Dear ACS Community,
It has been such a positive year so far at ACS, but we are struggling with some students in different divisions who aren't adhering to our core values of respect, compassion, and responsibility. We've been emphasizing kindness and empathy as well, and some students are not grasping these in the way that we'd like. We aren't talking about a lot of students, but it is striking to observe how a few influential students can negatively impact a community. That's not fair to anyone at ACS.
For those of you who have more than one child, I'd like you to think about how difficult it is sometimes to resolve a conflict between/among your children. Determining "who started it" is always a challenge, and each participant in the conflict has his or her own version of events. However the situation is resolved by you the parent/referee, there is a pretty good chance that one or more of your children will still feel aggrieved, still feel as though justice hasn't been served.
Now, I'd like you to think about a typical teacher at ACS, who interacts with 15-20 students at a time in their classes and many more than this number at recess, lunch, or free time situations. When a conflict begins with two, or three, or four, or more participants, all of whom have their own perception of what happened, understanding exactly what happened—the "who started it"—can be complex, time-consuming, and extremely frustrating. Add in the fact that loyalty to peer groups can affect the recalling of events, and the situation gets even more complicated.
Principals are collaborating with their teachers, counselors, and administrative teams to work with students to correct this behavior. Often this can be achieved with ongoing conversations and mutual understandings. Sometimes this doesn't work and more significant consequences are necessary. We expect students at all levels to make mistakes and bad choices; we also expect them to learn from their mistakes and to make better choices going forward. As with a student's academic performance, it is all about growth and positive change.
We need to work with our parents as well. It is much easier to get children on the right path when there is collaboration between school and parents. This is more readily achieved when both parties assume that the other is proceeding with only good intentions. We all want our children to be kind, empathetic, compassionate people who are respectful of their peers and who take responsibility for their actions when they make mistake. These are the characteristics that we want our children and the adults in our community to demonstrate. Always.
Sincerely,
