Dear LCSD Families & Staff:
Happy weekend! What an incredible first week! While we had an unusual first day on Monday, I was able to walk our schools this week and was so impressed. Teachers and students were already deeply involved in learning. Kindergarten students in our ELD program were learning the months and sharing their birthdays. First graders were working on remembering how to write their letters, and I saw sixth graders already diving into the Spanish conquest of the Americas. At the high school, I visited during 7th and 8th grade lunch, and the cafeteria was buzzing with students chatting, playing games and interacting. It was such a happy place.
All of that said, I want to acknowledge how stressful Monday was for our entire district community. For Lake County High School staff, families and students in particular, starting the year with a lockdown was difficult and scary. For parents, our new cell phone policy meant that they couldn’t immediately contact their children. While our extensive safety training paid off in what the police chief called a “textbook” response, we hadn’t exactly built the muscles for some of our new systems before we had to use them. I’m proud of how we did and each of you should be too. Student safety will always remain our top priority.
Effective emergency response requires using your head. Effective recovery involves using your heart. I want you to know that my heart was both stretched thin and made full this week as I thought about how hard this was–and also celebrated the amazing coming together that followed. We are not done. We will be providing debrief and recovery services for staff, and we will be watching students closely. We know we are Panther Strong, and we will grow and learn together this year. I am already excited to see our students again on Monday .
I hope you have a wonderful weekend,
Kate
Kate Bartlett, LCSD Superintendent
