T. Clay Wood Principal Stresses Importance of Communication Following Lockdown, Evacuation

T. Clay Wood Elementary School Principal Andrew Buchheit encourages parents to discuss the Oct. 20 incident with their children as well as join the Prince William County Schools E-News site: https://pwcsalerts.bbcportal.com for future emergency communications.

Students and staff were moved to Brentsville District High School Monday following reports that murder suspect Edward Hale, Jr.'s car was discovered in the school parking lot. Following a search of the area, police, with the help of Customs and Border Patrol, found Hale's body on the school's baseball field.

"I was proud of how well our students and staff handled the incident," Buchheit said in a letter to parents. "I did realize afterwards that I needed to share again the importance of joining the Prince William County Schools E-News site."

PWCS has migrated to a new system, which replaces EZCommunicator news accounts.

"It is important to subscribe to PWCS E-News because all emergency communication such as the incident yesterday and inclement weather alerts will be sent through this service by the Prince William County School Division. In an event of a lock down, secure in place or other emergency; T. Clay Wood ES school staff will NOT send out information from any of their other communication vehicles such as their website, Facebook, or the school info APP," he said. "The school staff’s focus will be on the safety and security of our students and staff."

As the murder victim, Jessica Wilson, was the mother of two T. Clay Wood students, Buchheit expressed concern over the student body's reaction to the incident.

"For now, it is probably best not to emphasize to students the connection between today’s incident and yesterday’s crime," he said. "While students were completely safe the link between the situations could be upsetting. Please let them know that the excellent response of students and staff is further proof of the ability to keep everyone safe at school."

He asks that parents pay attention to their children's emotional needs during the next few weeks and suggests these strategies:

• Encourage your child to talk with you about the feelings he/she may be experiencing concerning life and death. Sharing similar experiences that you have had may be very useful. Let your child know you are available to talk about this loss and to answer questions. Let them express their feelings, Offer them loving, touching support. Allow them to be sad and cry and its okay to let them see you be sad and cry as well. Let your child ask questions and answer them as simply as you can.
• Be aware that your child may not feel like “business as usual” for a while. Talk about ways to feel better. Watch for ongoing signs of difficulty, which could indicate that your child may need additional help. Some of the signs to watch for are prolonged sadness, withdrawal from social contacts, a change in eating or sleeping habits, or other behaviors unusual for your child.