written by David Núñez, Interim Head of School
Dear GRS Community,
This has been a difficult few weeks for our community. In this newsletter, we want to give you a recap of all that has happened in the last few weeks and support you in processing the big and stressful events of the last month.
In November, a video was shared among students of a GRS student using a racial slur. Administration was informed of this video and an investigation and disciplinary action followed. The week before last, a physical fight occured right after school involving several students. The background to this incident involves concerns about student use of hate speech. Faculty responded immediately and an investigation and disciplinary action followed. Click here to see the email that was sent to all families with more information.
Also in November, adolescent students organized a walk-out in solidarity with the Prior Lake High School student who was the subject of a racist bullying video earlier this month. Great River School remains supportive of students’ First Amendment rights and their participation in civil action that demands a peaceful world and justice for humanity. Click here to see the email that was sent to all families about the walk out and here for an email David sent about his visits to Adolescent community meetings.
Last Friday, we informed the community that threatening graffiti was found in an Adolescent bathroom prior to Fall Break, threatening danger to the school on December 6th. The school completed a thorough investigation and informed staff of the threat on Thursday, December 2nd and families and students on Friday, December 3rd. We canceled school on December 6th out of an abundance of caution. Click here for the emails sent to families about the emergency closure.
Since our last newsletter on November 1st, we have had 27 cases of Great River students testing positive for COVID-19. We have quarantined multiple classrooms and continue to follow our COVID mitigation strategies. The vast majority of the COVID-19 cases were in our Elementary program, with students too young to yet be fully vaccinated. With each COVID case, we email and text the families of any close contacts with further directions and then update the whole community.
The Leadership team has been working to respond effectively to all of the above situations. We at Great River are committed to the safety of our students, employees, and families, as well as the emotional and social needs of our community. I have received a tremendous amount of emails, phone calls, and texts about everything happening at Great River. If you have an urgent need or question, please include office@greatriverschool.org. Otherwise, please know I am reading families’ concerns and appreciate your wisdom, feedback, and guidance.
We are in the middle of a sustained, long-term world-wide health emergency and the lengths that the entire community is going to to keep each other safe is truly amazing. We have a dedicated staff who are going above and beyond everyday to serve this community. This is not easy - and we will continue to be here, following Great River’s mission to serve our community and support our students.
Finally, I am thankful to be a part of this community. Thank you all for welcoming me in and thank you to the board for extending my contract as Interim Head of School for another year! I particularly appreciated all the positive feedback I have gotten since the board announcement went out. Thank you.
Peace,
David