students proceed out of the building and to the softball field. They then find and stand behind their advisor. The advisors are arranged in a giant square, each side for a different grade.

This is a different, highly structured process for the fire drill. Prior to this change, teachers and students filed out of the school and into the parking lot and surrounding areas. Interim principal Dr. Denise Mancieri said, “The problem is, there was no accountability. Teachers took attendance but no one collected the attendance.”

The old system was sometimes chaotic and students as well as teachers did not know what to do. Mancieri refers to a fire drill early in this school year in which a car drove through the parking lot at a high speed. “That was a potentially dangerous situation for students,” she said. “Some teachers voiced their concern.”

The school administration started talking about changing the plan last year. After one of the fire drills last school year, the police suggested a change in procedure. In November, Mancieri and others in the administration decided to sit down and figure out a different method. Ms. Donna Sweet suggested the square formation on the softball field because she had seen it done in Westerly.

The first new fire drill took place on Tuesday, Nov. 18, during advisory. The following day, there was another fire drill. While students grumbled about having two fire drills in a row, Mancieri said, “I wanted to make sure everyone knew what to do. Tuesday was a cold day and I wanted to let kids grab their coats.”

Mancieri said that because the students knew about the fire drill on Tuesday, she could not count that drill as an official fire drill in the report to the Rhode Island Department of Education. “Wednesday was the scheduled day for the official fire drill,” she said. The school has to have one fire drill per month.

Mancieri explained that she thought back-to-back fire drills would be easier for the school. Tuesday was the practice fire drill so students and staff could get acquainted with the new procedure. Wednesday’s drill went smoother because the new way was fresh in everyone’s heads.

“Everything I do comes from a place of love for the school and the students,” said Mancieri. Fire drills are extremely important, and “for the safety of the students.”