April 15, 2023
Dear Parents and Friends:
The recent events in Nashville, Tennessee are weighing heavily on all our minds. The senseless shooting of six innocent people, including three 9 old's, in a Christian school is very difficult to comprehend. Please continue to pray for all the victims and families in the Covenant Christian School. We can only imagine their heartbreak.
We are letting you know that we consider this a very serious issue and we take our children’s safety and well-being seriously and we will spare no expense. Over the last few days, we have been meeting with several different experts to attempt to resolve the complicated issues of safety on our campus.
First of all, as you know, we were the first Catholic school in the Archdiocese of New York to hire an armed, law-enforcement professional for the safety of our school community. Thank you for your warm reception to Officer Chris of the Rye police department. He will also be present tomorrow and will train the new police officer that we will hire in a few days.
We plan for this new officer to be here through June and all of next year. We also plan on hiring a consulting firm to thoroughly review all aspects of security on our campus. We anticipate a thorough and complete evaluation of our facilities and campus. After a systematic assessment, we will put a plan into place soon afterward. The safety and well-being of our school community is paramount to each and every one of us.
We live in difficult times, but we want to reassure you that we are doing everything in our power to protect our beautiful students that you have entrusted to our care. We are most grateful for your anticipated cooperation and support of our new safety plan. We will keep you informed of our progress every step of the way.
May the peace of the risen Christ be with you, your families, school community, and our parish this Easter Season.
God bless you.
Msgr. Donald M. Dwyer