From CHS:
Dear Parent(s) & Guardian(s)
For many of us, the death of Sarah Everard has shaken us but also sparked outrage. Subsequently, several Columbia High School students have bravely stood up and shared their experiences of sexual assault and harassment on online platforms over the past several days.
Since learning about this, the Columbia High School administrative and counseling teams have met with the Maplewood Police Department (and subsequently spoken with the South Orange Police Department), empowered our students to join us in planning future programming, held two faculty council meetings to prepare and speak with our teachers so they are ready to help our students traumatized by their experiences, reached out to local community organizations for partnership opportunities, disseminated resources to our students, and offered counseling services and a student forum beginning this afternoon.
I want to thank our partners, ESS and the Loft, who have reached out and offered their services and who joined our talks and planning sessions today. I would also want to commend our building administrators, counselors, and incredible faculty members who have spoken to your children these past few days and offered support and flexibility with their studies. We are fortunate to have such a superb team.
We will also be sending resources to parents so you can begin the conversations with your child as well. We have let our students know we are here for them and we will support them. We also know it is time to take their concerns and implement programming that speaks to their experiences. That is our commitment and promise to them.
It is important to remember that according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, more than two-thirds of sexual assaults are not reported to the police and more than 90% of sexual assault survivors on college campuses do not report.
I know this is a difficult topic, but we must all partner to support our children. If you have any information you would like to share with our Title IX Officer, Dr. Gretel Perez, our CHS Counseling Director, Ms. Falynn Balassone, or with me, please contact us.
Sincerely,
Frank Sanchez
CHS Principal
