Monday, December 17, 2012

December 17, 2012



December 17, 2012

Dear Members of the J. Turner Hood School Community,

Like you, I spent part of my Sunday evening preparing to send my children to school today with my heart heavy from Friday’s events at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.  This morning our faculty and staff met before school started to discuss the importance of helping our students and families during this difficult time. 

Out of respect for family choice on how to respond to this issue, we will not focus on the incident or details in our classrooms. I want to let all of the members of our school community know that we will not initiate discussion of this matter with students. However, should our students need our support we will be ready to provide support in the simplest and most basic ways. We will let our students know that their feelings are normal and that they are safe. We will let them know we have a safety plan and that all the doors are locked. Most importantly we will plan to make the J. Turner Hood Elementary School a happy, warm, and comforting place so that our precious students feel the collective hug from our entire school community. 
I can reassure you that our school continues to be a safe place for our students to learn and develop.  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. 
As you are aware, Open-Circle is our Social Emotional Learning Curriculum. Please note that they have shared the following link on their Twitter feed.  Please see the link below for a great resource tips for parents and teachers to help children cope:

To all of our families, may you find the peace and love that is so desperately needed at this time.

Respectfully,

                                
Mr. Glen S. McKay, Principal

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