Friday, January 4, 2013
In response to the Newtown tragedy, the Wrentham School Committee held a special session to discuss ways to improve safety and security at the Wrentham Public Schools
Holding a special meeting to discuss how to improve security at the elementary schools, the Wrentham School Committee held an open discussion on school safety Thursday night in the Vogel Auditorium to find ways to help avoid a Newtown like situation. Already taking basic precautions such as installing cameras and locking every entrance to the school during the day, the Wrentham Public Schools already do have security measures in place but are looking for more ideas without locking down the school at all times. “The alternative is not having anyone in the school,” Wrentham Superintendent Jeff Marsden said. “We feel we’re at the center of the community. We have parents in, we want parents in, but we also want to make sure the kids are safe …
Thursday, December 27, 2012
If you are licensed to own a gun, would you want your name and address publicized?
A news publication in New York is under scrutiny for publishing the names and addresses of gun owners in certain parts of the state. Less than two weeks after the tragic shooting in Newtown, Conn., the New York Journal News earlier this week published the names and addresses of local gun owners in three New York counties. A story titled, "The gun owner next door: What you don't know about the weapons in your neighborhood," highlights the names and addresses of residents who are licensed to own handguns through Freedom of Information Law requests, according to The Huffington Post. The Journal News reportedly requested the information from New York's Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties, though the publication was only able to …
Friday, December 21, 2012
One school system says no.
Webster students were told to change out of their T-shirts that paid tribute to the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre last week, according to Fox 25. One of the students, a first-grade boy, was wearing a shirt that read "Rest in peace, the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School. And in the front is all the kids' names," his parent Tiffany Elliot told FOX 25. Elliot told Fox 25 she talked to her son about the shooting and thought the best way to handle it was to have him show his support for the victims. But the school, said Elliot, disagreed, saying it wasn't their place to discuss the tragedy with students. Instead, Superintendent Dr. Barbara Malkas told Fox 25, "... I don't feel it is the school's right to take that privilege of …
National group issues statement about preventing future tragedies after shooting that killed 28, including the gunman, in Connecticut.
- GOVERNMENT
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Friday, December 21, 2012
After days of silence, the National Rifle Association has released a statement on the tragic shooting in Newtown, Conn., saying it will make "meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again." In the release, the organization begins to explain its silence, saying: "Out of respect for the families, and as a matter of common decency, we have given time for mourning, prayer and a full investigation of the facts before commenting." Critics had called out the group in the days following the shooting: As citizens and legislators began to fall on either side of a debate about what, if at all, should be done about gun laws, many wondered why the group was absent from the conversation. Like many Americans, Wrentham Patch readers …
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
In letters sent home to the parents of students yesterday, both Roderick School Principal Stephen Grenham and Delaney School Principal Melissa Peterson addressed the Newtown tragedy.
- SCHOOLS
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Tuesday, December 18, 2012
From Delaney School Principal Stephen Grenham Dear Roderick Families, In the wake of Friday's tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, I know you join me in a huge sense of grief for the innocent victims of this terrible tragedy. As a follow-up to Dr. Marsden’s e-mail and Connect Ed message, I wanted to communicate how things are being handled at the Roderick School today. This morning, I met with the Roderick staff prior to the children's arrival. At this meeting, the school psychologists and I shared that our job as a staff is to maintain as much normalcy as possible for the students in grades four through six. We also discussed ways to handle student conversations should they arise. Our school observed a moment of silence this morning in …
Does the massacre at Newtown, CT, signal the need for a political debate on gun regulations?
Before officials had even held their first press conference Friday, Facebook was abuzz with status updates about the Newtown, CT, massacre. The statuses were split between those sending their condolences and those asking if the country would finally deal with the issue of gun control. Some fought back, asking for respect and mourning before political debate began. Others remained fierce in their belief that stricter gun control regulations would have prevented such a mass killing, saying the victims were shot multiple times and with semi-automatic weapons, according to Fox News. The guns were not illegal and were, in fact, owned by the shooter's mother. Among them were a semi-automatic .223 caliber bushmaster rifle and two handguns. Those …
Monday, December 17, 2012
Patriots President Jonathan Kraft told media Sunday The Kraft Group and his family will be donating $25,000 to those affected by the Newtown tragedy. On Sunday, the Patriots honored the 26 victims of the school shooting with a special moment of silence.
New England Patriots President Jonathan Kraft told 98.5 The Sports Hub Sunday the Kraft family and Kraft Group will be donating $25,000 to help those affected by last Friday’s shooting in Newtown, Conn. that took the lives of 26, people, including 20 elementary school children. “Your heart just sinks and you get nauseous and you never would expect anything like that would ever happen [in Newtown] … it’s just horrible,” Jonathan Kraft said. … “Our family [and] the Kraft Group donated some money and we encourage other people who are in a position to do that to do it.” Friday’s tragedy hit close to the Kraft family because of a box company they own in Newtown with a factory less than two miles from Sandy Hook Elementary School. “We’ve run a …
Experts advise when talking about the shootings to take your lead from your child.
Today is the first day back to school, since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. on Friday, Dec. 14, where 20 children and six adults were killed by a gunman. Experts advise that parents follow the lead of their children—feel them out, find out what their concerns are—when talking about the incident. Dr. Joshua Weiner during an interview on msn.com said he had not told his school-aged children about the massacre in Connecticut until Sunday. "With elementary school children, you want to be brief and simple and not go into detail," advised Weiner. "Young children don't understand probablilites. ... You want to assure them that they will be safe." Weiner also said to assure your child that school is a safe place and …
In addition counselors will be available for students at King Philip Middle and High School today to help students cope with the Newtown tragedy.
For school districts across the country, the Newtown shooting was a sobering and tragic reminder that no school can fully prevent an incident from taking place. In the days after the tragedy, school districts are now wondering if the procedures they have in place to deal with an intruder are adequate. Like many other schools, the only way to get in to either King Philip Middle School and High School once school starts is to be rung in by the main office at the main entrance. After entering the school, guests must wear a visitor’s pass and sign in at the main office. Currently, if someone were able to get into the building that is deemed suspicious, the schools would go into lockdown. The action would result in students remaining in their …
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Help Patch build a huge virtual card to the Newtown, CT community and let them know they are in your heart and on your mind.
“There is a saying in Tibetan, 'Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.' No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.” – The Dalai Lama When unthinkable tragedy strikes, we grapple for a way to come to terms with the how and the why. We search for ways to make sense of what happened, even when it doesn't make sense. The horrific shooting that took place at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, CT on Friday, Dec. 14, stunned a nation as the news broke that not one child, but 20, six- and seven-year-old children and six of their teachers had been shot and killed by a gunman who then took his own life. Most communities can only begin to imagine sorrow …
Artboro
7:38 pm on Friday, December 28, 2012
So if my information is to be posted. The local and state police officers addresses with be public also? more ›