Dear Clarkstown Families, 

I would like to share our thoughts about the tragic school shooting that occurred today at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.  First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of everyone affected by these senseless killings.

No doubt there will be extensive media coverage of this horrifying incident and much discussion about it in the coming days. We will need to be mindful of how this coverage can affect the children in our schools. This comes shortly after the tragedy near Buffalo, that, while not in a school, certainly has affected many in our community.

I want to reassure you that the safety of our students is our top priority and in partnership with the Clarkstown Police Department,  we have in place a safety plan for each building.  While CPD confirmed that there are no known threats against any of our schools or programs, CPD will increase patrols at each of our buildings tomorrow as we plan to have a normal schedule for our students.

When talking with your children, please emphasize that schools are safe places. School administrators and staff work with parents and public safety providers (police and fire departments, emergency responders, hospitals, etc.) to keep students and teachers safe.

Most importantly, we are attempting to promote a culture in which everyone has a responsibility to be vigilant and focused on safety. We ask that you talk with your children about the importance of sharing information that could be considered threatening to our community with a responsible adult.  Our Anonymous Alerts system allows concerns to quickly reach school officials.   

In closing, we continue to make safety our top priority. We plan to review lessons learned from today’s terrible tragedy so that we can continue to be proactive.

Attached are resources to assist you in conversations with your children about traumatic events. 

Please join me in sending positive thoughts to the entire community of Uvalde, Texas. 

Sincerely, 

Jeff Sobel 
Interim Superintendent

Talking to Children About Violence

Talking to Children About Violence - Spanish

Coping with Traumatizing Events