By: Ivy Stallone

Safety is one of the major factors that makes Syosset one of the best schools. While many students in Syosset High School know that Syosset is safe, most don’t know just how safe they are or the measures and effort the high school staff put into maintaining their safety.

Since the high school is very big there needs to be extensive preparation when a drill occurs so all staff members know their roles and responsibilities. “In the summer we schedule the days, we have a script for the lockdown drill, we go over that as a committee. We also distribute the drill date and everything like that,” said Mr. Raymond Gessner, one of the assistant principals. Preparation isn’t the only thing needed to ensure most of the drills are successful; there also needs to be a plan that assigns roles to various teachers. Principal Dr. Giovanni Durante said, “typically I’m at the front of the building, that’s my station. I make sure that the building is clear and that everyone is 30 yards away, and then I do a call using our radios to see throughout the entire building because everyone has a different station and I make sure that the building is completely clear. We debrief afterward to see if there were any issues and if it was too slow in a certain area.”

There are many safety measures and techniques, which show the improvement in safety precautions at the school. Dr. Durante said, “Under our administration in the central office…what they’ve done is they’ve built a vestibule so visitors have to come into the vestibule. There’s a trap, meaning that you have to be buzzed in, and once you give in your ID and you’re let in by the security guard then you may be permitted in the building with a pass that has your photo on it.” This strategy aids the security guards in keeping the entire building safe from any potential threat.

There are also many rules and regulations that the school has to follow. “By law you have to have…eight fire drills and four lockdown drills,” said Mr. Gessner. This is a law that is specific to New York. Syosset doesn’t just ensure students are safe, but it ensures students feel safe as well. Dr. Durante said, “recently we were talking to students about how safe they feel in Syosset and the overwhelming majority actually raised their hand saying yes, they feel safe.”