Dear Parents of Brookwood Elementary,

We all mourn the loss of the innocents on a dreadful December day in Newtown, Connecticut. Our prayers are with their families and the entire school community.

 

I want you to know that we are dedicated to keeping your children at Brookwood Elementary safe every day. Safety and security has always been our top priority because children cannot learn if they are not in a safe environment. This event certainly heightens our awareness and we are constantly looking for ways to improve our processes and procedures. I want to assure you that our staff is trained in emergency procedures and that we do practice those. While no one can guarantee that what happened in Newtown, Connecticut, could not happen in Gwinnett County, Georgia, I am confident in the processes, procedures, and safeguards that we have put in place to protect our students and staff.

 

We will not be discussing the events from Newtown with our students. If students bring it up, we will tell them that it was sad but we will quickly reassure them that many people are working to keep them safe and that the bad person who did that was captured so they don't have to worry about him. If they have questions, we will encourage them to talk to their parents.

We will be celebrating the holiday season this week and our children deserve the joy of this season! We will do all that we can to protect their innocence from this horror. We are hurting inside for our fellow educators and for the families in Connecticut, but our children will see us smiling and caring for them. We will pray silently while we continue to provide a challenging, engaging, and safe learning environment for our children. Thank you so much for sharing your children with us!