Dealing with Trauma, Creating a Safe and Supportive Environment

Our goal as a school community is always to create a safe and supportive learning environment for our students. DCPS has provided a crisis protocol to ensure that we create space for age-appropriate dialogue. Members of our school mental health team (psychologist, counselors, and social workers) will be available to support our students who demonstrate signs of stress.

DCPS Suggested Crisis Protocol

Teachers/staff have been provided with resources to review and leverage.

Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers

How to Talk to Kids About School Shootings | Common Sense Media

Teachers/staff will be encouraged to use the resources to create space for discussion.

Our psychologist, counselors, and social workers will provide support by visiting classrooms to assess for signs of distress.

We will continue to work closely with the Metropolitan Police Department and other city agencies on the security of our school community to create a safe and welcoming environment for all. This includes a layered safety and security approach with our security guards and our MPD School Resource Officers.

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has developed resources to help children, families, and communities navigate what we are experiencing, acknowledge our feelings, and find ways to cope together. These resources include:

https://www.nctsn.org/resources/coping-after-mass-violence
https://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/resources/fact-sheet/for_teens_coping_after_mass_violence.pdf
https://www.nctsn.org/resources/parent-guidelines-helping-youth-after-mass-violence
https://www.nctsn.org/resources/talking-children-about-mass-violence

Please feel free to contact our school mental health team if you have any questions or concerns.

Crystal Pace – Class of 2025 Counselor (crystal.pace@k12.dc.gov)

Maan Sacdalan