Our Hearts Are Broken and Our Spirits Are Tired

Dear BNS,

Our hearts are broken, and our spirits are tired. We are, many of us, not even yet processing the April subway shooting here in Brooklyn, and the racist killings in Buffalo, when the awful news of a senseless and disgusting school shooting in Texas comes across our news feeds.  There is an unbearable amount of tumult and concern, upheaval and confusion in our world right now. 

Taron, BNS/BCS parent and BCS educator sent our leaders this message last night: Hug and kiss your children and family. Today’s event is so heartbreaking and scary. Our beautiful young people will arrive today with arms and hearts open wide, ready to embrace us all. Let's open our arms and hearts a little wider. Lend our ears for questions and concerns a bit longer. And remind us that we are a commUNITY.  I’m so proud to be a part of the 610 family. 

His words remind us that we don’t have to sit alone with our feelings. Our teachers at BNS will take their cues from their classrooms, knowing all too well how different the conversations will be at different grade levels. It is so much to hold, but the class communities are strong and they are tended to, ready to be both reflective spaces to process this tragedy and the traumas it reactivates for us, and to provide some patterns of normalcy as a grounding place for our children, and our families. 

We are here to offer support however we can. Our guidance team, Carrie H and Dalisa, and our social worker, Joseph, are just an email away if you’d like to set up a time to talk about processing incomprehensible situations like this mass shooting with your children. We know they are swimming in the world around them. They will likely have questions and worries, and they look to the adults around them to guide their understanding. 

Let’s hold each other close. 

Diane