Damascus Elementary School Community:
This has been a traumatic week for our
nation, and I have spent several days reflecting on what to say.
Today, I write to you to both reflect on these national tragedies and
reaffirm our commitment to the safety and well-being of our students and
community. The death of George Floyd, is the latest to bring to the
surface the racial inequities that have and continue to impact our
society. We tend to believe that young children are unaffected by race.
We hear often that children don’t see color and that racism is something
that they learn when they are much older. These are falsehoods that
continue to propel racism and its ugly outcomes. Research has shown that
children can understand race and can develop racial bias as early as six-months old.
Moving forward, Damascus Elementary
School is committed to be involved in implicit bias training,
Restorative Justice training, cultural competency work, and the design
of systems that ensure that all of our students have access to rigorous
learning opportunities. This work is not enough and we continue to focus
on relationships with all of our students, making sure that, regardless
of the color of their skin or how they identify racially or in any
other way, they feel safe coming to school. Our beliefs directly align
with the message that Dr. Smith sent to the entire MCPS community this weekend. All means ALL.
As a father of three young children,
principal to young children, and a person that grew up in a multi-racial
family, I share that having these conversations at this age are
critical to our students’ understanding of race and its impact on our
society. Yes, they can be uncomfortable, but we can collectively broaden
the understanding of our children in the hope that the violence we see
being perpetuated against human beings can be ended.
Please find a few resources attached to support your conversations with young children at home.
If your child needs additional comfort
or support from the school this week, please do not hesitate to reach
out to Mrs. Howard, Mrs. Burton, your child’s teacher, or me. We are all
here to help our children and their families process their feelings and
questions at this critical time.
Spencer Delisle
Principal