March 20, 2018

Dear Douglass Park Elementary Families:

I would like to follow up on the shooting incident that happened yesterday resulting in the injury of one our parents. Police have verified that this was not a specific targeting but a neighborhood incident that spilled over to the school.  However, we realize parents are likely to have concerns about their children’s safety. Therefore, I want to share some additional measures we have put into place for the immediate future. 

• There will be additional police patrols through the neighborhood especially during school arrival and dismissal times.
• School resource officers will make more visits to our school.
• During arrival and dismissal all building staff and some division staff will take part in supervising students and parents.
• We will continue to review safety and emergency procedures.

In addition, we recognize yesterday’s circumstances may make children uneasy about coming to school. The school’s administration and guidance staff are available to talk with individual children to help address their concerns, if necessary. Please, feel free to call us and ask for guidance assistance if you feel your child would benefit from it.

Also, if you become aware of any conflict in the neighborhood that you feel may have an impact on school safety, please let me know about it by calling 757-393-8646.

You also can email safe.schools@pps.k12.va.us. 

We appreciate your support and commitment as we work together to ensure school safety.

Sincerely,  

Dusti Johnson-Brinker 
Principal