Safety Information from Woodland

Sept. 4, 2024

Dear Woodland Staff and Families,

Today we learned of yet another public school shooting, this time at a high school in Winder, Georgia outside of Atlanta.

With every occurrence of such senseless violence inflicted on our children, it gets more difficult to attempt to explain why and how such attacks can continue to take place in schools across our country. One thing I am sure of, however, is that school shootings can never be accepted as some sort of a “new normal” in our culture. To that end, I would like to share with our families some of the new safety initiatives that we are working on at Woodland.

We had hoped to have our BluePoint notification system up and running right after spring break last year. After a false alarm led to a lockdown at Woodland Middle School last April, however, I wanted every wire and connection checked and retested. That process has taken more time than anticipated, but we are getting it right and we are hoping to operationalize the BluePoint System next month after we test it during our police-supervised lockdown drills at each school. Learn more about Safety Drills and BluePoint here.

Next, we just received the results of our first “safety and security” assessment, completed at the middle school last spring, through our STOP Grant partnership with the University of Illinois. This assessment, conducted jointly by District 50 administration, the Gurnee Police Department, and the University’s STOP Grant School Violence team, reviewed six different aspects of school safety and security (both physical and emotional) and offered feedback on areas of strength and suggestions for improvement. The District Safety Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, September 10, to discuss these recommendations and their implications for enhanced campus safety district-wide.

Finally, the Illinois State Board of Education this past week awarded Woodland a Stronger Connections grant to develop Woodland Wildcat Connections over the next two years. This comprehensive services model utilizes an Interconnected Systems Framework to deliver differentiated academic and mental health supports to at-risk district students and their families. This framework provides the structure and process for academic and mental health systems to interact in an effective, efficient manner because it will be led by key stakeholders in our schools and within our community who have the expertise and authority to reallocate resources, alter the role and function of staff, and create and change policy. You will be hearing much more about Woodland Wildcat Connections over the next few months.

Of course, our students and families play an incredibly important role in keeping our schools safe. The Report A Concern link on the district website offers our students, families, and community members a vehicle for reporting any school-related concern to administration in real time. Reporting may be completed anonymously, and every submission is taken seriously and investigated.

For our parents who are firearm owners, please double check that your firearm is secured in a locked container. In order to proactively support the safety and well-being of our community, please ensure all firearms are inaccessible or unusable to any person other than the owner or another lawfully authorized user at all times.

There is no responsibility for any of us connected with Woodland greater than the safety of our children. We stand ready to help your students with any anxiety or distress that has arisen because of today’s events. Parents have told us that, in particular, these resources have been helpful in this regard:

• Talking to Children About Violence (National Association of School Psychologists)
• Helping Children with Tragic Events in the News (PBS Kids)

If you have specific concerns about your child, please contact your child’s principal. Please know that you can also contact me directly with questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding the safety of our children.

Sincerely,

Dr. Robert Machak, Superintendent

Woodland D50