My letter to families in the wake of tragedy

Below is the letter I shared with my school families this evening. Thank you to Joe Mazza, Bill Powers, Tony Sinanis, Dr. Spike Cook, Patrick Larkin and the countless others in my PLN who shared resources and ideas as we prepare to both lead our schools and send our own children to school. Best wishes for a Monday that focuses on the goodness of your school's children, the dedication of your staff and support from your greater school community.

Dear East View Families,

Like you, I am spending part of my Sunday evening preparing to send my children to school tomorrow with my heart heavy from Friday’s events at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. While the district will issue a formal statement regarding this horrific tragedy, I wanted to connect with you as your child’s principal and as a parent before you send your much loved children our way to reinforce the following:

• Thank you for trusting us with your children every day. Know that keeping your children safe is the single most important piece of our work at school and that your children are diligently cared for by our school staff. 
• The main office will continue to be the only point of entrance to school during the day, and we will continue the sign-in process for visitors.
• I have instructed all staff to refrain from discussing Friday’s tragedy with students or with one another in the presence of students. We respect your role as a kindergarten parent on what you feel is appropriate to share with your child. If it is brought up by a student, the teacher will take that student aside to talk or involve me, Mrs. Schafermeyer, Mrs. Noll (our social worker), or another member of our team to ensure his or her needs are addressed. If your child needs to speak with someone outside of the classroom, you will be notified in the interest of working together. If you know your child is having a tough time, please feel free to contact his or her teacher, the office staff, or Mrs. Noll so we can support him or her.
• Know that we conduct drills in partnership with local first responders to aid in our preparation for weather related or other events that may compromise the safety of our school community. Through those drills and ongoing conversation, we continue to revisit our plans and policies. Likewise, teachers and substitute teachers all have copies of our emergency procedures and know their role within those plans.
• Mrs. Noll will be at our Home & School Organization meeting on Tuesday, December 18^th at 7 p.m. to highlight how to talk to your children about this situation and answer any questions you might have from a social-emotional perspective.  You may also access the following resources to assist you : http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/talkingviolence.pdf  (http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/talkingviolence_spanish.pdf  ).

Please don’t hesitate to contact any member of the East View team if we can support you or your children or if you have questions or feedback.

Respectfully,

Kathy Melton