Sunrise Community,

Our hearts go out to all the people who have been affected by last Wednesday’s most tragic turn of events. It appears as if the attack was prompted by a gross misuse of social media.

We as a staff have reviewed this situation numerous times, after the incident, and after we met with our families Thursday evening.

We appreciate all your comments, questions and concerns and have tried to address them all.   We are open to meeting with you further. In addition, we will meet with our two parent advisory committees within the month on this same subject. 

Sunrise has had an excellent track record for safety these past 12 years, and we will continue to keep our school safe. We will not allow this one incident to define our school. We are a group of passionate and dedicated professionals who always put the needs of our students before anything else.

IMMEDIATE SAFETY MEASURES

Following Wednesday’s attack, staff did the following within a half hour: 

• Immediately called the police and 911
• Held back the assailant and brought him to an isolated and secure area
• Retrieved the weapon
• Administered first aid to the victim
• Removed students from the scene and brought them to another area of campus
• Notified parents, within 45 minutes

INTERMEDIATE SUPPORTS

In the days following the incident, staff provided:

• Counseling for all of our students in need
• Healing circles in the classrooms
• Cooperation with police on this matter and related social media issues
• Community meeting with all parents as well as individual meetings

LONGER TERM MEASURES FOR SAFETY

Responding to parent concerns, Sunrise staff has formulated the following measures to ensure future safety for our students:

• Portable metal detector for the school’s Director of Security
• Backpacks locked in classrooms during brunch and lunch
• Additional security before school, during brunch and lunch, after school and in between classes.
• Monitoring of students’ social media
• Advisories educating students on the dangers of social media
• Promotion of the STOPit app for reporting bullying and cyberbullying
• Continued consequences, including behavior contracts and mandatory parenting classes, for those who violate our cyberbullying policy
• Zero tolerance for dress code violations
• Expansion of counseling services
• School Site Council parent advisory committee tasked with oversight for school safety and security
• Expanded supervision of students before, during and after school
• Invitation to all parents to join our staff in supervising during lunch and brunch and before and after school (if interested, please call/text Ms. Ivette, parent liaison, at 650-868-6634.)
• Continued backpack checks in cases of reasonable suspicion
• Expansion of parenting classes to include one on mental health and first aid – contact Ms. Ivette, parent liaison, at 650-868-6634.
• Continued efforts to link troubled students with outside therapists

Again, we refuse to allow this one incident to define Sunrise. We honor all staff and parents who have worked diligently to make the school safe and secure for our awesome students. 

Just like the Phoenix, we will rise from the ashes of this tragic event and become all the stronger! 

It is with your help and continued teamwork that we will make this happen.

Sincerely,

The Administrative Team at Sunrise