February 26, 2018

Dear Parents,

The staff at Sena High wants you to know we are very much aware of your concerns with the recent incidents across the country and in our own state.  We are doing everything we can to address and alleviate the understandably high levels of anxiety we face in our community today.

The safety of our students and staff is always our top priority. Sena HS will be reviewing all safety protocols in the days ahead. This is something we do on a regular basis, throughout the school year. We are all committed to working together to do everything we can to keep our Sena High community safe.

Our Social Worker is ready to offer any assistance necessary for staff or students. Every person is impacted differently.  Some students may view media coverage of the shootings and threats and then worry the same could happen to them.   Spend time talking with your child about his/her thoughts about media coverage, what their friends are saying, and how they feel about it all. Place limits on how much media coverage your child sees and then try to explain the coverage and put it into context.

Keep in mind that some children may be less affected than others, and that's OK. Encourage your child to talk with a trusted adult at school if he or she feels anxious or scared during the school day.  Remind your child of the good things going on at school and at home. Talk about all the different people who are there to help them at school, at home and in the community. The most important thing you can do is talk with your child. Even if you don't know what to say, talking, listening and reassuring him or her is the best way to help.

Finally, please remind your child to tell an adult if he or she ever becomes aware of information that could lead to a student safety issue. The courageous efforts of students and adults in the past have helped to prevent what could have been more senseless violence. We can't forget the power of information and our responsibility to share what we know when we can. Please have your children report any perceived threat to our adult staff.  And again please reiterate to them that all threats will be taken seriously, and will be reported to the police, regardless if it is a prank. Working together we will keep our schools safe. We will send out further SchoolMessenger calls with updates and we will post updates to our website www.senahigh.com .

Sincerely,