I’m not a news junkie, but it would be hard to miss what happened right in our backyard in South Hadley. Bullying is by no means a new phenomenon; unfortunately, many of us can recall it from our childhoods. While I am proud to say that at LGA we have no extreme bullying cases, our students are not immune to the temptations of name-calling or taunting. All schools struggle with bullying. It is easy to be Monday-morning quarterbacks and say what we would do differently from South Hadley. While that case was extreme, we as a school community must behave proactively when it comes to how our students treat one and another. More important than the bullying is how we as educators and as a Jewish day school handle it.

I recently met with a prospective kindergarten parent who said one of the reasons she’s looking at LGA is “We want our child to learn what it means to be a mensch, and we see how Schechter grads carry themselves in our greater community.” This speaks volumes about the perception of our school community and the lessons we teach our children. Still, we must strive to educate our kids in all the nuances of the social landscape that they face, not only in school but also on the sports field, during an extracurricular swim or art class, and increasingly, on our computers.

Some students at Lander~Grinspoon Academy are working with the Second Step program. In Second Step, students are asked to look at situations where the children may or may not be doing the “right thing.”  Suzy Klein, our school psychologist intern, has created different social skills groups for students in our school.

Lucky for us, we have a resource unmatched by most schools. Our faculty members know every single student in our school, a real rarity! It’s not just that they know the student’s names; they are in tune with so much more, and it shows. Students are fully aware that faculty eyes and ears are everywhere. This is a powerful commitment to what we believe is integral to the success of our school. When an incident arises, we take it seriously, and are on top of it right away. I hope that our parent and student community realize how unique this is. Letting children know they are safe in their school environment is a paramount goal, one that we don’t take for granted. Continue the conversation at home with your children. Talk to them about Internet safety, playground rules, and expectations about how to treat others. Let the communication be consistent at both school and home.