Dear Charger Parents and Families,
The 2nd six weeks comes to an end this Friday, November 12th. Please reach out to your student’s teachers if you have any questions or concerns regarding their progress over the last 12 weeks. Our students have spent a lot of time learning how to be in school again. This not only includes how to interact in a classroom setting, but how to interact in a large group in a public setting. We have found that we need to spend more time intentionally teaching and learning about social awareness: the ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others. It also includes the ability to understand social and ethical norms for behavior and to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports. One area I would like to emphasize is simple common courtesy between students and students & staff. Use of “please” and “thank you” and tone of voice go a long way in demonstrating courtesy and respect with one another. I hope you will join in supporting us in this endeavor. All people deserve to be treated with kindness, dignity, and respect.
Lockdown Drill
This Wednesday, we will have a lockdown drill. Before starting the lockdown drill, I will make a campus wide announcement to reassure students that it’s only a drill and explain why we are practicing the procedures. Our goal is student preparedness in case of a real emergency.
Say Something
As a school district and campus, we are committed to creating and sustaining a comprehensive, coordinated effort to improve the overall safety and well-being of our students, educators, and administrators. To do this, we believe this must involve community-wide programs and initiatives involving parents, teachers, administrators, local law enforcement, mental health & wellness professionals, and elected officials to take meaningful action to protect our students.
During Advocacy, we will conduct yearly mandatory “Say Something Anonymous Reporting System” (SS-ARS) student trainings for students in 6-12 grade. This program teaches students, teachers, and administrators how to recognize warning signs and signals, especially within social media, of individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others and Say Something to a trusted adult OR use its anonymous reporting system. Specifically, the program educates participants to:
- Recognize the signs and signals of at-risk behaviors – especially within social media
- Take every sign and signal seriously; act quickly to get help by talking to a trusted adult OR
- Report it anonymously through SS-ARS 24/7 Crisis Center, mobile app, or website
- Respond to and manage the submitted tip via multi-disciplinary educator and administrator teams
- Sustain the curriculum and awareness via student clubs, in-school activities and call-to-action weeks
Our students often are aware of the problems their peers are facing, so we must empower them to know the danger signs and give them the tools to help each other with the assistance of trained and caring adults. As you know, most conversations are taking place on social media; therefore, it is critical that we teach our students to be looking out for one another as these digital conversations are taking place. SS-ARS teaches them what to look for in text, videos and photos while empowering them to act quickly to help a fellow student.
The SS-ARS program is being provided through Sandy Hook Promise (SHP), a nation-wide non-profit organization. SHP’s programs are in 50 states – with 7,000+ schools and over 3.5 million students and adults trained. They have the track record, reputation, and knowledge of how to work effectively with kids, parents, and teachers to improve school safety and culture. The program is age-appropriate and research-based. They also have funding to provide and sustain the program at NO COST to the district. To date, SS-ARS and other SHP prevention programs have helped stop multiple school shootings, suicides, and gun threats, reduced bullying and cyberbullying, intervened upon cutting, drug use, racial conflicts and other violent and victimization acts. We know this program will do the same for our district.
