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Our school greatly appreciates the support for Sylvan Park staff over the last week. Any small acts of gratitude and kindness are a great way to show our school and other schools in our community lots of love.

The horrific event at The Covenant School last Monday is heavy on all of our hearts. Many of you have reached out to ask questions, share your gratitude, offer help, and to simply connect.

We appreciate all of your thoughts, questions, and ideas. In order to centralize our efforts, please email pto.spark@gmail.com. Ms. Goetz will work closely with the PTO board to share information and determine actionable next steps to continue to keep Sylvan Park students and staff as safe as possible.

That said, the PTO event on May 4th at 6 p.m. will be focused on safety. Again, please email pto.spark@gmail.com with any comments, ideas and/or questions so that we can design an event that is beneficial and productive.

There are no sufficient words to describe the devastation of yesterday’s shooting at The Covenant School. Our hearts are with The Covenant School’s parents, students, and staff, and particularly with the families of Evelyn, Hallie, William, Ms. Peak, Dr. Koonce, and Mr. Hill. We offer our support, our love, and our deepest condolences for this unimaginable loss.

It can be difficult to walk our children through this heartache. Dr. Battle shared the following suggestions:

Helping Students After a School Shooting, American School Counseling Association (ASCA), 2022

• Try and keep routines as normal as possible. Kids gain security from the predictability of routine, including attending school.
• Limit exposure to television and the news.
• Be honest with kids and share with them as much information as they are developmentally able to handle.
• Listen to kids’ fears and concerns.
• Reassure kids that the world is a good place to be, but that there are people who do bad things.
• Parents and adults need to first deal with and assess their own responses to crisis and stress.
• Rebuild and reaffirm attachments and relationships.

Helping Children Cope After a Traumatic Event

Parenting a Child who has Experienced Trauma

Sunday morning, our neighborhood, Sylvan Park, experienced antisemitism, racism and discrimination acts of hate. Five homes and bridge underpasses were vandalized with swastikas and racial slurs.

We will not tolerate this hate and our children deserve a better world and neighborhood. We know we can’t always provide a safe place, but we can provide a brave place for our children to learn and support every community.

We stand and guide with love and not hate while recognizing and teaching that the hate exists and needs to be talked about with action. Join us in talking to your kids about being brave in these spaces!

Thank you to Whitney Hutchens and the Sylvan Park families who cleaned up the garden and got it ready for spring planting!

The Sylvan Park Girl Scout Daisies visited the West Precinct of the MNPD to tour the precinct, meet officers, and learn about how emergency responders serve our community. The scouts delivered cookies as part of their outreach this year and to say thanks to those who serve our neighborhood. 

You are invited to Hillsboro High School’s Annual Arts Showcase on Friday, March 24, from 6-8 pm! This fun night highlights the work of our visual arts students, including our IB Art seniors showcase. There are activities for kids, refreshments, and theater and music highlights, as well. Enter campus from the Glen Echo entrance and park in the garage.

Thank you for helping us stock the lounge with a breakfast bar before Spring Break. The staff loved it!

Enrollment for current PNA students and incoming siblings is now open and will remain open through March 23. Enrollment for incoming students not currently in PNA will occur from March 27-April 28. Enrollement is first come, first served until all spots are filled. Register here.

We are thrilled to share a summary of all the great ways your donation to the Fun Run Invest campaign has benefited our school so far this year. Our students are so fortunate to have such a caring and giving group of parents, friends, and community supporting them! You all are truly remarkable!

Help us show our teachers and staff how much we appreciate them with a breakfast bar on March 8! Sign up here to contribute to this special teacher appreciation event.

Board positions may be covered by more than one person, so grab a friend to partner with and join us! Email Emily Fisher with your interest, questions, or your excitement to jump on in. We need YOU!