Northbrook District 28 Responds to Connecticut School Shooting

The following statement was issued by District 28. Superintendent Larry A. Hewitt's letter has been attached as an image for your viewing. 

Our thoughts and prayers are with the students, staff and families of . This incident is a devastating reminder that we must continue to be mindful of the need for strong safety protocols in our schools.

Our District’s highest priority is the safety and security of our students and staff, and we will maintain our ongoing commitment to maintaining a safe and secure environment for our District’s learning community.

We are fortunate to have a strong partnership with our area police and fire departments.We meet regularly with representatives from both departments to review our procedure sand discuss how we can continually improve the security of our school learning environments.

We have a crisis plan in place for each school. Our teachers also work with students on drills that prepare them to respond in the safest manner possible if there is a dangerous situation at school. We work closely with the Northbrook Police and Fire Departments to coordinate these drills, and they provide us with helpful feedback to improve our responses.

We encourage vigilance when it comes to securing our entrances and requiring that all visitors check in at our school offices and wear ID badges to help our staff members quickly identify anyone who has not gone through the proper procedures to enter the building.

We use a variety of communication tools to help ensure that families and staff areinformed about any incidents as needed, including an automated phone notificationsystem, an e-mail list, and alerts on our website.

Our social workers and psychologists are prepared to work with students and their families and to provide guidance about ways to discuss the tragedy in an age-appropriate manner.