Redding School District

Getting a Drink

Getting a Drink – To avoid disruption of teaching and learning, students need to use the drinking fountain at specific times. Students also must use the fountain safely and with regard to the safety of others.

Determine your policy for using drinking fountains – It will depend on the age of students, where it is located (in the classroom or outside), the distance of fountains from the classroom, time of year (weather), and responsibility level of your students.

How will students us the fountain – Students need to be taught to use fountains safely and responsibly. Pushing and shoving at the drinking fountain could easily lead to injury. When using a fountain, students need to follow these directions:

Line up single file and wait your turn.
Do not touch another student in line or at the fountain.
Do not spray or splash water at other students.

Determine when students will use the fountain – Your own policy will depend on where the fountains are located at your school: inside your classroom or on the yard. If both locations are available, decide when you expect students to use them.

On the yard – If the fountains are located in the yard or playground, students should be expected to take a drink before school and before they line up at the end of recess or lunch.
In the classroom – If fountains are located in the classroom and not in the yard or playground, let students line up and get drinks when they re-enter the classroom after recess and lunch. This means some students will be in line for a drink and others will go directly to their seats.

Have both scenarios covered in your beginning of the year lessons. Students waiting for a drink need to follow the rules (single file, no touching). Students not getting a drink need to follow your directions for re-entering the class and getting ready to work.

Establish a time limit for drinking – To keep the line at the drinking fountain moving, have a 10-second drinking limit (or 5 seconds, depending on what works best for you). Students must stop drinking when the other students finish counting to 10, for example.

drinking fountain line

Teach Students How to Use the Fountain – With younger students you may want to teach and demonstrate to students the appropriate and sanitary way to sue a fountain:

Carefully lean toward the fountain
Turn the water on
Drink from the stream of water. Do not touch the metal with your mouth.

Students should not need drinks during instructional time and/or let students bring water bottles – Unless the weather is unusually warm, teachers can reasonably expect older students to adhere to before school, recess, lunch, and after school as times to get a drink. Use your own judgment regarding whether students are abusing privileges.

Letting students bring their own water bottles to class might reduce interruptions to instruction. Because keeping a water bottle at one’s desk is a privilege, students are inclined to use them appropriately so the bottles will not be taken away. Be sure all bottles are marked with students’ names in permanent marker and that students bring them home to wash them every day.