Doors At School

In this day an age, schools are high security places. Typically, there is one door that is accessible for coming and going. Unless you have a key or a badge that opens doors there is no in and out. Wandering off was an issue that we had to work through with a 1st grader who came to my school. She would turn up missing when the classroom teacher would just turn around. Typically she wouldn't get far and we could track her down, but one time she made it to an outside door and stepped out. This was a huge problem because even if she wanted to get back in, the doors were always locked and she would have to get to the doors at the front of the building to push the buzzer to come inside. When you are working with children, safety and security is so very important.  I needed to write a story that would help her understand when she could use outside doors and when they were off limits. This was what I came up. We also set up her spot in the classroom to be as far away from the door as possible so that it wouldn't be quite so easy for her to slip out. Enjoy!

There are so many doors at school. There are doors that are inside and doors that are go outside. The doors that go outside are there for safety. They keep us safe from weather. They keep us safe from bad guys.

I should never open them unless I have permission from an adult.
I can go out the outside doors at recess. I can go out the outside doors after school when it is time to go home. And of course, I can go outside doors if there is an emergency, like a fire alarm.
If I don't have permission to open an outside door, I shouldn't.

When I use the outside doors the right way, I can help myself and the kids at my school stay safe.