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Dear LNC Parents,
In light of the horrific tragedy that occurred earlier today at a Texas elementary school, we feel it is important that our parents hear from us on the subject of school safety. Keeping your children safe at school is our highest priority and greatest responsibility.
While we work tirelessly to have the best procedures in place to react to an emergency, the best scenario is to prevent one before it occurs. We can do this by building relationships with our students and families. One of the benefits of our smaller, tight-knit community is knowing our students’ social circles, mental state and emotional circumstances well enough to recognize a problem or change.
As parents, you can help by relaying information of which we should be aware. If you see or hear concerning behavior, related to your own child or another, please reach out to your school's building principal (Ms. Michelle Holland at the ES, Dr. Cherié Graham at the MS, Mr. Craig Smith at the HS), your child’s counselor or our mental health specialist Dr. Danielle Graham immediately.
Safety Measures at LNC:
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Officer Bo, who has worked as our school’s Safety Resource Officer for six years and as such, knows our campuses, has relationships with our staff & students and provides valuable expertise and resources integral in keeping our campuses safe and secure
- Long-standing relationship with the Huntersville Police Department, which includes routine exercises with its K-9 unit to keep our schools free of drugs and weapons, collaboration on our school safety plan and allowing them access to our facilities for training purposes so they are familiar with our buildings and campuses
- Upgraded cameras at our main campus, including technology allowing HPD access if needed
- Secure vestibules at all three schools preventing general access into our buildings
- Regular safety drills so students and staff know what to do in true crisis situations
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Counselors at each building who stand ready to support our students’ social-emotional wellbeing. Our HS counselors are in the building and available even during this week of exams should any of our HS students need to talk
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“See Something, Say Something” culture that encourages students who have concerns about themselves or others or who become aware of important information to feel comfortable and empowered to tell a trusted adult or utilize the Say Something app (6th to 12th grades)
- Recent training for all teachers in identifying mental health concerns in their students
We ask that you support these preventative measures by fostering open and ongoing dialog with your child so you are aware of their daily interactions, how they are coping, who is in their social circle, how they use technology/social media, etc. We also ask that you reinforce our “see something, say something” culture and the use of the Say Something app (6th-12th grades) and encourage your child to reach out to their counselor or Dr. Danielle Graham if they need support or guidance.
Children process frightening events in different ways depending on their age and other factors and therefore the approach to helping looks different across our school spectrum. Here are some resources that may be helpful to you as parents:
As we come to the end of the school year with so much to celebrate it is difficult and upsetting to need to send a communication of this nature. However, by working together we can all do our part to ensure LNC remains a safe school. For more information about our school safety procedures please reference our annual safety communication we send each fall.
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