A Message from Dr. Villanueva: Discussing 'Heavy' Topics

A Note From Me to You About ‘Heavy’ Topics

Dear Eastchester Faculty, Families, and Community, 

Each morning, as I carefully traverse the busy 95 and listen to the daily news on my commute into our beautiful district, I get ready for the day and try to digest what is happening around the nation and world. Multiple situations occurred these past two weeks that you may be aware of: A school shooting in CO, the political assassination of Mr. Charlie Kirk, and a solemn reminder of the 24th anniversary of the events of 9/11.  

And, it has become increasingly clear that our nation is once again being saturated with media from all sides, whether we realize it or not, as we are being asked to take sides. And not only take sides, but to dig into our camps and ready ourselves to battle one another with opinion, judgment, and rhetoric fueled to undermine meaningful discourse and our shared sense of community as well as compassion for one another when we are faced with someone who doesn’t feel or think the same as we do. Current events do crop up from time to time when adolescent students/young adults come to school with questions and wonderings. This is a crucial part of developmentally appropriate growth both emotionally and intellectually. We also acknowledge that every family in Eastchester is unique unto themselves and we respect that all families have the right to what they believe and how they raise their children. That very diversity of thought is what makes Eastchester so incredibly rich and strong.

Although this may seem obvious, as educators and as a public school system, we condemn any type of violence towards others or any type of actions that would jeopardize the safety of another human life. We want to take a moment to note the incredible complexity of the moment we live in and the wide range of emotions that our students may be experiencing. At a minimum, we are here to: Reassure children that they are safe; Validate children's feelings; Keep your explanations developmentally appropriate; Observe children's emotional state (National Association of School Psychologists).

As your Superintendent of Schools and as someone who has dedicated their entire professional career to the field of education, I have been blessed to have the privilege and opportunity to serve hundreds, even thousands of children year over a year. As educators, in our professional lifetimes, we see every walk of life through the students and families we serve. And what this has taught me is that everyone is unique unto their own; every family has their own identity; and that it takes a high level of respect and understanding to acknowledge that we are all different in one way or another. 

What is a tried and true thread that moves through every situation and every interaction we have with one another is the collective understanding that we are our best selves when we show kindness, are respectful of others, and take responsibility for our own actions. This thread seems to always hold true. We believe students should be equipped with the strategies and critical thinking skills that will help them create original thoughts and opinions, be able to gather information in order to make knowledgeable informed decisions, and understand that there can and will be differing opinions they will need to navigate as they move forward into their lives.

In a social climate that often sees tragic events distilled into catchy headlines and talking points that magnify opinions on all sides in order to fuel the emotions of readers, watchers and our children, I would like to assure our Eastchester community that we are here to support our students and provide a safe learning environment. Our faculty, staff and administrators are ready, as a district, to lead with compassion and intentionality, to create safe spaces for a diversity of emotional and intellectual thought, and to listen with understanding and openness in our broader service to all our students as well as their families.

For more resources on helping students to process confusing and potentially disturbing events, please check out these links provided by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) :

• Talking to Children about Violence for Families and Educators
• Talking to Children about Violence

Sincerely,

Dr. V