Enough!

Friday, March 31, 2023

Dear MNPS & Community Member:

March ends today with an extremely sad note involving the horrific loss of innocent lives earlier this week, leaving our community and all affected families devastated, and surviving children and school staff traumatized.

In addition to grieving what happened Monday morning, we may be experiencing, right now, a sense of anger and helplessness because we know, deep down, this will not be the last tragedy of this sort until Americans of good will, of all sides of the societal and political spectrum, unite efforts and proclaim in a loud voice, metaphorically speaking, ENOUGH! That should instill, in my opinion, the necessary changes, albeit gradually, so our children can learn and thrive in a safer and more secure environment.

In the meantime, Metro Schools has one of the most ambitious safety and security protocols in the nation, and we constantly review them for improvement. We also want to provide students and families many suggestions and resources to support and help them process tragic events of this nature. The following resources might be helpful:

1. Helping Children Cope After a Traumatic Event

2. Parenting a Child who has Experienced Trauma

Until next time!

Students are getting experience in, and exposure to, key career fields as they discover and pursue their passions in the Academies at Whites Creek High School. Cobra PRIDE (Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Discipline and Enthusiasm) is taught, expected and displayed across the school.

Many Whites Creek students know what or where they want to be, and they say it with conviction. Ines Busane, a sophomore, is striving to go to Harvard or the University of Southern California. Gracey Gregory, a senior, wants to be a software engineer in the automotive industry.

At Harpeth Valley Elementary School, Jeanie Crouch’s Pre-K class spent six weeks investigating our furry friends: pets.

As part of the study, the classroom’s play center was reimagined into a veterinarian’s office, where students worked together to take care of their stuffed animal pets. The classroom was also home to a real pet, a guinea pig, which gave students the opportunity to observe and make connections between what they were learning and pets in real life.

Today Friday, March 31, from 12 -3 p.m., the Hadley Park Branch Library, Hadley Park Community Center and Knight Horst Shredding will be teaming up to provide the community with a free document shredding event to be held at the Hadley Park Community Center. Community members are encouraged to bring documents from home that need to be shredded. All shredding will be done on-site and patrons do not have to remove any staples, paper clips or bindings of any kind.

The Hadley Park Community Center is located at 1037 28th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37208.