Dear Ballou STAY Parents and Families:
At Ballou STAY, we highly value and are committed to fostering a safe and secure learning environment. A large part of that commitment is communicating potential safety issues with parents when they arise.
As you may be aware, there are posts circulating on social media of threats of violence at schools. While not specific to our school and tied to a nationwide social media trend, I want to assure our families that we take these threats extremely seriously, and immediately report all incidents specific to our school to the DCPS School Security Division and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
At this time, MPD has indicated they have not received any specific threats related to these posts. As they do daily, MPD continues to monitor and assess information regarding any potential threats in collaboration with the DCPS Division of School Security.
This situation serves as an example of why it is important to avoid sharing posts online that refer to school safety threats. Even if they are not credible threats, they can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety for our students, families, and staff. We ask our families to monitor their children’s social media activity and speak with them about proper behavior online.
If you or your child become aware of any potential threat posted to social media or anywhere else, please notify a school staff member or trusted adult right away.
The safety of our students is paramount at all times. If you have any questions related to this incident, please call the school office at 202-645-3390 or contact me via email at [email protected].
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Principal Fuller