Metal Detectors

The addition of metal detectors to our school has required a change in morning drop-off procedures. 

• Students are no longer able to enter the building through the cafeteria doors.
• Students are not be permitted inside the building prior to 7:40 a.m.
• Bus riders will enter the building through the bus loop entrance.
• Car riders, student drivers, and walkers will enter the building through the double doors in the athletic wing.
• Special-needs buses continue to drop off at the front.
• Carter G. Woodson Academy middle school students will enter through the Carter G. Woodson main doors.
• After 8:25 a.m., everyone should enter our school through the main entrance. Anyone wishing to go beyond the secure vestibule will be searched with a handheld metal detector wand.

The set-up looks much like the metal detectors at Rupp Arena:

• As students enter the building, they enter the athletic hall.
• Students are to unzip all backpacks.
• They walk to the gym entrance where they are directed to one of six metal detectors.
• Students place any bags or purses on a table to be checked prior to walking through the metal detectors.
• Students place keys, cell phones, or other items from their pockets or hands into storage baskets.
• Students walk through the metal detector and pick up their belongings on the other side.
• Students proceed to the café with no re-entry into the gym.

All entrances are monitored by teams of staff, including FCPS Police officers and contracted safety ambassadors.

It helps tremendously if students bring only those items necessary for school or extra-curricular activities. Those without backpacks or purses will not have to stand in line for bag checks and will be able to move more quickly through the metal detectors.

It is also important for everyone to be aware of the types of items that are not allowed at school, including over-the-counter medications. A full list is included in the Student Code of Conduct. You can help at home by regularly checking your child’s backpack.

Please talk with your student about the changes and remind them how important it is not to open exterior doors of the building for anyone. Our students want to be helpful, but we want them to be safe. We need everyone to come through the metal detectors in the morning or be directed to the front entrance of the school after the tardy bell rings. Dropping students off as close to 7:40 a.m. will assist with reducing students’ tardiness after lines form.

We know that metal detectors are not fail-safe, but they will work in concert with other precautions to help us do everything we can to make our campuses safe places to learn and work.