Bulletin #18 | January 21st, 2020

 

Last week we received the terrible and sad news that there had been another school-shooting in Mexico: this time in Torreon (not an ASOMEX school). These tragedies always remind us of how vulnerable we all are in school, and especially so when it happens at a school in our own country.
I am writing today just to provide a brief overview of how we are prepared at JFK, and will be writing more details during the school year about each of these programs.
The sad reality of gun violence is that it is tremendously difficult to stop, and it is never possible to guarantee safety 100%. The best response is to be prepared and vigilant, and practiced in how to respond.

Some have asked if we should be checking bags at the entrances. This has been considered but in truth has not proved to be successful in other places. A complete and effective check is not a quick process: go to an airport to see what is really involved, and we need to process hundreds of people every morning before entering.
Rather than full checks, some have suggested random checks. This process has been shown to generate a negative atmosphere of mistrust in school environments where there is not perceived to be a daily threat. The laws for ‘mochila segura’ are not as straightforward as some believe and legal guidance does not suggest we are free from risk by randomly searching students. It would also require a degree of luck to make a random search on a child who happens to be intending harm on the school that very day.

Such ideas are continually under consideration but are still not presently considered appropriate.
We do believe that most children are good and honest and that as no weapons have been found or seen in our school for a great many years, if ever, we do not believe that searches would do much good but could provoke a negative reaction.

 

However, at JFK we take our major guidance from the idea that prevention and detection of troubled students and staff, inappropriate actions by parents and unwanted visitors on campus are our best defense against future crisis.

Keeping our community safe

 

This is a brief overview of some of the actions we are taking to help keep our community safe, and more details will be shared over the coming weeks.
After the school shooting in Sandy Hook in 2012, the survivors and families began to work to create a program to help prevent any repetitions. Their research has shown that in 4 out of 5 school shootings, at least one other person at school had knowledge of the attacker's plan but failed to report it. This shocking but simple fact has led to the building of a program to help build communication among students, staff and the community. This program has since then prevented other school shootings. We adopted this program at JFK several years ago and have been working to build its effectiveness ever since: it is called Say Something. The idea is that if students, staff and families can report things that are not right, and people are at risk, then perhaps we can save ourselves from not only gun violence but many other risky behaviors too. Students in Middle and High School help create and participate in events to promote this understanding and to use the anonymous link on our website:

If you see something: Say Something! Click here to say something

 

 

The school also has a well developed Mentoring Program. This means that all students from 5-12 grade have an adult advocate allocated to them for regular chats and meetings, helping to support where they can and to report if necessary to the student support Team if things are out of their depth. This program at JFK was labelled a ‘Powerful Practice’ by AdvancED and has since been copied and adopted in other schools. Over the years we have helped many students and prevented several situations occurring.

We also have a very well structured Student Support Service, with fully professional psychologists in every section. Last August we re-structured this department so that they work as a single unit from Preschool to High School under the coordination of Clarisa Montes. Clarisa and I meet every week to consider all children at risk and progress across the school. Within their work, Student Support Services hold regular ‘Students At Risk’ meetings with staff and directors, meet students, hold support group meetings, and meet with psychologists from other private schools to share best practice. They also offer regular professional development to help teachers understand how to identify children at risk.

 

We have also adopted the Olweus Anti-bully program, the world’s leading program, and have developed our own Anti-bully Committee and have been involved in helping schools across ASOMEX to develop protocols and ways to help prevent bullying. This all serves to help reduce the incidence of bullying at school. By being acutely aware of who is bullying and who the victims are, we can help those involved and also help prevent situations escalating to tragic levels.

 

In Elementary School last year, and next month in Preschool, we are developing a new program called ‘Start with Hello’. Again, a program developed by experts in the US, this program helps to encourage children to understand the importance of accepting and welcoming others, and to help to avoid exclusion. All of these factors help to prevent children growing angry at the world, their school and themselves.

In High School, and from this year on in Middle School too, we also follow the guidance and support of FCD (Free of Chemical Dependence), who help us keep track of the extent of use of alcohol and other drugs and provide guidance on how to manage these issues.

 

We are all learning all the time. In truth, I doubt we will ever have a school or a society in which absolutely no issues or dangers exist, that is too much to hope for. But we can and must keep on working every day, being vigilant, collaborating and supporting, and driving forward our desire to keep all these social ills away from the school doors, to keep our school, our students and our families as safe as we possibly can.

 

At the moment, for those that may be concerned, the JFK is still a very secure school. A school in which all students are known by name, where adults and children are watching out for each other, and where help and support are never far away. We remain very aware of what is happening in the school and outside and are never complacent, and always looking for ways to keep us all safe.

• The Great Kindness Challenge. We are participating, along with other schools around the world, in The Great Kindness Challenge during the week of January 27th. It will be a great way to build community and celebrate the beautiful things that we do for each other every day. There will be three parts:

• • • Students will register acts of kindness that they do at home during the week
    • Parent volunteers will come at recess time to help students create friendly cards appreciating others
    • We will be collecting powdered milk for the casa hogar from January 20th to the 29th.
      
      
      

 

 

Mark Dunn
Elementary School Principal