Principal's Corner

December 19, 2012

Dear Parents,

At Jeremy Ranch Elementary School we are deeply impacted by the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary. Our thoughts are with the community of Newtown, while we maintain our focus on the safety and well being of our own students.

Please know that the physical and emotional safety of our students is our paramount concern. I would like you to be aware of the plans and procedures that we have in place here at JRES.

We have a fantastic School Resource Officer, Det. Hoffmeyer. He is here frequently, and we expect even greater presence from uniformed officers. Our school is equipped with security cameras in and around the school. Our monitor is in view of the front office at all times.

We have a set of emergency preparedness plans that include shelter in place, lock down, evacuation, and reunification. There are separate requirements for the practice of each type of drill, with which we are in compliance. Our plans have been developed in concert with local emergency personnel, and are continually reviewed and refined. In light of the recent tragedy, we have re-scheduled our lock down drill for early January.

On Monday we met as a faculty to review our emergency procedures. Our school counselors, Mindy Nelson and Laurie White, have shared information with teachers, and are on hand to help individual students with questions and emotional responses to the Sandy Hook incident. We know that some of our students are completely unaware of the incident, while others have had significant exposure to the news reports. Our counselors are prepared to meet students at their individual level of understanding.

At the school and district levels, we are reviewing all of our safety procedures and policies as we work to create the safest possible school environment. At JRES we certainly have a heightened concern for the security of our building, and you may expect to see more explicit security procedures as we move forward. To begin with, we will be asking all visitors, even those we see daily, to sign-in and wear a name tag each visit.

Please feel free to call or email with questions or concerns: skuennen@pcschools.us, 435-645-5670. Thank you for your continuing support.

Sincerely,

Shawn Kuennen
Principal