Someone recently asked me, "What is so special about your school? Why should I send my child to WHPS?" You might imagine my response would be to rattle off a litany of tangible items, such as our school’s Science & Nature Center, Engineering curriculum, Responsive Classroom, or the number of hours our teachers spend on professional development each year. To be sure, these are all indispensable elements of our program. However, there is one thing we do that I believe supersedes, or perhaps grows out of, all of this. We help children find their voice and become leaders!

This first means developing self-confidence and becoming self-directed. Beginning in the preschool, leadership (of self) is explicitly taught to our youngest students. Whether creating their own classroom rules, learning to make their own choices instead of imitating their friend, or deciding how to independently work during centers, students learn that leadership means doing the right thing. Beginning in our earliest elementary grades, students take on more formal leadership opportunities. TK and Kindergarten students learn to initiate the quiet signal—getting the attention of the whole school community—and speak at Morning Assembly. They learn how to hold themselves in public, how to project their voices, and how to feel comfortable in front of a crowd. They begin learning to adlib as they pull Bucket Filler cards on Fridays and call up students who were caught doing something good.

Elementary students also practice for the classroom job of Greeter, getting up from their seat the moment they see a guest walk into the room. They begin with: “Welcome to Room ___ , I’m __________.” Next, the Greeter puts out his/her hand, offering a firm handshake, and goes on to tell the guest what they are working on at that moment. Some of the older students go a step further and explain how they use their Leadership Binder or may even conduct a mini-SLC on the spot. If you were fortunate enough to attend the elementary spring talent show, you saw the students’ resulting confidence on full display. It was evident not only in the songs, dances, comedy routines and science experiments, but also in the stage presence of the student emcees, and students backstage, managing props and the sound system.

And as our students graduate and go on to some of the city’s most elite middle schools, they demonstrate that they ARE leaders. They have a strong sense of right vs. wrong and choose to stand up for what they believe is right, they exude confidence, they demonstrate strong public speaking skills, and they positively influence others to make good choices. I could not be more proud of our students and the opportunity to work with them in a school that leverages all its unique ways of helping children find their voice and become leaders!

Dear WHPS families,

There were some updates in the March Newsletter that you received this morning about our School Safety Plan, improvements to our crisis response initiatives and additional safety training our staff are taking part in this month. It is important to us that you know about the ways we are ensuring safety of our community. But it’s also evident that this most recent school shooting in Florida hit a nerve, particularly in light of the repetitive nature of violent incidents in recent years.

As children returned to Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida this week, you probably heard many of the students and their parents in the news talking about anxiety, anger, fear, and their activism. We, ourselves, are feeling these emotions, and depending on the age of your child(ren) a lot of this may be palpable to them as well. Teachers are trained in how to foster cognitive, physical and social emotional growth in children. But most of us are not trained to deal with the ambient trauma of a school shooting that puts a city, state, and a country on edge.

Many of us are struggling with how to talk to our children about this. How young is too young? How much or how little information should we share? And even if we’re not talking about it with our children, how do we address fears they might have?

TALKING TO CHILDREN ABOUT SCHOOL SAFETY

Here are some recommendations when talking with children about this topic (adapted from Child Mind Institute and the National Association of Elementary School Principals):

• First and foremost, a rule of thumb for parents and teachers when discussing any mature topic, whether it has to do with school safety or puberty or peer pressure, is to follow the child’s lead.

• Don’t avoid talking to your child about what happened. If you avoid the topic, your child may find the event even more threatening or think it is simply too horrible to speak about.

• Invite your child to tell you how s/he feels, but avoid leading questions, such as “Are you worried about being safe at school?”

• Answer the questions they’re asking honestly but reassuringly, but don’t delve deeper into the topic than they take it. Give children the facts they need to know now, but avoid discussing your fears or anxiety about the future.

• Correct any inaccurate information: If your child has misconceptions or inaccurate information, correct them in a simple age-appropriate way.

• Reinforcing safety is important with very young children. Emphasize that the incident happened very far away from us and let your child know that we have wonderful people who are doing everything they can to make school a safe place for learning and having fun with friends and classmates.

• Stay calm and use “emotional self-control” when talking about this topic. The emotions you express will influence your child’s feelings.

• Focus on ways your child/family can take positive social action.

Once we complete the latest school safety training with our staff this month, we will have our next lockdown drill with the children in early April. Prior to that drill, teachers will review the safety procedures with their students.

Our administration team understands that this is an emotional and tricky topic to broach with children. If you have questions, concerns or other feedback, please don’t hesitate to speak with me or anyone on our administration team. It is incredibly important to us that ALL children and families feel supported as we process this most recent tragedy.

Warmly,

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Head of School

Dear WHPS families:
 

• PARTNERSHIP: We are part of a School Safety Task Force with LAPD Topanga Division. As part of this task force, we have a direct line of communication with the Senior Lead Officers in the area, which enables us to work together quickly and efficiently on threat assessments, investigations, and any other safety concerns that may arise. 

• PLANS AND PRACTICE: Our school has an approved School Safety Plan. School safety encompasses multiple domains within the school environment that must be reviewed altogether when assessing the level of safety for students and staff.  All students and staff participate in safety drills to test their preparedness and understand their roles and responsibilities in the event of a crisis. 

• TRAINING: In January, our administration team met with our LAPD Senior Lead Officers to discuss the latest information about school safety and to craft a comprehensive plan for training to our entire staff on these new measures. This month, all staff will be participating in training sessions for the enhanced safety measures. In addition, we are hosting a workshop provide the training to other school directors in the San Fernando Valley.

• COMMUNICATION AND MONITORING: We take every piece of information and every concern seriously. Parents, we ask you to continue to report anything you see, hear or sense that could affect student, staff or school safety. In addition, we closely monitor the school grounds through our closed circuit camera system. 

• Memorize your gate code and do not give it to anyone.
• Be sure the gate closes behind you when you enter/exit campus (the person behind you should enter with their own code).
• Please take a moment to discuss the above procedures with your child(ren).
• Report any suspicious activity to our administration right away.