In the tragedy of last week, I wanted to send a quick letter to parents about how we at Bay City Academy keep children safe and how we, as a class, are going to cope.

• Lockdowns: all school systems implement a safety precaution called lock-downs where we plan and prepare multiple safety features to keep students safe and secure. We practice these as a class and school so that everyone is aware of their expectations and role in maintaining a safe environment. For kindergarten students, it has been important to be “general” in describing these drills so that they did not become afraid and have been discussed as a way to stay safe.

• We maintain a safe, secured building at all times where doors remain locked and people check-in at the office before entering the school. We have appreciated your support with using the main doors and using passes with bringing in your child after the school day has started and signing them out when leaving early.

• Open communication: I strive to keep constant communication with students and parents open at all times. If you ever have a question or concern, please call the Bay City Academy office, the classroom cell phone or my personal phone.

• Keeping open communication about students: the tragedy in Connecticut has been shown constantly in the media all weekend. Unfortunately it is a horror movie that has bled into reality and children at ages 5 and 6 are just starting to develop their distinctions between reality and fantasy. Even if not impacted directly, children have a tendency to internalize situations and become effected mentally. With that in mind, I will be helping to monitor any changes of behavior and will notify you immediately if they express any concerns, questions or fears in class, so that as a team, we can help your child cope with this devastation. No one plans, or even imagines, about having to discuss a situation like this to a child so I have compiled a list of resources that I used as a parent to gain insight as to what to say to my own children.

This is a video talking about how to discuss the tragedy with children:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/connecticut-shooting-talking-tragedy-children-17977788

This is a website that talks about how to help children cope and signs to look for to see if they are struggling:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/12/helping-children-cope-with-connecticut-shooting.html

As I've gathered information and thought of all of the students' needs in the classroom, I have broken down our discussion on Monday about the Connecticut tragedy so that parents know how it will be addressed in class.  We will at no time talk about the Connecticut tragedy directly, rather emphasize with students the safety and security that they receive at BCA. 

1. Sometimes bad things happen, but not often. Just because something bad happened, does not mean it will happen here.

2. We can't control other people, but we can control our own actions and prepare for all sorts of emergencies like fires, tornadoes, injuries, and for safety.

3. There are many people at BCA that want the best for all of the students academically, mentally and physically. The school motto is “safed, loved... learning” for that reason.

We will not discuss the Connecticut tragedy as a class so that you, as parents, can give your child the details that you know they can individually handle. I will be here for you and your child, if there are any questions or concerns stemming from that. To discourage anxiety, we will maintain our normal routines in the classroom so that students regain that sense of comfort of security BCA offers.