Students are back in the loop, which is a good thing because it’s a matter of safety.

On Nov. 8, a student was shot and killed at Ingraham High School, just five miles away from University Prep. At 10:03 a.m. the Seattle Police Department (SPD) updated their Twitter.

“Officers responding to a report of a shooting at a school in the 1800 block of N 135th,” the SPD said. “More information as it becomes available.”

We’ve expressed concerns in the past about the administration keeping students out of the loop through other editorial pieces. “Keeping Students in the Loop” and “Students Still Out of the Loop,” published during spring and fall of 2021 respectively, outlined the importance of transparency between student body and the administration.

“This is an issue of validating student voices and sharing critical information about our education with us,” the first article read.

The Ingraham shooting gave UPrep the opportunity to rectify their communication with the student body by being urgent and extensive, and they did just that. The gleeful energy from music day was disrupted with news that Ingraham was on lockdown. Similarly, UPrep students were not allowed to leave the building. At 10:47 a.m. parents were notified via email that UPrep was on lockdown.

An email from Head of School Ronnie Codrington Cazeau read, “There is no immediate danger to our campus community.”

At the same time as parents, students were revieved news of the shooting and safety precautions via Schoology. The message contained the same information as the email sent to parents.

As UPrep’s student news outlet, it is our number one priority to deliver accurate, timely information to our community. We are proud of the administration for successfully doing so in this scenario and look forward to observing their continued improvement at communicating with the student body.

Approved by 8/8 members of the editorial board.