ALICE Parent/Community Information

RSU #74 Families 

There's nothing more important than creating a safe and healthy learning environment for our students, teachers and staff. As part of our effort to realize this goal, I'm pleased to announce that we are implementing ALICE Training® at RSU #74. Though the reality of an active shooter event on school property is difficult to consider, we know it is crucial that our school community feel prepared to respond if such an incident were to occur. A key part of that preparation involves your support. You are the most important voice in your child’s life, and we invite you to learn more about and share in the lifesaving lessons they will be learning.  

ALICE Training® is an options-based, age- and ability-appropriate training program that will empower staff and students to survive an active shooter or other life-threatening emergency. Unlike the single-option lockdown response traditionally practiced in schools, ALICE Training® focuses on teaching proactive, multi-option response strategies that are evidence-based and trauma-informed. The ALICE approach is designed to scale both
emotionally and physically to students at any grade level, helping to increase retention and decrease negative emotional outcomes.  

What Does ALICE Training® Teach? 

Alert: A speedy response is critical to survival. Quickly recognizing signs of danger allows you to make the best survival decisions for the situation. 

Lockdown: When evacuation is not an option, barricade entry points into the room and prepare for the next response strategy.  

Inform: Communicate real-time information about the armed assailant with those in the immediate vicinity and first responders.  

Counter: As a last resort, create noise, movement, distance and distraction to decrease the intruder's ability to cause harm.

Evacuate: When it is safe to do so, retreat to an area that is out of harm’s way.  

ALICE Training® was developed to empower individuals of all ages and abilities to participate in their own survival if they become unwilling participants in an act of violence. Though we take every precaution to ensure such an
event is never experienced on our campus, we know there is value in preparing our community to respond effectively if it is.  

For more information on ALICE Training®, you are invited to view the ALICE for Families and Communities course at https://nav360.link/alice-360. Thank you for your continued assistance in making our school community as safe as possible and one in which our students can reach their full potential and thrive.  

ALICE Training® Frequently Asked Questions

What is ALICE? 

ALICE Training® is a proactive, options-based training program designed to empower individuals to participate in their own survival should an active shooter or other life-threatening emergency take place. Some people may choose to evacuate while others may choose to lockdown and barricade. Still others may choose to counter if an armed intruder enters their space. ALICE Training® is all about options. Not every situation is the same; your response strategies shouldn't be, either.  

Why ALICE Training®? 

ALICE Training® is the nation's pioneer in options-based active shooter response training. This program is the first of its kind to question the efficacy of a “lockdown-only” approach to surviving a violent critical incident. Because it is the first, it has the most experience, credibility and implementation support available on the market.  

Why change the lockdown-only approach?  

Federal and state governments and major law enforcement associations support proactive, options-based strategies when responding to violence. ALICE Training® is the model upon which these organizations' official recommendations were built. A violent critical incident can happen anywhere and at any time. The ALICE program empowers all individuals in your organization to survive.  

The 'C' in ALICE stands for 'Counter.' What is the difference between 'Fight' and 'Counter?'  

Fighting skills take a lot of time and practice to learn and retain. As such, ALICE does not teach people how to fight. Instead, ALICE teaches the skills needed to “Counter,” an action that disrupts the attacker’s ability to shoot accurately. We teach the use of noise, movement, distance and distraction to make shooting accurately difficult, and if appropriate, we teach a swarm technique designed to take back control as a last resort. All training is conducted at age- and ability-appropriate levels.  

How will students be trained?  

We recommend that all student training be age- and ability-appropriate and involve teachers as the lead trainers. This includes using the ALICE Training® children’s book titled I’m Not Scared... I’m Prepared and the associated classroom workbook for teachers.  

How much time will the training take away from learning? 

ALICE Training® typically takes the place of traditional lockdown drills. The length of training may range from 15 to 30 minutes, depending on students' ages and abilities.  

Is the adoption of ALICE Training® an admission that our school is not safe?  

Schools are some of the safest places for children. However, while most practice evacuation drills for fires and protective measures for tornadoes, far fewer practice strategies for active

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shooter events. In order to be prepared for an active shooter or other violent critical incident, schools should teach staff, students and families to react in a way that increases survivability. Best practices include involving students in the training.  

Has an ALICE-trained organization ever experienced a real-life critical incident? If so, did ALICE make a difference in the outcome?  

Yes, ALICE-trained institutions have experienced situations in which some or all of the ALICE Training® protocols were incorporated. The outcomes were deemed by those involved in the events as positive due to the ALICE Training®. To see how ALICE strategies positively impacted several outcomes, you can view videos and case studies here: https://www.alicetraining.com/resources-posts/alice-case-study-videos/

Isn’t it law enforcement’s job to take care of an active shooter? 

While law enforcement is always on the way, time is never on their side. We must learn to help ourselves before police officers and other first responders arrive. Just as the fire department equips us with fire extinguishers and sprinkler systems and EMS trains us to use AEDs, the law enforcement community is training us in our response to violent critical events.